Study Abroad report Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne Great Britain Eline Klaver
Part A General Report Host institution and exact dates of semester abroad Newcastle University UK Newcastle 01 14/09/2014 until 27/01/2014 Contact with home faculty, preparation and journey Before you are planning to go abroad, there are several workshops where the study abroad coordinator gives a lot of information about the destination which to choose, about the things you have to prepare, what kind of grants you can receive and what you have to do to get that. It is really recommendable to attend those workshops, since it gives you a good overview about all practical matters like the differences in destinations, about the Erasmus grant and for example the money Dutch students can get because they do not use their OV card. It makes everything clearer. However, there are not many things you have to do before you leave. You have to choose where you want to go to and fill in some papers about your choices. This speaks for itself and is not hard. After I heard that I was going to Newcastle, Newcastle University send me information what I had to do and some forms I had to fill in. Also, there is the possibility to apply for university housing. Newcastle is very helpful and gives fast replies on all your questions. A month before I went to Newcastle, we got information how to log in in things like blackboard and university mail. If you follow the steps Newcastle University tell you to follow, it is not hard to prepare for your journey. While spending my time in Newcastle, I did not have a lot of contact with the University of Groningen. I only had contact about the Erasmus Grant, because it took a while before I received it. Residence abroad Arrangements visa / residence permit Since I am a student from the European Union, I did not need a visa or a residence permit. Arrival and departure dates I arrived in Newcastle at the 14 th of September. The first week, there was an international welcome week and the second week, there was an introduction week for all students. s started after that, on the 29 th of September. Most lectures ended before Christmas holiday, the first week after the Christmas holiday there were Q&A lectures and exams and deadlines were mostly from the 12 th to the 23 rd of January. Accommodation Newcastle University has flats for students, which is called University Housing. In England, it is common to choose for University Housing as being a first year student, since those students come from others sides of the country and do not know people in Newcastle. After that first year, students are searching for their own student house, mostly with the flatmates they got to know in their first year, because it is common to rent a whole house with a couple of students, in stead of just renting a room in a student house (as being the case in Groningen). This all makes it difficult for exchange students to find a student room in Newcastle. You can apply for University Housing but because you are an exchange student for just one semester university housing is not guaranteed and it might be the case that you have to share your room because first year students
have priority. I applied for University Housing but since I did not receive an offer before the 5 th of September and I wanted to arrange housing earlier, I searched for it myself. As mentioned before, this was not very easy because it is not usual to rent just a room, you rent a whole house and because I was searching for something from the Netherlands, I was not able to arrange viewings in the houses. After a while I found out about Charlotte House. This is a private student flat owned by a language school and situated in the middle of the city centre. This turned out to be a very good catch. I called the staff of Charlotte House and there was a room for me. They answered all my questions and where very helpful during my stay. The location is perfect, all costs are included and there are a lot of international students there. It was not very cheap (110 pounds a week) but student accommodation is not much cheaper and all bills are included, which is commonly not the case if you rent a private house. From my point of view, Charlotte House is recommendable. If you are patient you could wait for an offer of University Housing. Everyone I knew got an offer at the end, but this was very late and there is a chance that you do not get one or have to share. A lot of people had nice houses from the private housing market. If you want to arrange something like that, you should be very early or willing to go to Newcastle without knowing where you are going to stay so you can have viewings in different houses. Another option, which I did not know about before, is searching for houses via Facebook. There is a Facebook group called The Erasmus living experience Newcastle upon Tyne, where rooms are offered to Erasmus students. Reception and introduction In the first week there was an international welcome week. This is the week before the introduction week for all students and it is a perfect way to get to know other international who are in the same situation as you are. There are activities like a pub quiz, a tour through the city and a movie night. Besides, there are lectures about the things you have to arrange like how to choose courses. It was a lot of fun! The second week is the week of the Freshers week. This is especially organized for first year students, but international students can join as well. I expected something like the KEI- week in Groningen, but it was not like that. You buy a wristband and with that you are able to apply for different nice activities and fun parties. At daytime, there were activities like cocktail workshops, tree top adventures in the woods, tours through the stadium of Newcastle United, bowling, ice skating and lots and lots more. Every night, there was a party in a different place. I would recommend joining this week. In this week, you had to choose which modules you wanted to take as well. I thought I