Five questions to the professor

Still staying in Aarhus, we asked Jakob Engberg to answer our questionary. Jakob is the head of our program, and is doing a brilliant job, I would say.  (and no, I am not handing in any exampapers to him this semester;)

1. Please state your name, age, university and connection to the RREprogram.
Jakob Engberg; 40 years old; Aarhus University; coordinator for the whole programme (since it was launched); coordinator for Aarhus; part of the team that applied for support for the developing of the programme (2007), developed it (2007-2009) and launched it (2009).

2. What is your area of expertise? and which courses do you teach in the RREprogram?
Expertise: the relationship between different religious groups in antiquity, e.g. persecution, polemics, apologetics, conversion. I teach a course on Apologetics and conversion and have taught another on Jews and Christians in the Roman Empire, both interaction courses. In addition I teach the thesis colloquium in Aarhus.

3. How do you find this way of teaching, which is not regular university courses but also not distance learning?
I enjoy very much to be together with the students for compact seminars in and out of classes. But I also appreciate the e-learning not least because I observe that it gives the students practice in writing about the subject making the transition to the exam-paper les abrupt than for “normal” students who for a whole term have written next to nothing about a subject and then are asked suddenly to write a whole 10-page paper on it.

4. What do you expect from your students?
Commitment and diligence academically; frankness in any dealings with fellow students and with me and other teachers.

5. If you could have any superhuman power, what would it be and why?
My wife would greatly appreciate if my craftsmanship was on the level of Vulcan’s (or even on the level of a human handyman). When encountering legal obstacles during the development of RRE it would have been nice to be cunning like the Norse god Loki. Sometimes a fancy spear like Odin’s Gungnir (it was unstoppable) or a thunderbolt like Jupiter’s would even have been nice. But knowing my own character I better wish for a divine ability that I cannot misuse to the detriment of others: patience!

five questions to the professor

This weeks interview, as we move ourselves from Copenhagen to Aarhus, is with Professor Marianne Scheicher from the religious department at Aarhus University. The second cycle students had a compact seminar in Aarhus in December last year, and one of the very bests things was that all three "Three religions"-professors plus Jakob joined us for dinner and a drink :)


Name:            Marianne Schleicher
Age:               41
University:       University of Aarhus
RRE-affiliation:Associate Professor

Area of expertise:
Judaism from Antiquity till today
Cultural functions of scriptural use
Gender and Sexuality in religious contexts
Jewish mysticism

Courses taught:“The three religions in contemporary perspective”

Evaluation of the RRE-forms of teaching:
I question the benefitsof posting a lot of information on our E-platforms, such as AULA, withouthaving the possibility of looking you in the eye to see if you follow myreasoning and thereby of rephrasing what may be difficult to understand.However, the E-chat room provides a corrective to this challenge. I value theweekly assignments highly in that they enable a personal dialogue betweenstudent and professor where I as a professor can counter misunderstandings etc.within a week (where non-distance teaching allows students to hide and wait foran evaluation of their understanding until the exam). The compact seminar is myfavourite because I meet with students with whom I have corresponded already,which allows for an atmosphere of familiarity.

Expectations:
I expect discipline fromthe students in their habits of studying, i.e. that they read prior to the E-confrontations,reflect independently on the content, and that they submit their weeklyassignments in a form that reflects commitment and the best of efforts.

Superhuman power …:
If I had superhuman power,I would make use of my special ability to be in several places at the same time!Why? Because it could help me counter the problems specified above about E-learning,and it would enable me to accomplish what I consider ideal vis-à-vis being amother, a partner, a colleague, a professor, and an individual who wants todevelop as well.

The RREstudents proudly presents....a video!

This video was made by Hala during our compact seminar in Århus in November. If you want to know why YOU should chose RRE as your master, watch it!

