Travel Report Luiss Guido Carli - Spring 2016

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1 Travel Report Luiss Guido Carli - Spring 2016 I decided to apply for master exchange with Rome as my first choice for various reasons mostly due to the fascinating culture the city has to offer and the good reputation of the school. I wanted to stay I Europe but still challenge myself with some cultural differences and language barrier. I was also happy that that the course selection included courses from law and political science and not just business and economics. Preparing for the exchange So the very first step is the Aalto exchange application process. When Aalto granted me the exchange spot I received information from Luiss with detailed information how to proceed from there. Basically you had to fill in an official application to Luiss. This was done online and you needed to attach transcript, photo for student card and copy of your passport and possibly application for housing. The international student services both in Aalto and Luiss replied very quickly to any questions and everything worked very well. There weren t any problems with the application process. Studying in Luiss The mandatory arrival date was on the 11 th of February when the orientation took part. The following week the classes started. The classes ended in mid- May when the examination period started and that ended 2 nd of July, as does the semester. All my courses, and all business and political science courses in general, were organized in the Viale Romania Campus that is located in a nice area between Villa Ada and Villa Borghese. The campus was very beautiful and the facilities good. The university library was under construction, which resulted in lack of silent workspaces in the campus but otherwise everything was satisfactory.

2 In my opinion there was a wide selection of courses to choose from in Luiss both in English and Italian. Exchange students are free to choose from department of business and management, department of economics and finance, department of law and department of political science. The courses could be found in the website already in the previous spring and there weren t a lot of changes done so it was easy to plan your studies beforehand. During the first week students are free to enroll to up to 15 courses online and check out the first lectures. Afterwards it is impossible to enroll to courses but you don t have to change the online status for the courses you choose to drop you can let the teacher know but basically students just stop coming to lectures if they drop the course. Then closer to exams you register separately for the exams. Everything concerning the online enrollment and registering for the exams is clearly explained during orientation. The personnel in the international student services are very helpful and respond usually quickly so don t hesitate to ask them anything. The examination period started in the end of May and lasted till July. And the exam dates are announced in beginning of May. So basically you can t be quite sure when you are able to leave before May. In Luiss students have three opportunities to make their exam. All of these dates are announced at the same time. But it basically means during the two month examination period there are three few week periods when it is possible to do your exams. My Italian friends usually spread out their exams so they have more time to study but most of the exchange students do their exams during the first few weeks. of the whole examination period. So even though it says semester ends in July it is very likely you will be done in the beginning of June. Then if one fails it is of course possible and necessary to do the exam again on the next examination date. Final exams can be either oral or written. I only had written exams but oral exams are just as common in the Universities in Italy. From what I heard the oral exam usually consisted of few questions and took only few minutes and you get your grade right after. Written exams lasted two hours. In general students in Luiss do study quite a bit and aim for the high grades. 30 is the highest grade, zero the lowest, and 18 is what you need to pass the course. In the courses I attended

3 the students generally were not worrying about passing but getting high grades. At least in the political science courses students were very excited about their studies, which made it quite pleasant study environment. Next some information on the courses I took during my exchange. Behavioral economics and psychology, prof. Massimo Egidi and Giacomo Sillari, 8 ETCS Behavioral economics and psychology was a bachelor course from the political science department. I chose it cause I expected maybe a bit different approach that is given in a normal business school lecture about the topic. This was however quite the general course. The main focus was at Daniel Kahneman s and Amos Tversky s work on the topic. The course had two professors and one additional teacher to help students with the mathematical methods. WeAll the personnel was very competent but the solution resulted that there was overlapping with the lectures and all in all not quite enough readings for the whole course. We had 5 hours of lectures a week and on average they encouraged us to read one article every two weeks. And even this wasn t really necessary if you just followed most of the lectures and read the few main articles. So the workload was very small compared to an eight- credit course here in Aalto even if this was only a bachelor course. Positive about this course was the discussions in the classroom. It was a big class with maybe up to 100 Italian bachelor students so there certainly was a lot of opinions to be heard, which is quite unusual for a student used to a more quite class environment in Finland. The grade consisted only from one final exam that was done on computer. The exam was open book so everyone could have his or her notes, books and articles in the exam. Personally I think for this kind of subject this wasn t necessary and made it quite impossible to fail the exam.

4 Analysis and evaluation in public policies, prof. Efsio Gonario Espa 8 ETCS The course was part of the public policy master program in Luiss within department of political science. This was a very small group with average of ten participants in the lecture. The small size of the group allowed the class to very interactive. Professor Espa included everyone in the discussion and perspective on the topic from international students was greatly appreciated and made the discussion that much more interesting. Italian students were interested to hear about the public policies in the Nordic countries and quite enthusiastic to discuss to situation in Italy. It was nice that during the course I didn t just hear theories from American textbooks and opinions from the professor but also the fellow students taught me quite a bit. The course was insightful to the Italian culture as well as to public sector s evaluation practices. We mostly just discussed the analysis and evaluation practices on a general level, but also some more detailed statistical and qualitative methods were discussed. Professor Espa himself is also working with the government and so in addition to more theoretical talk he also offers many practical examples from his own experience. We paid attention to public policy and social differences inside Italy, which was very interesting. Course grade consisted of two exams (mid term and final exam) and participation. Readings for the course were quite straightforward and reasonable and no prerequisites were demanded. We had two lectures a week, totally five hours. This course was very interesting to me and offered opportunity to discuss political issues with local students still being quite an easy course. History and theory of European integrations, prof. Mario Telo,8 ETCS This master course for political science students was the most theoretical and demanding from my courses. Professor Telo is specialized in this field and very passionate about the subject. He warned me that the course could be quite the demanding if one has not studied political science before. And so it was in a way that he assumed that everyone is well informed about the main concepts and theories in political science. And I probably had to do some extra