already did this before I left, since you had to fill in which courses you wanted to follow, but this did not turn out to be true. Student life, culture and leisure Student life in Newcastle is amazing. There are so many clubs and bars that you are not able to see them all, even if you stay for a year. There is a bar or club for every style or taste. There are a lot of (international) students and everybody is willing to get to know new people and they are very kind. The university has a lot of societies. For every hobby there is one, from the Harry Potter Society to the Archery Society and from the Volleyball Society to the Cocktail Society. I joined the Baking Society and the Erasmus Society. All those societies organize a lot of activities. The baking society organized a baking session in the university kitchen every week and pub- crawls from time to time and the Erasmus society, the society for international students, organized a lot of things, mostly trips and pub- crawls. This is fun! The university itself organizes also a lot of activities in leisure time. My friends and I did for example a surf clinic and a trip to
Christmas markets in Leeds and there are much other possibilities. No way you will be bored in Newcastle! The citizens of Newcastle are known for their friendliness. Especially in the beginning, when you do not know directions and do not know where to go, there is always someone on the street who is willing to help and even bring you to your destination. This makes everything a lot easier in the first days. Language The spoken language in Great Brattain is obviously English. This makes following lectures and cooperating with other students easy. Grant Amount I received an Erasmus grant. You receive the first 70% before departure, this was in my case 844,20 and is dependent on the country you choose and how many days you will stay there. The other 30% you receive after you got back. Besides, if you are a Dutch student, you keep receiving studiefinanciering and you receive an ov- vergoeding, which is approximately 100 euro per month. Information on the adequacy of the grant It is hard to say if the grant is adequate, because it really depends on your living style and how much you would like to travel and do things in leisure time. Since I did a lot of trips through the country and other fun things, the grant did not cover all my costs. Over all, I think you should be prepared to save money before you go to Newcastle to cover all the costs, because the grant is not. Expenses abroad Great Britain is not a cheap country to live in. Especially groceries are more expensive and other things like public transport are expensive too. However, it is very cheap to fly to Newcastle. You could buy a return for 65 euros with EasyJet and you do not have to arrange things like vaccinations and health checks. Besides, a lot of stores provide student discounts and groceries are considerably cheaper at markets. Study (general) There are a lot of courses open for Erasmus students in a broad range of subjects. This is a positive point, because you can really choose to follow courses you are interested in. There is also the possibility to choose a subject from another faculty. I choose to follow one 10 ECTS course at the communication department. I really liked this, since you start looking at things from a point of view other than business. At the faculty of economics and business, almost all courses are worth 5 ECTS, so in total I followed 5 courses. I had approximately 15 contact hours a week and you had to prepare stuff before the start of almost all lectures. The workload is okay; you have enough leisure time. There is a mixture of lectures and seminars. A lecture is quite the same as in Groningen. The lecturer is standing in front of a lot of students and tells his or her story. The seminars are much more personal than the ones in Groningen. rs really put effort in getting to know you and they are willing to help you if you have questions. At seminars, there is room for discussion about subject you have to prepare before and sometimes you have to give a presentation. Grading is mostly based on writing essays you have to write about a given subject. I had one exam, which was basically writing was in an essay
format as well. For me, it was hard in the beginning but you get used to it and it is less stressful than exams in my opinion. I think the level of education is a bit lower than in Groningen, but it is hard to compare because I followed some courses in different fields than I usually do in Groningen and the examination is different. When I spoke to other students from the Netherlands, they had the same feeling about the level so I think nobody will have troubles with it. It was not the case that you did not have to do anything, but if you did your work, it is easily doable. If you like personal contact with lecturers, Newcastle will suit you. Overall impression My time in Newcastle was amazing and I do certainly not regret my choice to go to Newcastle for my Erasmus. I met wonderful people, the nightlife is very good and there are so many things you can do in leisure time. I did not know that Great Britain is such a beautiful country. The Scottish midlands, Edinburgh, the Lake district and all the British cosy cities like Durham and York are recommendable to visit and not that far away from Newcastle. Some people think Newcastle is a grey, industrial city but it really is not. I was surprised by in a positive way. In the first week, it is a little bit hassle to arrange everything because it was not exactly clear to me what I had to arrange and how I had to do it, but the staff of Newcastle University is always willing to help you. If you are considering Newcastle University as being your receiving institution, I would really recommend you to go there. If you have any questions about the city, the university or something else, do not hesitate to contact me. My email address is elineklaver@hotmail.com. I am very enthusiastic about Newcastle and I am willing to tell you everything about it!