Copenhagen info

Thursday the 9.of February (tommorow) at 12:15 in room 243 at the theological faculty in Copenhagen, there will take place an infomeeting for students curious about studying RRE. if you yourself are interested, or you know somebody who might be, this is an important date to remember.

we will try to post info here at the blog about stuff happening related to RRE in the different universities, and if you would like to email or meet with one of us students, please write an email to: religiousroots@gmail.com and we will be happy to help you :)

Application procedure, Aarhus University

The Religious Roots of Europe is a joint programme offered in collaboration between six different Nordic universities (see the programme website ), these universities are here called the Host Institutions. For the academic year 2011-2012, 36 students can be admitted to the programme in total on the six Host Institutions. Applications for admittance is directed to and processed by one of the six Host Institutions, in accordance with the rules and regulations obtaining at this Host Institution. The following is a description of these rules and regulations at the University of Aarhus.

Applicants for one of the study places at Aarhus University must document (by submitting a certified transcript or bachelor certificate stating the subjects studied and the grades obtained) that they have completed or are completing a relevant bachelor degree (below) and that they have obtained a sufficient proficiency in ‘classical’ languages as well as in English (below).

Application deadline

1 March for commencement of studies on 1 September

IMPORTANT!

New online application system
Aarhus University is in the process of developing a new common online application system effective from the 2012 intake. We expect to launch our new system from 1 February 2012.

Admission information
Our application pages will be updated from now until February 2012. Thus, in the time ahead, you may notice we are making a mess – for which we apologise. Specific information about admission requirements, selection criteria, documentation requirements, etc. will be moved to the individual admission pages to be found in the Study Guide. When we open for applications from 1 February 2012, all admission pages will be up-to-date.

In the meantime

While waiting for the opening of the new application system you are welcome to contact the main programme coordinator for all the universities Associate Professor Jakob Engberg, Aarhus University on je@teo.au.dk   

Academic content

Please see the programme website

English language requirements

See general admission requirements

The most important part of this information is:

English language qualifications comparable to an 'English B level' in Denmark can be documented as follows:

·         TOEFL test results of at least 560 (paper-based test) or 83 (internet-based test)
The Aarhus University TOEFL code is 8935
The Aarhus School of Business TOEFL code is 7993
The AU-IBT (Institute of Business and Technology in Herning) TOEFL code is 8607
The test result must not be more than two years old

·         IELTS test with a minimum score of 6.5 points
The test result must not be more than two years old

·         Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CEA)

·         "C1 level" obtained by examination from a CEFR-validated English language course.

·         English-taught entrance examination (upper secondary school/high school) or Bachelor’s degree

·         English language qualifications obtained through at least 210 hours of English lessons (1 hour = 60 minutes) in a non-Danish entrance examination. You must ask your upper secondary school/high school to provide documentation for the total number of English lessons/hours you have received during your final three upper secondary/high school years. You are required to enclose a copy of your upper secondary/high school certificate, including course and examination descriptions of your English language course.

·          

Academic requirements, including requirements of ancient language proficiency

Admission to the Master’s Programme in European studies at Aarhus University requires successful completion of a relevant BA degree with a major in theology, the study of religion, classical philology, classical archaeology, history or the equivalent.

Since the study programme presupposes an ability to and further trains students in reading ancient religious text in the original languages, and since not all the mentioned bachelor’s degrees in all the Nordic countries or internationally include compulsory classical language training, it is specified as a prerequisite for admittance to the programme that the applicant can document a proficiency in at least one ‘classical’ language, i.e. Greek, Latin, Hebrew or Arabic, which equals the proficiency achieved by studying such a language in a module allotted 20 ECTS credits. [1]

Alternatively, a student can be admitted if she or he can document a proficiency in two of the ‘classical’ languages which equals the proficiency achieved by studying each of these languages in a module allotted 10 ECTS credits each.

Selection criteria

The Master's programme in the Religious Roots of Europe can only admit a limited number of students each year (for the academic year 2009-2010 there are 36 study places in total at the six Host Institutions), so fulfilling the requirements does not in itself guarantee admission to the programme.

If there are fewer qualified applicants at Aarhus University than places at this Host Institution, all qualified applicants are admitted.

