Summer School Participants Deepen their Intercultural Experi

The HWR Berlin Summer School is now in full swing. Over the coming weeks more than 130 students from 23 different countries are studying a range of business, law and language programmes, as well as deepening their cross-cultural experience through a brand-new mandatory module on intercultural perspectives.

The three to four-week short courses at the HWR Berlin offer students from across the globe a unique opportunity to explore a range of academic topics in more detail and to discover Berlin’s vibrant culture and history. Students can choose from a range of seven programmes covering topics such as the role of European institutions in today’s world or the effect of cross-cultural management on leadership decisions.

This year the participants will have the opportunity to explore German culture and reflect upon their experiences through a programme of cultural excursions and reflective papers. The papers encourage students to explore the similarities and differences between German culture, their home cultures and the cultural backgrounds of their fellow Summer School participants. Topics for the papers could include German food culture, how the past is remembered in Germany or values in contemporary German society.

The aim of the Intercultural Perspectives module is to ensure that the Summer School participants are able to take full advantage of their unique intercultural experience. As Katja Zühlsdorf, the HWR Summer School co-ordinator, points out "Three or four weeks really flies by and it is hard to take all the new experiences in. This module will give participants the chance to stop and reflect upon their time here and make the most of their time studying and living in a new culture." Students will visit historical sites, including the Berlin Wall or Sanssouci Palace, political insitutions such as the Bundestag, and cultural establishments such as the Urban Nation Museum of Contemporary Art and the Staatsoper. Alongside this they will write one reflective paper per week on an aspect of German culture or society of their choice.

The HWR Berlin Summer School, now in its fifteenth year, is an important additional source of international exchange opportunities for both HWR Berlin students and students at partner universities and other insitutions. Short courses such as the HWR Berlin Summer and Winter Schools enable students, who for various reasons are unable to take part in a standard exchange semester, the opportunity to study abroad and develop intercultural competencies.