Part B Specific Report Host institution and study period My host institution was Newcastle University, located in Newcastle upon Tyne (Great Britain). I was there in the autumn semester, which started at the 29 th of September and ended at the 23 rd of January. However, the introduction period already started at the 16 th of September. Courses At Newcastle University, I followed the following courses: Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion Health Economics International Entrepreneurship Representations: Identity, Culture and Society (communications department) Work and Organisations The workload of my study in Newcastle was comparable to the workload in Groningen. Only in the time of exams and deadlines, the workload was high but during the semester it was acceptable and students have a lot of leisure time. I will give some detailed information about each specific course below. Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion (MKT3006) This course is a third year marketing course and was in my opinion quite interesting. The one week, there is a lecture of one hour in a big lecture theatre, which gives all information needed about the theories discussed that week and gives examples of those theories. The other week there is a seminar of one hour with a group of approximately 20 students, which gives room for discussion and asking questions. For this course, you do not have to buy books. Most of the literature is based on articles, which are published on the Blackboard page and the books you can use for you assignment are almost all in the university library. The course is about the seminal theories, the theoretic frameworks and the role of the media in advertising and integrated brand promotion. A lot of the theories and frameworks are explained by the use of case studies. At the end of the semester, students have to write an essay that exists of two parts. In the first part students have to review theories around a chosen theory of advertising. In the second part this theory has to be applied on a print advertisement. From my point of view, this assignment was interesting since you look at a theory in depth and you have to show your understanding through applying it. This makes you learn a lot about this specific theory. In the lectures, you learn a lot about the different theories, so you can make a choice for a theory based on that given information. Weeks Dates s: Monday 15:00-17:00, Room HERB GT LT1 Week 1 02/10 The world of Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion Week 2 16/10 The history of Advertising: relevant theories and concepts Week 3 30/10 The history of Advertising: meaning and creativity in Advertising
Week 4 13/11 Integrated Brand Promotion: P.R., Sponsorship, sales promotions, direct marketing, product placement Week 5 27/11 Analysing the environment of Advertising and Brand Promotion Week 6 11/12 Drop in sessions Health Economics (ECO3022) Health Economics is a third year economics course. It was a challenging course for me as being a business student without a comprehensive economical background, but other students who studied economics did find it easy. However, it was an interesting course and I learned a lot from it. There are 7 two- hour lectures and 4 seminars. The lectures are given for a group of approximately 50 students and give additional information based on the book. Where the book gives basic information, the lecturer gives more comprehensive details. In the seminars, students are required to give presentations about given subjects. The standard economic models are applied on the health care market, since this market is quite different than those of market goods. I did not have a lot of knowledge about those standard economics models, so I had to put a lot of effort in getting to know them. However, because I did not know a lot about the health care market and the application of economics on it, it was very interesting. Examination is done by a written exam in essay form. Students get 6 essay questions, from which they have to choose three to answer. I bought one book for this course, which is recommendable especially without an economical background. The course covers the following subjects: An introduction to health economics What is health economics? Why are we interested in health economics? The market for health care, insurance and market failure Is the market for health care different? Market failure and market responses Asymmetric information Lemons Moral hazard Government intervention Equity, Efficiency and Need The Production of Health Health production functions What factors are inputs into the health production function The Demand for Health Why do individuals want health? Health care as a derived demand Consumers as producers of health Factors to consider when estimating health production and demand for health models The Grossman model
