Category: Academics

One of the factors that drew me to SMU was the vast amount of opportunities to study abroad. I’ve always known that I wanted to study abroad at some point, but I was never sure where I wanted to go or for how long. After my freshman year, I had met friends who had studied all over the globe for as short as three-week programs all the way to programs that lasted a whole year! The program that continuously stood out to me was DIS (Danish Institute for Study Abroad), in Copenhagen, Denmark. The program drew a mixture of students from universities across America, offering classes that transferred for credit in nearly every major.

The spring semester of my junior year, I flew across the world to Copenhagen, my home for the next four months. I lived in an apartment with eight other students from all different universities whom I became friends with instantly! I also become friends with several other students from SMU that I didn’t know prior to going abroad. Immersing myself in Danish culture was the best part of living abroad, I experienced so much more than I could have possibly imagined in just four short months.

Every morning I rode my bike to class, which is by far the most common way to commute in Denmark. At school, I was able to complete my European Studies minor; some of the classes I took were Terrorism & Counterterrorism From a European Perspective, Danish Politics & Society, and The Holocaust & Genocide. My counterterrorism class traveled to London for a week where we met with a counterterrorism think-tank, a renown BBC reporter and other influential people within the political sphere. The classes I took abroad were the most interesting courses I have ever taken, largely in part because DIS enables students to use Europe as their classroom.

Between classes I studied in the coziest coffee shops known to man, browsed the cobblestone streets of the inner city and people watched with friends. On the weekends I managed to check a couple cities off my bucket list… London, Hamburg, Geneva, Brussels, Amsterdam, Budapest, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Dublin, Rome, Florence, Venice, Stockholm, Berlin, Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona and Munich to name a few.

While studying abroad I learned more about myself in four months, than I have my entire life. SMU is my home, but if I can give one piece of advice to a student, no matter where they go to school, it would be to abroad. Rachel Wolchin said,  “If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.” If not now, when? Just go.

Julia Traylor

Hello prospective Mustangs! I can’t believe I’m writing my first blog as a senior here at SMU – The time has flown by way too quickly and I’m so sad I’ll be leaving the Hilltop in just a few short months. I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you all about my wonderful experience studying abroad this past semester (Spring 2016) in Copenhagen, Denmark. As everyone who goes abroad says, this experience completely shaped me as an SMU student event though I was thousands of miles away from Dallas.

During my time in Copenhagen, I had the opportunity to take classes that completed my Environmental Studies major: Sustainable Development in Northern Europe, Renewable Energy Systems, and Business Strategies in Green Industries. I would honestly say this experience was unbelievable because every day in class involved something new and exciting whether we were going to climb a wind turbine or visiting a wastewater treatment facility. My semester was jam packed with weekend trips to Scotland, Germany, Greece, and more, which made the time I was away fly by.

For me, the best part of my abroad experience was being exposed to so many new cultures and types of people. I traveled all across Europe and some of my favorite memories are just wandering the streets of cities soaking in the unique vibes of each one. Whether it was eating baked feta overlooking the Aegean Sea in Santorini or drinking sangria on the beach in Barcelona, each place I went is so vivid in my mind and will forever be filled with unforgettable experiences.

All in all, I wouldn’t change one part of my abroad experience whatsoever from meeting all new friends in Copenhagen to even getting lost repeatedly on the metro system of Berlin. I will say that I did miss my friends and being on campus at SMU (my Einstein bagels withdrawal was very real) so I’m thrilled to be back for my last semester and celebrating with long walks on the Katy trail, Thursday nights at Homebar, and of course fall Boulevard season!

-Nikki Carenza

Picture perfect windows in picture perfect canal houses lined with picture perfect flower boxes.

This is what I was lucky enough to experience over Spring Break thanks to SMU and the University Honors Program (UHP). No Destin or Breckinridge for this gal; two weeks ago, I left the United States for the first time, essentially on the Honors Program’s dime. Amsterdam was where I landed.

The trip was a component of the course, “Sexual Minorities and Human Rights,” a UHP course co-taught by a member of the French faculty, Professor Maxime Foerster (who also holds degrees in Gender Studies) and History professor Dr. David D. Doyle. A course designed to take an insightful look into the history of sexual minorities in the United States, Europe and Africa, “Sexual Minorities and Human Rights” is divided into three sections— one for each continent. The beginning of the European section of the course coincided with this midterm trip to what is sometimes called “the world’s most liberal city.”

Amsterdam is a dream. Under slightly cloudy skies I strolled on cobblestone, crossing bridges over the canals in the city, and ate the most delicious and buttery pancakes you could possibly imagine. I sniffed tulips at the Bloemenmarket, a stretch of the Singel Canal in the city center. Bicycle wheels spun wildly around me, the row houses stretched on for kilometers. The air was just brisk enough for my Texas bones to be reminded that winter had yet to begin.

It was almost utterly picturesque. But where the idyllic ended, the education began.

My classmates, professors, and I (a group of fourteen in total) were lucky enough to take on the Dutch perspective of the topics we had been discussing for seven weeks. On the topic of sexuality, we spent an entire evening in the Red Lights District, touring with former sex worker and current activist for sex worker’s rights, Mariska Majoor, founder of the Prostitution Information Center located directly behind the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam’s oldest building and church. It was incredibly eye-opening experience to gain insight into the legal practice of sex work in Holland.

Also in the realm of our gender and sexuality topics was a day trip out to Rotterdam, to visit a non-profit community center specifically for LGBT youth in the heart of that incredible urban hub. This center, called The Hangout 101, was founded by Gert-Jan Vanboom, a hilarious man who welcomed us with jokes and warmth, but also information on the role being LGBT plays in being both a Dutch citizen, and also being a refugee in the Netherlands. We dined and spoke with LGBT refugees to Holland from Egypt, Armenia, and Jamaica, who told us their personal stories of persecution and immigration.

For the Human Rights perspective of our course, our group was also lucky to experience The Hague, the political capital of Holland. The Peace Palace, where the Nuremberg Tribunal of Post-World War II was held, was one of our stops, as well as a unique location called Humanity House. This was an interactive experience, where visitors take on the role of refugee in a educational simulation. It was an incredibly humbling experience, to feel the fear and anxiety that comes with seeking asylum.

Back in Amsterdam, between incredible lectures and educational field trips and pancakes, we were able to a number of other excursions. I walked through the Anne Frank House and saw where she had spent so many months in hiding before her deportation to Auschwitz. The art history major in me was moved at the Rembrandt home, the Rijksmuseum, and most of all, the masterpiece of an institution that is the Van Gogh Museum.

I was so incredibly lucky to get to learn and explore in Europe this Spring Break through SMU’s University Honors Program, with some of SMU’s brightest students and most dedicated faculty. My heart feels as full as the stalls and stalls of tulip shops, bursting with color and energy, now that I’ve had such an eye-opening experience.

-Blair Betik