Welcome, sixth cycle!

I don't know how it is in other places, but in Lund the new term will start next week, on September 1st. That means that this week is the last week of the holidays or - for the new students of many programs, including RRE - Introduction Week!!

Right now there are many students walking around town with maps, looking slightly puzzled and seeming to be somewhat disappointed with the very autumnish weather. But I am certain that they will soon feel at home, especially whenever they have found out about the Swedish tradition of fika.
A few among these students might actually be prospective RREs - Lund's sixth cycle will have seven students! Their RRE introduction and welcome will be on Wednesday, more news by then. I obviously don't know about the other cities but I assume that they as well will have their introductions sometime this week.

For now: sixth cycle students, welcome to the world of RRE!

We wish you a great time in our program. Thinking about my experiences in the last two years, I could come up with a short list of warnings/predictions to the new students. Whether you take them completely seriously is obviously up to you...

1. If you're not Scandinavian, you might not be able to pronounce the last name of your teacher. The good news that you can always address him/her with the first name.

2. Your coffee consumption will increase. In case you don't drink coffee, you will soon start to. (I speak from experience.) See here the average coffee consumption according to a *very* reliable source and look for the Scandinavian countries.

3. Your understanding of the word 'Europe' will become a lot broader. As may be your understanding of what 'religion' is. Or 'roots'. (Ask Samuel Rubenson for the last one.)

4. You'll come to love Rome.

5. You'll sleep on the floor of your fellow students many a time (and/or host them) during the compact seminars.

6. You will develop a love-hate relationship with AULA.

7. If someone says that they know Latin or Greek, you might yawn. Hebrew, Syriac or Arabic, that's the real thing.

8. ....

Open for any more suggestions from current and former students!

/PD

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…