There are many opportunities for Essex students to spend a year or term studying in another country. It is possible to broaden your studies into Europe through the Erasmus programme established by the European Union to enable students from one EU country to do part of their degree work at a university in another EU member state.
In the four-year BA History (International Exchange) courses, students spend the whole of their third year abroad, but the Department also offers students within the three-year BA courses the opportunity to spend a period of their study abroad, usually for one term during their third year. This can either be organised individually by the Departmental Study Abroad Officer, with one of approximately 80 universities in the European Union with which Essex has signed Partnership Activity Agreements, or it can be done within one of the exchange links specifically set up for studying history abroad.
If you would like to know more about any of the exchange programmes, please contact the Departmental Study Abroad Officer or visit the University Study Abroad Office.
Views from our students:
When I started at Essex University, the idea of studying abroad had occurred to me as an option to consider. Students at open days had talked about the ‘best year of their lives’ and it really did sound like a great opportunity. After finishing my first year, I decided that it was definitely something I wanted to do. Due to my preference of American history, I thought it would be a good idea to study at a university in the United States that had a good range of history modules. By the end of my second year I had an offer from the University of New Mexico, my first choice, and was in the final stages of getting a visa and starting an experience of a lifetime.
There are so many things I could write about my study abroad year, and I can not think of any that are truly negative. Academically, the experience of studying in a different environment and culture helped to keep learning fresh and interesting. Like any degree there are courses that you like more than others, but for my part, I was able to get more out of the American teaching style. I got the opportunity to take classes that had never occurred to me to take and also ones that as an historian, intrigued me to gain an American perspective, such as the American Revolution. That extra year in my degree to take different courses, discover new ideas and techniques, really helped to boost my approach to academics. It also gave me added time to think over and gain research for that dreaded dissertation, so the benefits did not stop as soon as I came home. I was able to put what I learnt in the States into my work at Essex and enjoy my degree a lot more. But study abroad is not only about learning academically, it really opens your mind in so many other ways too. Having the experience of living in a different country and culture, meeting new people from there as well as all over the world, really does broaden your prospective on life in general. As a result, studying abroad is a great feature to add to your CV that makes you stand out to employers.
There are times when you can feel low and get homesick; it can be difficult to adjust to a new culture in general. But even those experiences help you to build a good sense of self character and discover what is important to you in your life. I really learnt a lot about my self and it has given me a thirst to find out more about the world as well. I met some amazing people from all over the world, got to travel to different places in America and Mexico that I really wanted to go to, as well as places I had never heard of. The year really is what you make it and the experiences you have stay with you forever. I cannot encourage a study abroad year enough, words do not do it justice, and it really was the best year of my life so far.
Take the opportunity and discover it for yourself!
From August to December 2010 I attended Purdue University, Indiana as a history student. Before I arrived I was excited and nervous as I found out that Purdue has about 50-60,000 students and its own airport. The preparation for the trip took ages because of the visa application, buying health insurance and filling out a lot of paperwork but the study abroad office were helpful. Before I arrived I chose British Empire, History of India, Native America and Women in America as my courses. I enjoyed all the courses a lot mainly because I had always wanted to take courses on India and the British Empire and it was so much easier compared to Essex. The lectures and seminars were combined, weekly reading was optional and any essays I had to do were only 2-3 pages long. I also made many friends as I attended a welcome programme and we still keep in touch.
The town was small and Indianapolis was an hour and half away but on the weekends we went to the cinema, the mall or out for lunch. The nightlife was a bit boring because I was under 21 but the frat parties were fun. The people were very friendly although it took me a while to get used to the Indiana accent. It was great not having to cook, as every accommodation had catering although the food wasn’t the best. For breakfast they would be serving hamburgers.
The weather in Indiana was great in the summer it went up to 50 degrees Celsius, autumn was nice, but in the winter it went to -15C.
Overall I really enjoyed the trip, it was a great experience. It would have been nice to have been near a big city (Indianapolis was 2 hours away and public transport was terrible) but the International School did organise trips to places like Michigan Lake. I was glad to come back to England, I missed the food. University life in the States was very different especially sharing a room but I’m glad I did it.