After an amazing semester at MUNI, I decided to try studying in a foreign country. I wanted to go to Erasmus during my bachelor’s degree, but COVID and being on the ESN MUNI Board put this priority aside. After spending one year in France during high school, I wanted to try living somewhere else again, and the summer semester sounded like an amazing opportunity.
CEEPUS Freemover
I am studying abroad thanks to the CEEPUS cooperation of central European and Balkan countries. This program works differently than Erasmus and is not facilitated in the same way as Erasmus. I had to contact universities I am interested in individually and then get a recommendation letter from my home university to go through the selection process. I got the final results at the end of January, so quite late.
Salzburg and Austria
There are few reasons why I chose Austria:
- I like that it is not that far and I can travel by train easily
- I wanted to learn German, and intensive courses in a German-speaking country would be the best way.
- The PLUS University has a program focused on Human-Computer interactions that interested me, and I wanted to explore it in connection to my Service design focus at MUNI.
- The financial scholarship is way better here than in other CEEPUS countries.
- I already knew people in Salzburg, so it was easier to accommodate to the new place.
COurses at paris londron university of salburg
German A1
As I stated, my motivation to study in Austria was to learn a new language. I signed up for an intensive German course for 12 ETCS and have classes four times a week. We are starting from the beginning, but I believe we are advancing quite quickly. I am motivated and excited to learn my 4th language after being fluent in Czech, French, and English.
Contextual interaction design and contextual analysis
These courses are one of the main reasons I am so excited to study at PLUS. It is a practical and demanding combination focused on the HCI design process. During one semester, we are going in teams through the full double diamond process and creating a prototype of HCI-related technology connecting some Crafting practices with Emerging digital technology.
Our team focuses on crocheting practice and finding a possible emerging technology to help crocheters. We are currently doing semi-structured interviews to understand the obstacles of new learners of crocheting.
It is an obligatory course in the master’s program, Human-computer interactions. I am the only Erasmus student there, so it is quite demanding but interesting and exciting.
HCI related disciplines
This lecture series introduces us to diverse topics related to HCI and how they can shape our work. The first two lectures were focused on Ethics and Feminism and were engaging and thought-provoking.
Moral machines
This course is focused on Ehics of machines, AI, and robots. We are reading and discussing diverse texts about the topics at the seminar.
Data ethic and identity
The last course is also focused on the ethics of data and technologies. It is an intensive 2-day course in May, so I will talk about my experience later.
I am really grateful for this opportunity to study abroad, and I recommend it to everyone. My exchange is still really focused on study and work, but I am also trying to find time to enjoy the beautiful Austrian countryside.
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