If there are more qualified applicants for the programme at Aarhus University than places available, Aarhus University consults the Programme Committee (a joint body overseeing the running of the Programme). The decision, however, rests with Aarhus University and any appeals should be made to Aarhus University.

The criteria for selection between the qualified students are:

·         The number of ECTS credits obtained during bachelor studies in the relevant fields of religion and theology and ancient history, culture and languages. This will be evaluated on the basis of the bachelor certificate or certified transcript.

·         If more applicants have obtained the same number of ECTS credits in these fields then the applicant or applicants with the highest average of grades obtained during bachelor studies is or are admitted. These will be evaluated on the basis of bachelor certificate or certified transcript.

In selecting between the qualified applicants the Programme Committee and Aarhus University therefore focuses on the relevance of your previous studies and on the results achieved.

***

[1] I Danmark kan de klassiske sprogkrav indfries med et gymnasialt A-niveau i ét af de nævnte sprog, gennem propædeutik eller tilsvarende. Det vil sige, at bacheloruddannelserne i teologi, klassisk filologi og klassisk arkæologi er direkte adgangsgivende, mens en bachelorgrad i ét af de andre nævnte fag kun er adgangsgivende, hvis den studerende også kan dokumentere, at det klassiske sprogkrav er indfriet.

Life as an International Student- An Argument is Like a Box of Chocolates…

One of the undeniably great things about this course is it diversity.  Students from the Nordic countries and further afield join together: studying together and socialising together.  As international student myself, this is by far one of the best elements of the course.  I asked Fritz, a 3^rd cycle RRE student from the US and studying in Århus, his thoughts and feelings on life as an International student! 

I started with all the good intentions of a question-answer style interview, but probably not to the surprise of anyone who knows us, this turned into a general and long chat about life as International student; swapping anecdotes, thoughts and opinions (and not often agreeing, I must add!  Again, probably not a surprise!)

Lets not deny that for some of us, doing a Masters does give us the opportunity to carry on studying and put off our grand entrance into the real world somewhat, whilst warding off that daunting question asked by parents, “So what are you going to do after University”. But in all seriousness, this course is a great way to adjust to a future in Academia.  It poses as a bridge between undergraduate studies and PHD level, as well as being a great course to take to satisfy your interests. So, initially I asked Fritz why he wanted to apply for the course and where he wanted to take it.  Fritz, being from America was able to apply for a Scholarship (something to think about for those of you who are thinking of coming from further afield), which naturally gave him an inclination towards this avenue.

On keeping with the academic note, we both agreed that the comparative element of interpretation this course offers is interesting to say the least.  It is something that as a previous Religious Studies student, Fritz had not really addressed and the chance to do so proved exciting and innovating.  Amongst this it means you get to learn about religions and religious practices you may not have studied before.

After some general chitchat, and perhaps a debate or two, we approached the subject of the course’s diversity.  Both of us agreed that this is our favourite part.  Not only have we met some great people but we have also had an opportunity to learn about different academic and religious disciplines.  On an academic level (because its not all about the late night drinking sessions, grabbing coffee and lunch, or continuously getting lost together in Rome!), Fritz commented, and I agreed, that the diversity of his peers and their ideas mean that his own are challenged.  To better explain this I will use the analogy of a production line in a chocolate factory.  The process starts as a trickle of chocolate and eventually forms into something more solid.  There are several stages to this and at each stage they go through a standards check, if they do not survive it they are dropped, but if they do ‘fit the bill’ they add another layer of chocolate, until finally out comes a beautifully wrapped chocolate bar for all to enjoy!  So if you hadn’t have guess, the trickle of chocolate is your initial idea and the stages are the opinions of others.  If your argument is not strong enough to survive the standards check you can reject but if it does survive, you have an argument that is formed and strengthened by the differentiating opinions of your other peers.  This is a challenge, but a fun one!

So, we both agreed that although moving abroad and studying as an International student is undeniably challenging, this course has been a great experience so far, both socially and academically.  Now ask us again next year, come thesis time…