Studying Abroad
Who is allowed to study abroad?
The Department of English encourages students to study abroad and attempts to be as flexible as possible in facilitating their arrangements. Any student who has performed well at Level 1 and completed EL1509 Essentials of Language is allowed to go to North America for part or all of their second year, and any third-year student in good standing is allowed to go on a European exchange programme.
What exchange programmes are available?
The Department allows students to go to any North American University which the University's International Office recommends, without restrictions. Each student's individual choice is the result of consultation with Colleen Sarisky (email c.sarisky@abdn.ac.uk , ext. 2085, Student Recruitment and Admission Services, University Office, Room 104), who is North American Exchange Co-ordinator, and with Dr Catherine Jones (email c.a.jones@abdn.ac.uk , ext. 3759, English Department, Taylor Building, A33), who is in charge of monitoring the work of Aberdeen English pre-Honours students in North America.
The Department also allows students go to any of the Universities in Austria , Belgium , Germany , Ireland or Italy with which the English Department has an established link through the ERASMUS / SOCRATES exchange scheme. Occasionally they go via a French Department link to Lausanne . Each student's individual choice is the result of consultation with Dr Shona Potts (email s.potts@abdn.ac.uk , ext. 3632, Registry, University Office), who is Institutional Socrates Coordinator, and Dr Robert Millar (email r.millar@abdn.ac.uk , ext. 3909, English Department, Taylor Building C05), who is in charge of monitoring the work of Aberdeen English Honours students in Europe.
How are course choices decided within an exchange programme?
Students on an American exchange are asked to choose their courses in consultation with their academic advisers in the North American University they attend, and to have those course choices approved by Dr Jones. They are instructed to establish email contact with the English Department in Aberdeen in order that questions or problems can be sorted out promptly.
Students who go to Europe are in most cases limited to what is being taught, at the appropriate level, in English. They choose in consultation with a member of the host department who is known to the Department's advisers for such matters, and who is in most cases in email contact, so that work-loads and choices can be checked. Students are encouraged to take at least one course which helps to fulfil the Aberdeen grid requirements for cover of a range of periods of English.
How is work assessed?
Students on North American exchanges will receive grades from their host university. Grades awarded in second year do not count toward your final degree assessment, but a satisfactory performance is a pre-requisite for admission to the Honours programme.
ERASMUS / SOCRATES contracts require us to accept grades awarded by the host university. The advisers have systems for converting European marks to the CAS scale. Students are asked to bring back copies of written work, so that it can if necessary be re-read by external examiners.
Further information for students intending to study abroad in North America
For students intending to pursue a degree in either single or joint honours in English, your time of study outside of Aberdeen must be taken BEFORE you commence your Honours studies. For most students, that means arranging your foreign study during your first academic year, going abroad during your second year, and then devoting your third and fourth years to study in Aberdeen . Whereas formerly some of our students spent their Junior Honours year in North America, that is now academically and administratively inappropriate, and NO STUDENT WILL BE PERMITTED TO COUNT COURSES TAKEN IN NORTH AMERICA AS PART OF THEIR ASSESSMENT FOR AN HONOURS DEGREE IN ENGLISH.
If you wish to study abroad during your second year, you should look for courses in the institution which you visit as nearly equivalent as possible to those which you would take were you to remain in Aberdeen . That is, EL2006 Reading Shakespeare and EL2506 Revolution to Revolution: Literature 1640-1789. You are unlikely to find appropriate linguistic courses in North America, and it is therefore essential that you take EL1509 Essentials of Language before you leave Aberdeen , as this course is a prerequisite to entry to Honours. Admission to Honours English will be conditional on your achieving an average of 13 or better on the CAS scale in your level 1 English courses in Aberdeen , and on completing your studies satisfactorily while in North America .
Before you decide to study abroad, you should be aware that written work requirements in North America are frequently considerably heavier than in Aberdeen , and you may find the work load taxing. You should also be aware that academic standards vary considerably in different institutions, with the result that the marks you receive while abroad may not be a fair indication of the class of degree you will earn at the end of your studies in Aberdeen .
Information about study in North America is available from the Student Recruitment and Admissions Services, University Office, and application to study abroad is made through that Office. Intending English Honours students should see the Department's adviser to Aberdeen students in North America, Dr Jones, in May, with a plan of study as far as possible equivalent to your year of study in Aberdeen . Once you arrive in North America , you should establish email contact with Dr Jones, informing her of your final course choices, any changes to your curriculum, and of your progress while abroad.
Further information for students intending to study abroad in Europe
The Department can arrange for you to study in your third year, in either Slot D or Slot C and D, at one of a number of partner universities. You will study courses taught in English. The work you do will not be the same as what you would do here, but you will get credit for it as part of your Aberdeen degree. Aberdeen students go to Bern , Bonn , Freibug, Liege , Naples , Regensburg , Trieste and Vienna . There is also one place in Dublin : see more below about this. There will be a meeting at which you can obtain more information. The place of this meeting will be announced in lectures and on noticeboards.
If you go on an exchange you will get an ERASMUS grant to help with expenses. The Department can't tell you exactly how much, but it is usually between £250 and £600, depending on where you go and for how long.
Dublin is different from other destinations, because there is only one exchange place, for a whole year, and it cannot be divided into two half-years. In past years there has been a lot of interest in the one Dublin place, and the Department has found the only fair way to allocate it is by ballot. Anyone who wants their name to go into the Dublin ballot must make sure their copy of this application form is received by the deadline advised by the ERASMUS Co-ordinator, Dr Millar.
You need to be aware that the university in Dublin ( Trinity College ) is unable to provide any student accommodation, so if you go to Dublin you have to be responsible for finding your own place to live.