'An international classroom is about opening up to different voices'
There is a lot of discussion about international students and Dutch universities. The Cultural Anthropology and Sociology of Development programme is an international bachelor's programme. Forty per cent of our students come from outside the Netherlands. We ask five students how they feel about studying in an international classroom.
Nicolás Moreno-Gutiérrez
"For me, being in an international classroom is about opening up to different voices, anecdotes and perspectives that represent the diversity of human experience. I feel that in an international environment, everyone is encouraged to constantly improve themselves by opening up to and learning from other points of view, while recognising the value of their own. In this way, international communities build something that transcends us, but at the same time involves us all."
Kenza el-Mansouri
"For me, the international classroom is one of the most important parts of being an anthropology student. And not just in anthropology, I cannot think of a discipline where it would not be valuable to have an international classroom. I think internationality is just as important as interdisciplinarity. Only by looking at issues in our contemporary society through multiple lenses can we have more fruitful discussions and be more critical of ourselves. I have learned so much from studying with international students and I am very grateful to have had this experience."
Linde Schouffoer
"In the first year I found it quite a big transition to suddenly have all my classes in English. That's why I chose to have my tutorial groups in Dutch. As a result, I sometimes missed the perspectives of people from other countries. Especially in a field like anthropology, it is very valuable to take a course with students of different nationalities, because different countries have different problems and different ways of looking at things. So I think the international classroom is definitely an added value to our programme."
Feiyang Li
"I think being in an international classroom is a valuable experience because it gives me the opportunity to learn more about the world and about myself. It has also taught me about diversity in a different way. I was able to learn more about different cultures and connect with others from different cultures. Being in an international classroom has also taught me important skills such as teamwork, listening to others and what it means, and being more open-minded about the way I see the world."
No matter how open-minded or tolerant we think we are, we will inevitably have prejudices shaped by our upbringing.
Megan Rodrigues
"No matter how open-minded or tolerant we think we are, we will inevitably have prejudices shaped by our upbringing. Being an international student is challenging, I can't lie. But it's also a wonderful experience to meet people from places you'd never normally meet. You may come from different continents, but you have a lot more in common than people at home. So it's important for the classroom to reflect and facilitate that global-ness, to learn how to navigate those situations in the real world."