ANR:
Name:
E-mail:
Exchange semester:
Academic year:
Host University:
Country:
877548
Marisse Douma
m.r.douma@uvt.nl
Spring, 2015
2014/2015
Roskilde University (RUC)
Denmark
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Roskilde University (RUC) exists of several buildings (including a student house) and is
surrounded by nature. Besides some animals and a small lake the campus also includes two
supermarkets and some small shops. Some dorms are located on campus as well. Most
exchange students stay at these dorms, which makes the atmosphere very hygge (Danish for
cosy, gezellig) and international. The campus of RUC seems similar to Tilburg University’s in
a way. However, it is located further away from the city center. RUC is located at the edge of
Roskilde, a city located next to a fjord. From the university campus one can cycle to the city
center in about 15 minutes. There is also enough public transportation to get around. Roskilde
is a nice city with a Viking history, near the water (the fjord), with a beautiful church and a
small city center. There are some shops and some café’s in the city center, but you can find a
lot more shops and café’s in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen. Copenhagen can be reached by
train in about 20 minutes from the campus’ train station called Trekroner. Copenhagen is a
beautiful city, which offers something for everyone. You can find a long shopping street, a lot
of nice places to eat and drink, beautiful cultural spots (such as Nyhavn), interesting
architecture and a lot of water.
RUC teaches around 9000 students of which around 10% has a different nationality than
Danish and come from over 90 different countries. The university includes six departments:
“Communication, Business and Information Technologies”, “Culture and Identity”,
“Environmental, Social and Spatial Change”, “Science, Systems and Models”, “Psychology
and Educational Studies” and “Society and Globalisation”. RUC is known for its educational
style. This style includes a problem-orientated approach in which students are required to
combine scientific research and societal problems.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
The host university pre-arrival information came a little late. I had to fill out my learning
agreement before the university announced the master courses. Nevertheless, everything
worked out fine. The university staff is very willing to help. Also, the assigned housing was
announced somewhat late. Still, everything was arranged perfectly when I arrived, which
made me feel welcome.
Arrival and introduction
I did not participate in the introductory course of two weeks. This was not possible due to a reexam at my home university. I heard that it was a lot of fun, the students became well
informed about the university and they bonded with other exchange students during the
introduction activities. When I arrived, other students were already settled in and showed me
around. I could have requested for a Danish student to have picked me up and show me
around, but my parents decided to drive me to the university. Besides the friendly welcome of
my fellow exchange students, the university staff welcomed me very friendly as well and
wanted to assist where it was necessary. I was invited to an introduction meeting organized
by the international office and informed about practical matters such as registering at the
municipality. Registering at the municipality in Denmark is necessary when a foreigner wants
to stay longer than three months. One can register before he or she arrives but also during
the stay in Denmark. One should make sure to do it before the three month deadline.
Housing
For the accommodation I had to apply at the university in advance. Most exchange students
get assigned the accommodation of their choice. My choice was Kolibrien, which are a two
buildings consisting of four hallways with 14 rooms. Every room has its own bathroom, but
shares a double kitchen and living room with the other students. Other accomodations
included shared apartments and studio apartments. Every accommodation is priced
according to its indepence like in the Netherlands. At my arrival I signed my rental agreement
and picked up the keys of my room and the laundry room, which was very easy. My room was
furnished and clean. I can recommend Kolibrien, because of its possibilities to be together
with others as well as to be alone for a while.