5 reading comparing to the Italian students. However I found the course interesting as a citizen of the European Union. The course mostly dealt with the story of how the European Union came to be going back to theorists from the 16 th century. Professor Telo also paid a lot of attention to the stages of the European integration and treaties were quite carefully studied. Other part of the course was the state of the European Union, enlargements and brexit were discussed. Some lectures were also used to study other regional and inter- regional organizations. The grade consists of participation, presentation and the final exam. We were quite small group so discussions were part of the class and attendance somehow mandatory though professor never took any names. All in all the course was demanding yet I would say to pass the workload was very reasonable to reach the best grades the Italian students do study quite intensively. Italian language course, prof. Concetta Amato, 3 ETCS I took the beginner course in Italian. There were also two other levels to choose from if one has more experience. I have studied some Italian before but choose to take this course anyway because it fitted better with my other schedule. I also wasn t very confident in my Italian language skills. But if you have any Italian skills and motivation and will to learn the language I would recommend attending in the mid- level course. The course for beginners was very basic and we proceeded very slowly. We mainly covered normal customer service situations, food, living and shopping vocabulary and telling about you in a very elementary level. There is final exam in the end of the semester that I felt was very easy to pass. Free time and other information Accommodation Rome isn t very cheap place to live in. Especially the rents are pretty much the same or higher than in Helsinki. Luiss international offices offered to arrange accommodation or help with it. Basically there is no campus living but some private property owners Luiss and CTS (organization the university works with) collaborate with. You should apply for this housing

6 at the same time when you apply for Luiss officially in the spring. I decided to look for accommodation on my own so I don t have much information about this application process. I had heard that if you get a flat through Luiss it can be a bit more expensive and I really wanted to see the places before agreeing to anything. Afterwards I think it could have also been a good option since looking for rooms in Rome when I don t speak Italian wasn t that easy. After seeing 6 places I got my room. I lived in Sallustiano in a flat with three flatmates. The flat was in good condition and spacious in a very good location near the center and 30 minutes walk to school or 15 minutes with bus, but the public transport cannot real be trusted. I paid 550 Euros plus some expenses (20), which in Rome can mean 10 or 100 Euros so be ware. I did a formal contract with my landlord, but it isn t really common in Italy but I do recommend it. In the end I was very happy with my room, the location and the price. The room prices vary from and the condition of flats varies as much. So try to see the place before paying. Other costs Other than rents I think Rome is a bit cheaper than Helsinki. Food in grocery stores is pretty much the same but eating out and dinks are cheaper if you avoid the tourist traps in the center. Public transport card costs 30 Euros a month and you can get it only during the first calendar months. There are of cheap operators though the data is quite expensive so you should have unlimited Internet in your apartment. Free time and travels Rome doesn t need much advertising when it comes to free time activities. There are plenty of museums, bars, restaurants, parks and events to have something to do every single day. If you want to go see the main tourist attractions I would recommend doing it in the winter or early spring. The city gets more crowded when approaching summer. The ESN Luiss organizes a lot of sightseeing in Rome as well as trips to other cities, which are reasonable priced. But in my opinion the city is best discovered when wandering on your own or in a small group. I wont list here all the attractions and places to visit you will learn it quickly. Look from travel guides and don t be afraid to ask for recommendations from the locals. In my experience Romans are glad to tell you their favorite places for pasta and gelato!

7 It is very easy to leave Rome to orher cities in Italy by train, bus or plane. Most convenient is the train but busses can be very cheap. In my time in Rome I did weekend trips to Tuscany, Venice, Naples, Amalfi coast and Bologna. For example bus to Venice did take about 7 hours but only cost us 9 Euros. So it is possible to travel very cheaply around Italy. Final comments I personally love the city and had few complaints with the host University so I would recommend Rome as an exchange destination to everyone who is not afraid of a little mess and chaos. I think it is impossible to be bored in Rome. The school was generally good and students enthusiastic. There were some more demanding courses and if one wishes to pick something with light workload it was also possible. The biggest troubles I had in exchange were when looking for a place. If you choose to do it on your own be prepared to stay in a hostel or airbnb for a week or two. Also someone who speaks Italian would be very helpful when dealing with the landlords. However there are a lot of rooms available in Rome so if you are patient it is possible to find a good one with reasonable rent. The language barrier and culture shock can seem big at first because the mess and chaos in Rome is not something we experience in Helsinki never. I did learn to appreciate things in Helsinki as well. Mostly will not take working public transport and working Internet for granted anymore. But even if Rome is unorganized and loud I really enjoyed the atmosphere and I don t think there are many places that can compare with the beauty of Rome.