The summer is over and school is about to begin. However, some students took the chance during summer to attend summer school in Brno. Photo credit: Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University.
Brno, Sep 12 (BD) – The International Summer School of the Masaryk University Faculty of Arts, entitled “Central Europe: Birthplace of Modernity”, offers a summer program full of history, art, architecture, and sociology.
This year’s summer school was special because one participant from England was handicapped, and using a wheelchair. That didn’t stop him going on trips to Prague, Vienna, Budapest or the Moravian Karst with the other 33 students, who were from China, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Photo credit: Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University.
We found Daniel the British student and asked him a few things about his experience in Brno and the program in general. Explaining why he participated in the program, Daniel said, “I participated in the program to give myself an insight into travelling Europe/the world on my own, as previously I had only been to Europe with my parents. Also, it was the first time I had been abroad and on holiday with my wheelchair and I wanted to know how accessible Europe was. Brno very much surprised me with very good accessibility even on public transport, albeit a few issues.”
His favorite parts of the whole program were the trips to Vienna, Prague and Budapest: “It was nice to have a break from the course and to explore some of Europe for ourselves.” Asked to name the most memorable part of his experiences in Brno, Daniel chose the wine tasting trip at the end of the course, as by then everyone was really happy to be with each other, taking photos with each other, and so on.
Photo credit: Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University.
Students spend about 50% of the time in classrooms and the rest on trips, where they have guided tours and lectures. The structure of the program is more interactive, so the students are taught while on the trips as well. Every summer school in Brno starts with a welcome dinner and ends with wine tasting and a final dinner in Mikulov. “We try to create a friendly atmosphere because we believe that students will learn easily and they will be more motivated if we create a comfortable environment for them, combined with trips where they can learn from their own experience,” said Irena Rodriguez Točíková, the International Marketing Manager in the International Office of Masaryk University.
The students are usually from Asia and come with almost no knowledge of Central Europe. All the students have to present their own projects at the end of the summer school to show what they have learned.
More info about the program can be found here.
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