Argentine University Experience

My favorite study abroad coordinator at my college posted a comment the other day asking me about my classes. I realized I have only blogged about them once. I haven't really talked about my classes very much since I feel as though I'm in a constant state of changes. After being here for a month and a half I can't still tell you exactly what classes I'm taking this semester, yet.

The COPA program has a shopping period where all of the students are allowed to try courses at the four universities, USAL, UCA, UBA, and di Tella. We have until April 10 to decide exactly which classes we want to stick with for the semester.

For the official COPA program, we have to have a course load between 15 and 18 credits. Everyone has to take a class in Castellano (Spanish) for 3 credits. Those of use who have decided to take a track (e.g. Independent Study, Gender and Minorities, Film, or Human Rights) are required to take a foundations course and a practicum totaling 6 credits. I am enrolled in the Independent Study program, therefore I already have 9 credits between those requirements.

Each university then adds a dimension. Courses at USAL and UCA, di Tella, and UBA are worth 3, 5, and 6 credits, respectively. I want to take 2 courses this semester so I opted to try courses at USAL, UCA, and di Tella. It's a good idea since I want to explore career opportunities in Public Health. Plus these are courses I can't necessarily take at Gettysburg. Therefore I'm trying a ton of courses. I'll give you the list--and yes, it makes my head spin:

1. Business and Biotechnology (di Tella)
2. History of Art (di Tella)
3. History of 20th Century World (di Tella)
4. Intro to Political Sciences (UCA)
5. History of Art (UCA)
6. History of Argentina Siglo XX (UCA)
7. Intro to LA (UCA)
   
8. Investigación Epidemiología y Comunidad (USAL)
9. Sociology Seminar III : Topics in Public Health (USAL)
10. History of Ancient Egypt (USAL)
11. History of Jewish Culture (USAL)
12. History of Argentina (USAL)
13. Neurosciences I (USAL)

You might ask why I needed to try all of these courses. Well it was the sensible thing to do! Every university starts at a different time and also registers at a different time, therefore I had to register in a ton of courses in case a section was canceled or I couldn't understand the professor or I didn't like the course.

Out of all of those courses, at this point I'm only sure that I want to take #9 Sociology Seminar. I love this course! It's an overview of the sociological public health literature. It's team taught by a social psychologist and a psycho sociologist (they're different types of training).

As for the other courses, I still have another week to decide. 2 of the courses won't start until next week. Therefore I will have to make quick decisions once I try those last two courses out.

As for my other courses, I love my independent study. I am studying Mal de Chagas which affects many people in Central and South America. My Castellano class is interesting, there are only 6 students in it. I like the professor, Lucía Dussaut. In this class we're reading a lot and subsequently doing literature analysis, which worries me since I'm not a huge fan of analysis. We're reading Boquitas Pintadas by Manuel Puig first. I guess I'll see how the course goes...

I'll fill you in on more experiences with the classes at another time.

Argentine University System from Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina

I haven´t had a lot of time lately to post because orientation has been demanding. Finally I´m going to take some time to explain some idiosyncrasies about the Argentine university system, so the next blog posts might make some sense. I´m blogging from Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina, and I promise you I will be posting photos from this experience in the next two days.

One of the main reasons that I picked the Butler University program (aka COPA) was because it is a very unique program. I found no other program that permited students to take courses in 4 different internationally acclaimed universities. It is certainly something that makes this program unique and (at times) complicated.

With COPA it is possible to take courses at Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Universidad de di Tella (Di Tella), Universidad de Salvator (USAL) and Universidad de Católica (UCA), which are all located in Buenos Aires. While this is an awesome opportunity, it also creates some logistical problems.

First let me speak to these problems. All of the universities in Buenos Aires are at different locations--or one university at multiple locations. This is partly because the concept of a campus is nearly nonexistent in Buenos Aires, rather the schools are loosely held together by a University name and scatterred throughout the city. You might compare Argentine universities to Georgetown or New York City University since they are two universities that don't have a "traditional campus". To compound the problems, multiply the sprawl of 4 universities over one of the world´s largest cities and you will realize how complicated scheduling and getting to class can be--a logistical nightmare.

The good thing is that each university has its own charm. Di Tella is known for its International Relations and strong academics--also a private school. UBA is known as the most prestigious public school in Argentina and has the reputation of being the hardest, too. UCA and USAL are reputable universities in their own rights, but they´re private schools. It´s been neat to visit each school during orientation and seeing their individual character--almost like hunting for college all over again.

To give you a better idea, let me give you an example day: A student could start the day by taking a bus, or colectivo, to Belgrano for a class at Di Tella. Next, take a bus back to Microcentro for a noon class at UCA. Study at a café in a small group after class in Puerto Madero and then take the Subte (subway) to Caballito to take a 5:45PM course at UBA Filosofía de Letras. Go back home for dinner via colectivo, and then head out for a group study session over coffee or a glass of wine...all before sleeping around 11:30PM.

This is only possible due to the generally organized transit system that exists in Buenos Aires, because literally a typical student´s day in COPA covers many kilometers mixed with public transportation and walking. Clearly this is not something you could do in most cities in the US. This makes selecting classes and having a cohesive schedule difficult, but the rewards are definitely going to be worth it.

The other unique thing about this program is that there are very few requirements and lots of flexibility. For example, the only required course within the program is spanish or Castellano class. COPA does provide "Tracks" in multiple areas, such as Gender studies, Human Rights, Film, and Independent Study tracks.

Now for the downside to all of this. Because there are technically 5 university systems, if you include COPA in this, there are a host of different deadlines and credits. Each university has their own rules governing registering for classes and dropping classes, but by and large, it´s possible to register for many courses and select which ones you want to take over a 1 month period.

Going back to my first "day" scenario: Add the pressure of trying upwards of 20 classes out within a two week period and you´ll realize how crazy my life will be for the next 3 weeks. The good thing is that after these three weeks, I don´t think I will have any problems navigating the city at all.

I learned a lot this week about the differences between US classrooms and classrooms in Argentina, but I will save them for experiential anecdotes.

I will share this. In Argentina, the textbooks cost crazy amounts of money. In general the professors select a photocopy place near the university. The professor puts everything from the syllabus to the readings in these places. This adds another task to the to-do list for the first week of classes.

I have much more to share, but not now. I will add more soon. Thanks for all of your emails; I enjoy hearing from all of you.

¡Chau de Patagonia! Dave