KandestÃ¸beren - Institut for Statskundskab - Aarhus Universitet

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Kandestøberen The search for exchange students (?) Exchange student at IFSK Hester Callaghan hestercallaghan@gmail.com Mathias Gjørling mathias.gjoerling@gmail.com When we set out to write this article, we had some expectation of it turning into a bit of an adventure, a bit of a manhunt if you will, but we soon realised that it wasn’t so much them that had been hiding, but us that hadn’t been looking. Exchange students come from all over the world to study Political Science at Aarhus University for half a year, sometimes even a full year, but none of us really ever meet them. Apparently it’s not just us that they never meet, but the Danish population in general. They are initially welcomed by Danish mentors but these are just introductions and don’t necessarily lead to anything long term. At least that’s our impression after meeting Diana and Pelin, a Master’s and a Bachelor’s student from Romania and Turkey respectively. “Of course coming to Denmark I wanted to meet some Danes” explains Diana, otherwise she could just as well have studied at any other European University. Naturally there were other considerations involved in deci-ding to study Political Science at Aarhus University, amongst others being academically respected within the field but as any students know, there is far more to being a student than studying. It’s not that Diana and Pelin have lacked the social side, living at Skjoldhøj has provi-ded them with plenty of opportunities, but few of these include Danes. It seems that the problem is simply lack of information. Speaking to Diana and Pelin we discovered that they hadn’t heard of Jule-dag, PF or even Kandestøberen. Possibly more worrying was that Kandestøberen met Diana and Pelin, a Master’s and a Bachelor’s student from Romania and Turkey respectively. 18
2010 they didn’t know where the Student Counsellor was and therefore don’t know where to turn to, to find out such fundamental information about their degree and University life. When we learnt how little Pelin and Diana knew about what the University has to offer, we felt, both as reporters and as fellow students, embarrassed about how easy it was for us to enter into student life. On top of not receiving an adequate amount of information “(Diana) spent a week staring at the walls of her new Skjoldhøj bedroom whilst Danes were thro-wing up and kissing strangers in the streets of Aarhus upon arriving and not having a clue where to actually find this necessary information, they don’t even speak Danish and therefore have a much harder time in slipping comfortably into the flow of student life. Does it have to be like this? Why does the editorial staff at Kandestøberen even have to wonder where to hunt down the exchange students? And more importantly, what could we actually do to improve things at Aarhus University to make it just as attractive in rea-lity as on paper? We accept that Danes gene-rally are reserved and a tricky bunch to get to know but surely it should be possible for some of us at Statskundskab to interact with the exchange students. This is however made rather difficult given that the two groups don’t really know of each other’s existence. It’s a good thing that the International Centre at University has a mentor programme to welcome these students but more could and should be done to bring them into student life at the institute. Pelin and Diana received general information about Aarhus and the University upon arrival but none of this was specific to Statskundskab. How else is one supposed to find out about PF or Kapsejladsen for example if you don’t know anyone that speaks Danish and who has his or her everyday life at the institute? Another thing that struck us whilst talking to Diana and Pelin was the structure of Freshers’ week. Whilst the international students used to be a part of the general Rusuge at Statskundskab, this is no longer the case. Diana turned up for International Freshers’ week, which took place a week before the Danish students’ and then afterwards spent a week staring at the walls of her new Skjoldhøj bedroom whilst Danes were thro-wing up and kissing strangers in the streets of Aarhus, all because nothing was organised for them. Surely it would make sense for them to be included in Fresher’s week (again)? Is there a better way to be welcomed into the warmth of the “gule mure”? Maybe next semester or later on in the future, it will be possible to welcome the exchange students more officially into the main hub of the institute but it will take some structural changes. The importance of Freshers’ week in bringing people together should not be underestimated. It’s not that the exchange students miss interacting with the Danes, but it just seems odd that this kind of meeting we had with Diana and Pelin is so rare when both groups of students study and work within the same walls each and every day. It also seems like a shame to not appreciate the international influence at our very institute when our degree is so tied to international developments and so many dream of finding work opportunities abroad. 19
Page 1: Kandestøberen December 2010 20. å
Page 4 and 5: Kandestøberen Regeringens ghettopl
Page 6 and 7: Kandestøberen flyttes til området
Page 8 and 9: Kandestøberen At bo i en ghetto de
Page 10 and 11: Kandestøberen Hvad motiverer dansk
Page 12 and 13: PB holder lukket i december, men å
Page 14 and 15: Kandestøberen En ghetto i forandri
Page 16 and 17: Kandestøberen Lun rede eller Teme:
Page 20 and 21: Kandestøberen Sex før ægteskab,
Page 22 and 23: Kandestøberen What the FU*#? - En
Page 24 and 25: Kandestøberen kan der frigøres no
Page 26 and 27: Kandestøberen Universitetsvalget -
Page 28 and 29: Kandestøberen Månedens Middag Med
Page 30 and 31: Kandestøberen IT’erne svarer ige
Page 32 and 33: Kandestøberen Ph.D. Kavalkaden Por
Page 34 and 35: Kandestøberen PraktiKanden Om kron
Page 36 and 37: Kandestøberen Studiejobbet som spr
Page 38 and 39: Kandestøberen Nyt fra Studienævne
Page 40 and 41: Kandestøberen Kalender Kanden præ
Page 42 and 43: Kandestøberen Lippert-Rasmussen, K

KandestÃ¸beren - Institut for Statskundskab - Aarhus Universitet

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