Bridging Worlds: Academic Exchange Between UniAndes and BCB

At first glance, Universidad de los Andes, perched amidst the bustling metropolis of Bogotá, and Bard College Berlin, nestled in the tranquil neighborhood of Niederschönhausen, appear to be situated at polar opposite ends of the world, both geographically and culturally. However, the recent partnership between the universities, facilitated by their affiliation with the Open Society University Network (OSUN), opens the possibility for cultural and academic exchanges between the schools. Students at Bard College Berlin can not only enroll in virtual OSUN classes held at UniAndes in Bogotá and receive academic credit for them, but they can now also partake in exchange semesters and experience life halfway across the world, deepening their understanding of a different culture and going beyond their classroom walls to live a different life abroad.

Diego, one of the first students from UniAndes to come to BCB as part of this exchange, has fallen in love with the multicultural diversity of Berlin. In the few short months since the semester started, he’s already concluded that “the experience here has defied any expectations I had coming into it.”

His experience has been enriched by the friendships he’s made at BCB so far. Diego has found that campus life creates a small community in a large city that is very welcoming of anyone who comes on exchange, but he also appreciates that “Berlin is such a big city and it has a place for everyone.” He encourages other exchange students who come to Berlin to “get to know the city as much as possible, even if you’ll only be here a short while.”

It’s Diego’s first time living abroad in a city outside of Colombia, and through the exchange experience he’s been able to appreciate the differences and similarities between the universities. He has appreciated the small class size at BCB, as opposed to his larger lectures and classrooms in Colombia: “Here, all my classes are maximum 15 people, which means I can really get to know all my peers and have closer relationships with my professors.” In this academic setting, he’s been able to come into contact with many ways of thinking and diverse cultural backgrounds, elements that have contributed to his own personal growth even outside the classroom.

Julia, a fourth year Bard College Berlin student majoring in Arts and Aesthetics, spent the spring semester of 2023 in Bogotá at UniAndes, where she immersed herself in a new culture and made lifelong friendships that have endured even after her months abroad.

Living in Colombia opened Julia’s eyes to the unique complexities that define a foreign culture, and this experience taught her to “look beyond the way a country is represented abroad and actually learn about it through firsthand experience.” She realized how easy it was, from far away, to generalize an entire culture, and how much of this can be questioned after living there yourself. Julia, an open-minded student who values diversity in her life and education, found her experience in Colombia to be life-changing.

She loved Colombia’s vibrant culture, one which filled her semester with music, dancing, and travel, leaving her with memories she will never forget. Among her favorites is a time when she and her friends “went to the coast and camped at the beach and got to know the Colombian Caribbean.”

However, she recommends that students who consider going to Bogotá have at least B2 level of Spanish: “It’s possible to do without it, but it makes it easier to immerse yourself in the culture and meet local friends and people outside the university.” She also suggests researching the professors at UniAndes beforehand so you know which classes you’d be the most interested in taking: “They have such wonderful faculty and so many amazing professors! So do your research before you go so you know which ones to look out for at the time of registration.” The courses that stood out for Julia include a seminar on the history of photography in Latin America and an art history class titled ‘Art and Conflict in Colombia,’ which traces the armed conflict in Colombia through an artistic lens.

Students like Diego and Julia have benefited from this cross-cultural experience, gaining a deeper understanding of each other's worlds and making lasting friendships away from their own homes. While Diego has fallen in love with the multicultural diversity of Berlin, Julia's time in Bogotá allowed her to engage with the culture on a profound level, emphasizing the importance of firsthand experience over external representations. 

Post Date: 12-05-2023