Living Costs
Living costs in Denmark are a little higher than the average student living costs in the
Netherlands, which made my Erasmus grant really necessary. Besides my grant, I received
my study loan from DUO and I saved money beforehand via my side job. Also, my parents
sponsored me during my time in Denmark. Most of my money went to the rent of my
accommodation, which is not unusual. Also, I saved money to travel in Scandinavia, which is
something I really recommend. According to RUC and my own experiences a future student
should reckon on this budget per month:
o Housing
€400-535
o Food
€200-270
o Transport
€40-150
o Books
€60-80
Academic Calendar
The academic year is divided into a autumn and spring semester. I joined the spring
semester, which started in the first week of February. The introductory course started in the
third week of January. During the semester there were some holidays and with Easter we had
one week off. The examination period is in June and takes about two weeks, in which one day
is assigned to you for your oral exam. This regulation is different for the bachelor and any
other master program than the international master track of Communication Studies. During
the spring semester there are some special events like Sankt Hans, Midsommar, the queen’s
birthday, Easter and even events like Distortion in Copenhagen.
Social Activities
The international club of Roskilde University organizes a lot of events for international
students, which causes all students to get to know one another and learn a lot from each
other. The club organizes parties, but also a cooking course and a sports day. Also, the
student clubs from all different university departments organize parties during the semester.
All the activities made me have a lot of contact with other exchange students (other than my
roommates). This contact is a lot of fun and made me learn a lot about their and my own
culture. We also travelled together with a group of exchange students during the semester to
Oslo, Stockholm and we made a trip through Denmark.
Culture and Language
On my exchange I did not experience a major culture shock. The Danish culture is similar to
the Dutch culture. However, I did notice that Danish people are more relaxed when it comes
to eductation and their career. It seemed like it was not the most important activity in their
lives and they did not experience the societal pressure like students do in the Netherlands.
Besides, Danes undertake more outdoor activities and love spending time with family. They
might act a little distant at first, but are super friendly once you get to know them. I really liked
this way of living and hope to continue to prioritize my life like this. Education and a career are
important, but not more important than for instance family and travelling. I hope to continue to
let my will lead me instead of society’s expectations. This is one important thing I learned from
my own culture.
What I did not like about the Danish culture is the amount of beer people drink. Parties at
the university for instance start during the day and people drink beer all day. I do not know if
this is a major difference from people in the Netherlands, but it did stand out.
During my travels in Scandinavia I did not learn more than I already learned during my
stay in Roskilde. People in Scandinavia seem genuinely happy and care a lot about family
and spending time with them. Being outside also seems important to them. One other thing is
that Scandinavians do not complain as much about the weather as we do in the Netherlands.
They just work with it and wore shorts whenever the sun comes out.
The difference in language did not cause a lot of difficulties. Eventhough Danish sounds
like a hard language, it has a lot of similarities to Dutch when you read it. Besides, almost
everyone in Denmark spoke English. During my exchange I also had the possibility to follow a
voluntary Danish course, which was really fun, but took a lot of time. I had to quit the course
halfway the semester, because I simply needed more time for studying my other courses.
Still, I would recommend to follow at least the first lessons. It is nice to be able to get around
in the supermarket for instance with knowing more about the products and being able to pay
in Danish.
Personal Development
The exchange experience definitely affected me from a cultural and social point of view. Due
to the many people with different cultures I met during my exchange, I could relate and
compare certain cultural aspects to my own culture. This led to interesting revelations and
conversations. I got to know more about my own and other cultures. The comparison in
different cultures (Dutch to Danish to German to Spanish to Colombian to Czech etc.) taught
me to be more relaxed about stressful situations in my school- and worklife and prioritize my
life differently. Family, friends, travelling and fun are, besides school and work, also super
important. It is important to create moments which you can cherish when your old.
Also, I have grown socially. Being in a country with a lot of (national and international)
people, who you do not know and who do not speak the same language causes situations in
which you have to be very social. For instance when explaining something you do not know
the word for. This becomes a very creative and fun situation. These situations and a lot of
other situations made less shy and created a feeling of independence.
There is not one moment from my exchange which is the best experience, there are
multiple. What I liked the most was being together with my roommates, talking, laughing and
experiencing new things and cities together. A difficult thing from my exchange was missing
my boyfriend, family and friends. Luckily, I was not that far away from the Netherlands and
they could visit me quite easily. There was not anything I would change from my exchange
experience. I loved it and I will never forget it!