Some empirical evidence Supply side issues Paying doctors Delivering health care Financing health care Health Inequality Health and income Income inequality in health Causes of inequality Economic evaluation Cost benefit analysis Cost effectiveness analysis Cost utility analysis cost Measuring health related utility using Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) Monetary valuation of benefits using contingent valuation International Entrepreneurship (BUS3039) This third year business course is about developing an understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects of developing and growing a small business internationally and advance cross- national comparisons of entrepreneurial activity. Every week there is a two- hour lecture with a group of approximately 30 to 40 students. The lecturer is young and enthusiastic, which makes the course extra interesting. I did not have a lot of courses about entrepreneurial activity before and I found it really interesting. There is no book you have to buy for this course because most of the lectures are based on articles or chapters of books. Those are uploaded on the Blackboard page. Grading is based on an essay that exists of two parts. The first part is a 1,000- word critical response on one of the four given essay questions. The second part of the assignment involves interviewing a business that is actively considering or is currently trading internationally. After the interview, you have to develop a 1,000 word SWOT analysis of that business. This was very interesting, because the link between theory and practice became very clear. It was a challenge to find an interesting company, but it was really worth it. The course covers the following subjects: Week Date Session Focus Next session preparation 1 2 nd Oct Introduction to What is Read Hisrich Entrepreneurship entrepreneurship and (2013) Chapter 2 9 th Oct Importance of International Entrepreneurship why does it matter? The nature of international entrepreneurship and introduction to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 1 Read GEM report and summarise key points for discussion
3 16 th Oct Entrepreneurial Activity Across Nations Examination of entrepreneurial activity across nations at varying stages of development Read Hisrich (2013) Chapter 3 & look briefly into your GEM nation s culture. 4 23 rd Oct Entrepreneurship Examination of and Culture Across entrepreneurial Nations activity across nations with varying cultural heritages 5 30 th Oct Models of Introduction to stages Internationalisation; theory (Uppsala), Opportunities and speed models and the Entrepreneur(s) born global phenomena. 6 th Nov Reading Week Readings to be posted on Blackboard. 6 13 th Nov Internationalising Technology, Speed and Assessing Competition, Opportunities Opportunities and 7 20 th Nov Internationalisation Speed and Knowledge 8 27 th Nov Internationalisation Speed and Networks 9 4 th Dec Policy & International Entrepreneurship 10 11 th Dec Module Re- Cap and Assignment Session 11 5 th Jan 2015 Christmas Vacation Assignment Drop- In Session Internationalising Speed Role of knowledge in internationalising speed. Presentations. Role of Networks in internationalising speed. Guest Speaker Exports & UK policy delivered by Professor Pooran Wynarczyk Overview of the module in relation to the assignments. Read Hisrich (2013) Chapter 7. N/A Case preparation Read Coviello (2006) article TBC 10/01/15 Summative Assessment Critical Evaluative Essay and SME SWOT Analysis Representations: Identity, Culture and Society (COM2075) This course is part of the Media, Communications and Cultural Studies degree and worth 10 ECTS. It was nice to view society from another point of view other than business. This course is mainly about the relationship between representation and the production of meaning. It examines how identities and subjectivities are formed and how much this is influenced by the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, class, nation and culture. It
