Erasmus Exchange Report Uppsala University

Transcription

1 Erasmus Exchange Report Uppsala University Charlotte van der Wal S International Business June, 2015

2 General Report 1. Host institution and exact dates of semester abroad Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden 16 th of January till 15 th of June 2. Contact with the host university, preparation and journey In order to choose the university for your semester abroad, the Faculty of Business and Economics from the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen provides several events and information meetings. During these events you get the possibility to talk to students who have been on exchange before and this gave me hands- on information. One important thing to keep in mind when you are planning to study in Scandinavia is that the semester there starts when the semester in Groningen has not ended yet, which might cause problems with exams in Groningen. Once I was selected to study at Uppsala University, I got in contacted with my course coordinator in Uppsala. She was very helpful and responded to all my questions quite fast. She also assisted me with choosing my courses, which was quite difficult. At Uppsala University you do not do your courses simultaneously, but after each other. This results in some puzzling with how the courses fit after each other. Furthermore, the University of Uppsala has quite strict entry requirements for the courses and there is only a limited amount of business courses to choose from. On the 16 th of January I flew from Schiphol Amsterdam to Stockholm- Arlanda, which is the airport nearest to Uppsala. At the airport there was a special welcome desk from the university in the arrival hall and I immediately met some other arriving students. The university arranged a shuttle service to the Welcome committee were you could pick up your keys and arrange some other things like blankets and Internet connection. From there, there were shuttles to all the accommodations. 3. Residence abroad The university guarantees housing for all Erasmus students, which is really convenient. There are about six different accommodations, but I think that Flogsta, Rackarbergsgatan and Kungsgatan are the best ones. I was assigned a room in Rackarbergsgatan, which is a student housing area just out of the city centre and 2 minutes walking from the economics and business faculty. In Rackarbergatan, you share a corridor with 5 or 7 students. You also share a kitchen, shower and bathroom with them, but you have your own sink in your room. The good part of Rackarbergsgatan is that it has a really nice garden with barbecues and it is close to everything. I paid around 380 euros a month for my room. Flogsta is a bigger student living area, located somewhat more out of the city center. Here, you share a corridor with 12 students, but you have your own

3 shower and bathroom. Most of the corridor parties are organized here, but it was only 5 minutes by bike from Rackarbergsgatan to Flogsta, so you can still attend all the parties when you live in Rackarbergsgatan. Also, I can really recommend taking part in the activities in the introduction week. During this week, you get to meet a lot of new people and you are introduced to everything the Nations have to offer. The Nations have everything, from breakfast, to dinner, to really good parties, so make sure to join a nation. 4. Grant When studying in Sweden, you receive the highest Erasmus grant, which is 250 euro s a month. Furthermore, if you are a Dutch student, you can apply for the ov- vergoeding, which is 98 euro s a month. However, being on exchange in Sweden is more expensive than in the Netherlands. You will probably have dinner and drinks at the nations a lot, and do some trips as well. Furthermore, supermarkets are also more expensive. Therefore, it is advisable to save some money before departure 5. Study Studying at Uppsala University was a really good experience. Everything around the courses was arranged excellent and you could find everything on Studentportalen, which is the electronic learning environment. I followed both business and government courses in Uppsala and overall I was satisfied with the organization of all the courses. There is quite a difference between studying in Groningen and Uppsala, as all the courses require a lot more participation and interaction in Uppsala. Also, there is much more emphasis on academic articles and these are always discussed thoroughly in seminars. This requires you to keep up with the study material and have your own opinion about it throughout the course. Furthermore, the business course I took demanded many presentations and a lot of group work. Although the material you study is not necessarily harder than the books and articles in Groningen, you are expected to have more knowledge about them and to participate more than in Groningen. Furthermore, the level of English of the teachers and students is high, so I encountered no difficulties concerning language during my courses. 6. Summary of my impression Looking back, my semester abroad in Uppsala was unforgettable experience and I can recommend it to everyone. Uppsala offers you a lively student life, and Sweden is a beautiful country. You will meet a lot of new friends and have many opportunities to travel around. Furthermore, I learned a lot about myself and left the country with a more open mindset.

