Katherine Wistner, Global Business Institute: London Spring 2024
The academic culture abroad was very different from what I was used to at Pitt. First of all, I had each of my classes once a week for about 3 hours. At Pitt, I normally had classes twice a week for about an hour. The length of these classes was definitely an adjustment, as well as the actual class structure. All of my classes abroad had less than 20 people in it, as opposed to some of my 200 person lectures at Pitt. Because of this small student size, my classes were much more interactive and less lecture based. I enjoyed this setup because it kept me engaged for the long 3 hours in the classroom. Additionally, I didn’t have any formal exams; all of my assignments were papers and presentations. This affected the way I had to organize and manage the time I put into my assignments. Considering the overall unique experience that studying abroad encompasses, I felt that this unique class structure was very beneficial to my educational experience.
Another aspect of this was who my peers were in my classes. While my school abroad consisted of all American students, they came from various universities across the country. Even though we all were from the same general place, I noticed some differences between myself and my fellow Pitt students and students from other universities. This was something I didn’t really think about beforehand, but was interesting to observe.
Finally, the content of my classes was obviously different than any class I had ever taken before. All of my classes were rooted in British culture. For example, my classes such as “Writing the City: London” and “Analyzing and Exploring the Global City: London” were very much based on London specific content. I really enjoyed these classes because while they incorporated a lot of learning principles that I was already familiar with, they were framed in a new, global way.
Additionally, a very significant aspect of my classes abroad were the field studies. With these, I was able to get out of the classroom and into the city to gain a deeper understanding of the class content with first-hand experience. I was able to visit various areas throughout London, museums, and historical monuments that I probably would not have sought out on my own. This was probably what I appreciated most about my classes abroad and I really feel like I learned so much through these experiences.
This is a photo from one of my class’s field studies to London’s Olympic Park!
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