The 2021 Summer School is over, but I would strongly encourage you to participate in the summer courses next year. If you are just considering whether you would like to study at Tampere University, this text might give you some motivation to make the right decision. 😉
Why study in the summer?
You might think that nobody wants to study in the summer and that summer months are meant for chilling and fulfilling the plans you don’t have time during the study year. Still, I would say Tampere University provides you with both: an opportunity to gain new knowledge and relax at the same time. Here is the list of benefits I personally found – the things one might appreciate studying in the summer school:
- online mode of study
- an opportunity to make friends
- a versatile social programme
- acquiring new knowledge.
Actually, I could have started the list with the last point, huh? However, since my main goal is to persuade you that summer school studies are really worth taking, I decided to highlight the fun aspects first. 🙂
A little bit of everything
This year, the university offered a great variety of summer courses. They targeted a number of academic areas, such as, e.g., Business and Management, Communication and Computer Science, Education and Health Sciences, and Social Sciences. There were courses devoted to a variety of subjects: “Cross-cultural management and marketing”, “Forecasting and Data analysis via Gamification”, “Sustainable digital life”, “Health and environment”, “Arctic geopolitics and Climate change”, and “Architecture, varying topics: approaching pattern language”, to name just a few. There was even a course on the basics of the Finnish language. As you can see, the range of the covered topics was really wide.
The summer school lasted for about two weeks – from 2 to 13 August – and involved not only classes but also extra curriculum activities. All students participating in the courses were invited to join the social programme designed especially for the summer school. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, all social activities were conducted online.
However, I would prefer to look on the bright side of things and admit that it was really nice of the organizers to provide students with extra activities even in the time of Covid restrictions. Thanks to them for that! For instance, this year, students were given a special survival guide of Finnish Culture, information about Finnish sauna culture (you are probably aware that sauna is a very specific cultural concept for the Finnish people), a virtual tour around the city of Tampere, and even an online board game and quiz session. Sounds fascinating, doesn’t it? 😉
Personal experience
As for me, I chose the “Global and multicultural society” course, which I thought would be helpful not only for broadening my horizons in general but also for my thesis. The course definitely came up to my expectations, and I got plenty of fruitful insights regarding both my general mindset and my scientific research.
Within the scope of the course, among other things, we discussed and analyzed the issues of human trafficking, gender equality, mental health, and cultural sensitivity. All the classes flew by in a flash, since they were not just about lecturing but also involved a lot of live discussions and different kinds of teamwork: we shared our opinions and told each other about the state of things in our home countries.
Having to work in small teams, people got to know each other better and had a unique chance to communicate with their peers from all over the world. Can you imagine, in my course there were students from more than 20 countries! So, every day, I had a wonderful opportunity to talk to my mates from all corners of the globe, without even having to leave my apartment. Since all the classes were held online, I could take them from wherever I wanted – whether indoors or sitting outside in the backyard. That’s actually the reason why I like virtual classes so much – they give you freedom to choose the most inspiring study location. 🙂
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Summing things up, this summer Tampere University provided me with an invaluable opportunity to gain new knowledge, meet awesome people, expand my international network, and have fun at the same time. And yes – you also get study credits for all summer courses you take. An advantage which is difficult to underestimate, right? 🙂 Do not miss your chance next year!
– Valeriia