4 Specific Report 1. International Business and Marketing (15 ECTS) Content This course consists of two parts, 1) Central issues in Business Studies and 2) International Business and Marketing. The first part, Central issues in Business Studies presents a broad overview of central issues in business studies, covering sub- disciplines like accounting, corporate finance, management control, organization, marketing and international business, thus helping the students to gain a better insight and understanding of some central issues facing business studies. Another purpose of this part is to help students find and formulate an interesting and relevant topic for their Bachelor thesis. The second part of the course covers issues in International Business and Marketing. Most firms today face a number challenges related to globalisation and the process towards increasingly interdependent markets, networks and flows of information and people worldwide. The course provides a deeper understanding of the role of relationships and networks in a global business setting. We will analyse problems and challenges related to firms progress and expansion in present markets, firms entrance into new markets, as well as the management of international affairs. ( plan/?kpid=30902&lasar=15%2f16&typ=1) Structure The course has a very extensive structure with many different elements. In the beginning of the course there is a lecture week with 6 lectures introducing students to the foundations of international business. After this week, there are weekly lectures concentrating on international marketing. Furthermore, there is one assignment day every week. On this day there will be an introductory lecture followed by an assignment, which you will complete in groups and present at the end of the day. Besides this, there is one literature seminar every week, in which all the readings of that week are discussed in groups. In preparation for this seminar, you are required to hand in discussion questions about the articles. Lastly, there are two big group assignments and three big individual assignments throughout the course. Study load The study load for this course can be considered higher than in Groningen as all it has many different elements for which you need to be prepared. Furthermore, everything is obligatory, except the lectures, so you will spend a considerable amount of time at the university. Furthermore, you will spend time doing the group assignments and the individual assignments. Lastly, you have to read 5-6 articles every week.

5 Assessment The assessment of this course is based on many different elements and is compromised by assessment units. In total you are able to obtain 100 assessment units. 10 of these units can be gathered in the first lecture week, by handing in a summary of all the lectures. Next to that, every assignment day will give you assessment units and every literature seminar too. Next to this you are required to be a moderator for one of the literature seminars, which can earn you up to 3 assessment units. Also, you have to big group assignments, compromising for 35 assessment units in total. Lastly, the individual assignments make up for the remaining assessment units. 2. (En)gendering International Development (7,5 ECTS) Content This course introduces the theoretical and conceptual approaches in development theory and its implementation. It critically engages with how gender shapes development theory and how development practice impacts on gender relations and gendered realities. Focusing primarily on the global south, the unit will draw empirical examples from Africa, the Middle East, South/South East Asia and Latin America. Structure During this course there are 8 lectures, most of the time 2 per week. Furthermore there is one seminar a week, in which teams present and discuss the themes of the lectures and the literature. Study load The study load of this course is comparable to courses in Groningen. However, you are required to lead a seminar, in which you present and discuss the theme of a lecture and the literature of that lecture. It takes some time to prepare this seminar. Furthermore, the readings are quite complex and preparation for the exam will require some effort. Assessment To pass the course you are required to have presented a seminar. Furthermore, 5% of your grade will be deducted if you miss a seminar. The final exam is an essay exam in which you are required to write two word essays about the course material. 3. Basic Swedish One, level A1 (7,5 ECTS) Content This course is a language course, in which you learn the basics of Swedish. It is accessible without any prior knowledge of the language. The course mostly focuses on reading, listening and writing, and only partly on pronunciation and speaking. Exercise books are used, with themes such as student life and eating out.

6 Structure During the semester you have two 2- hour tutorials every week. These classes are either on Monday and Wednesday or on Tuesday and Thursday and are offered in several timeslots. During the tutorials the teacher explains a lot about grammar. Furthermore, you do group exercises in which you practice speaking and writing. Study load The study load for this course is, besides the weekly tutorials, fairly low for Dutch and German students. The grammar is quite similar to our grammar and many words are similar too. Usually there are some take- home exercises for each tutorial which will take about minutes to prepare. Assessment At the end of the course there is a written and a listening exam in which all the course material is examined. To pass the course, you cannot miss more than 6 classes during the course and you should have 65% correct on both the exams. There is a possibility to do a retake in case you fail the final exam.