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"There is an atmosphere of openness"
Interdisciplinarity, the international environment and analytical thinking. These are three good reasons for applying to Lund University, according to Catarina Kinnvall, programme coordinator for the master´s programme in Global Studies and senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science.
“Our international Master’s programmes attract students from different disciplines, with backgrounds that vary in other ways as well. So they learn a lot from each other, not just from an academic point of view but also culturally”, she says.
Catarina Kinnvall thinks there is a lot of emphasis on analytical, critical and research-oriented thinking already at the undergraduate level.
“Here students are allowed to think for themselves. There is plenty of room for different views, people dare to express themselves and are given many opportunities for discussion, reflection, feedback and constructive criticism”.
She thinks it is important for lecturers to respond to students and show an interest in them. In her teaching, she plans for a lot of seminar activities and group work.
“There are many ways of encouraging debate and getting students to improve their ability for analysis and discussion. It can be anything from role playing and negotiation games to debates”, says Catarina Kinnvall.
In order to offer students business contacts, the Master’s programme includes a semester of internship, for example at a company, a public agency or other organisations.
She emphasises that the students take on a large part of the responsibility for their own learning.
“Independent study combined with seminars, submitted essays and group work are important parts of the programme”.
The planning of each student’s specialisation is flexible and can be adapted to suit individual interests.
“There are good opportunities to choose different specialisations and courses within the programme. We encourage students to put together their education according to their individual wishes”, says Catarina Kinnvall.
Contact between teachers and students is open and it should always be easy to get in touch with the lecturers to discuss points or ask questions.
“There is an atmosphere of openness at the University. We get a lot of comments about how easy it is to make oneself heard here and about how the students feel that they are taken seriously”.
Catarina Kinnvall also thinks it is important to point out Lund’s geographical location as a reason to choose Lund University.
“On the one hand it is a good place to study because the University is always within easy reach no matter where you live. But Lund as a city is also well located within a metropolitan region with proximity to Malmö, Copenhagen and a major international airport”.
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Last modified 31 Jan 2011
Catarina Kinnvall, teacher at ISSS.