makes you looking at society and media in particular in a different way, which was quite interesting. All the important influences from society are discussed in the lectures. Examples are used to explain the different influences, including those within film, television, magazines, newspapers, art, literature, advertising, music, photography and social media on the internet. Every week there is a two- hour during lecture in a big lecture theatre and a one- hour during seminar where discussions and presentations are held about the topic discussed in the lecture of that week. The contact between the lecturer and the students is quite personal, the seminars are given for a group of only 15 students. Grading is based on different assignments. 25% is based on a presentation you had to give with a group about a chosen subject. 25% is based on a portfolio, in which students have to reflect upon their presentation and have to give two 500- word critical responses on discussion questions about a particular subject. 50% of grading is based on an essay students have to write about a subject chosen by themselves out of a list of different subjects. I would recommend following a course of another department than business, because it broadens your view. The following topics are discussed in the lectures: Week One: week commencing 30 TH September 2014 Mon 30 th Sept. 2014, SW : why does representation matter? case study Race & Terrorism Week Two: week commencing 6 th October 2014 Mon 6 th Oct. 2014 SW Week Three: week commencing 13 th October 2014 Mon 13 th Oct. 2014 SW Week Four: week commencing 20 th October 2014 Mon 20 th Oct. 2014 SW Week Five: week commencing 27 th October 2014 Mon 27 th Oct. 2014 SW Week Six: week commencing 3 rd November 2014 Mon 3 rd Nov. 2014 SW : Theories and Methods: how do we study representations & Identities : Representing the other & Marginal voices - Muslim Women & Disability : I DO! Representing Love, Romance, Irrationality & Obsession. : Atrocities, Criminals, Monsters & Perverts representations of abject evil : Class and Identities the politics of disgust Week Seven: week commencing 10 th November 2014 Mon 10 th Nov. 2014 GL : (Post)feminist identities and popular culture
Week Eight: week commencing 17 th November 2014 Mon 17 th Nov. 2014 GL : Pornographies of Representation Week Nine: week commencing 24 th November 2014 Mon 24 th Nov. 2014 GL : Compassion and Media Representations of suffering, violence and sex Week Ten: week commencing 1 st December 2014 Mon 1 st Dec. 2014 GL : New and Social media I: Self- representation, Desire and Narcissism Week Eleven: week commencing 8 th December 2014 Mon 8 th Dec. 2014 GL New and Social media II: Impersonality and the Paradox of Inclusion Week Twelve: week commencing 5 th January 2015 Mon 5 th Jan. 2015 GL : Essay Surgery Work and Organisations (BUS2021) This second year business course did disappoint me. When I choose courses that I wanted to follow I thought this course was an interesting course about the way work is designed for employees and the way work is influencing society. However, this was not the case. It was unclear to me what the aims of the module where and there was no clear relationship between the different subjects. At this course, every week there is a two one- hour during lecture. From my point of view this was quite boring since the lecturer did not seem to like it to present about the topic. The seminars are given in small groups and were far more interesting. In these seminars students have to prepare and read about a certain subject and the seminar leader is leading a discussion about these subjects. It disappointed me that most students did not prepare and therefore, the discussions were only between a few students. After all, those discussions were interesting. At the end, students have to write an essay about the relevance of theories about bureaucracy in everyday society. This was not related to the subjects discussed in the lectures and I did not think that it was very interesting to write about. Relevance to the Groningen program Most modules I choose to follow are linked to the modules I followed in Groningen. For example, the module Work and Organizations can be seen as a summary of the Business Administration program in Groningen. Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion can be seen as a advanced marketing course, an expansion on the marketing courses I already followed in my program. Following a minor abroad not only enables
you to deepen you view, but also to broaden your view. I did this by following courses in fields I did not know very well before. International Entrepreneurship was a module in a field I did not have specific modules about, but the background knowledge about business acquired in my business program made it easier, it broadened my view. As stated before, I did not have a lot of experience in the field of economics, so Health Economics provided me insight in that field and Representations made me look to society from another point of view than I was used to. I think a minor abroad is a perfect way to adjust your current study program to your own preferences and to learn about specific themes you did not know a lot about before.