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Courses
The courses of the master Communication Studies I followed at RUC were all in English. I did
not speak any Danish at arrival, so that would not make much sense. The university offered
three English master courses, which was also the amount of courses I had to take.
Eventhough the choice was not really mine, I really liked the courses. The courses were
named: Organisational Communication, Visual Culture in a Digital Age and Audience Studies.
I would recommend all of them. In the master Communication Studies every course lasted
around three weeks. In the first two weeks we got six days of lectures. Afterwards in the third
week, we needed to write a five to seven page individual essay about a topic related to the
course and backed with scientific information. In the fourth week the next course started.
During the course of all courses we worked on a group project simultaneously. This project
needed to be finished at the end of the semester and is examined with an oral exam in the
last weeks of the semester. Grades in Denmark range from -3 to 12.
Because I included my exchange semester during my master ‘Bedrijfscommunicatie
en Digitale Media’ most of my courses at Roskilde University are counted as extra for Tilburg
University. However, I was allowed to choose one of the courses at RUC to be an elective
course.
Course name
Organisational Communication (MA)
Code
U25300 /
U25332 /
U25365
Exam
written 5
elective/extra
Visual Culture in a Digital Age (MA)
U24336
written 5
elective/extra
Audience Studies (MA)
U24322 /
U25569
written 5
elective/extra
oral
extra
Project work (MA)
ECTS Approved as
15
If you would like to read more about the content of the courses, I would like to refer to
http://kursus.ruc.dk/cand/komm.
Academic level at a host university
The level of the courses was quite high. The lecturers expected everyone to read some
articles (which are mostly published online) before class and to participate actively in
discussions in class. For Dutch standards I would refer to working classes as a reference for
the Danish lectures. The lectures were held in small groups and everyone got to speak their
minds in an informal environment. A combination of reading the articles in between classes,
maintaining a Danish language course (voluntarily) and writing an essay created a heavy
workload. During the courses the students can expect to be busy with studying on a daily
basis. However, due to the active attitude and discussions in a small class the hard work paid
off and I had the feeling of really learning something. You can compare the workload of the
Communication Studies master at RUC to the workload of the BDM master at Tilburg
University. Besides, in all courses the level of English was quite high.
Other
Students could easily access the library of the university, which was open all day. Outside
opening hours students could access the library with a student card and code and during
opening hours students could just walk in. Borrowing books, printing and scanning was no
problem and is explained during the introduction activities. Every students received a certain
amount of free prints at the beginning of the semester, which was enough to go with for the
semester. Besides, students could find public computers in the library and in the university
buildings.
Tips for the future students:
I would defenitly recommend an exchange period. An exchange period provides new insights
about different cultures, including your own, different people and yourself. I would also
recommend my host university. The staff at Roskilde University is professional, informal and
very nice. Denmark is a great country to study in. However, if you are a fan of very warm
climates, this might not be the right choice for you. The Danish climate is comparible to the
Dutch climate plus it is always windy.
Before you go on an exchange you should make sure that you arrange everything on
time. Get informed about when you should arrange what. Also, I would recommend to arrange
housing before you get to your destination. Going on an exchange is already exiting enough
and it is nice to come “home” somewhere when you arrive. Last but not least, do not get to
stressed about every little thing you need to arrange or you think you should arrange. You are
not arriving in the middle of nowhere, you can also get some bedsheets in your host country
for instance. Enjoy the experience!
A picture is worth a thousand words
These pictures show the weather in Denmark during our exchange period in a funny way.
Even the Danes called it a bad spring. It was sunny at times, but the temperatures were quite
low for the time of the year (we faked summer on the second picture). Eventough the weather
was not great, we made it fun together.
Contact details:
Prospective exchange students can contact me for more information at:
marisserdouma@gmail.com