Being a part of the King’s College Summer school has been an amazing experience, as much on the academic level as on a personal level. 

It have been an incredible opportunity to study International Commercial Law, along with other students that share the same interest. It has been an enriching experience, due to the passion of the teachers and the infrastructure provided by King’s College. I am very grateful for the opportunity offered to me by the Geneva Summer School and King’s College, to be able to go into depth in a subject that I would like to engage in professionally in the future.

Anna Devine (GSS 2015)

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to thank the university of Geneva Summer School program and the Chinese University of Hong Kong for the amazing time I had in Hong Kong.Not only my expectations of learning chinese were met but I also got to visit an incredible city and meet people from all around the world.

It was a unique experience that will be part of me forever. I was impressed by the quality of the teaching in CUHK chinese language department and the efficiency of their services.The exchange students were very well welcomed and the infrastructures were of quality : good dorms, a beautiful campus, and everything was well organized.

I can only recommend to all the students to apply for a summer school. If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact me !

Wiam Bentaja (Summer-to-Summer 2015 - Chinese University of Hong Kong)

 

 

I have been in London for one week and a half and so far it has been an amazing experience. The class I'm following at the King's College Summer School ,"Forced Migrations and Refugee Law", is very interesting and I've learned some critical points which have allowed me to better understand the situation in the Mediterranean Sea. Having the possibility to live for 3 weeks in London, which is such an incredible and cosmopolitan city, is truly amazing, especially sharing my flat with people from all over the world. 

I would like to thank the Geneva Summer School Programme and the Summer-to-Summer Network for giving me this amazing opportunity and I encourage others students to live this adventure !  

 Florence Caron (GSS 2015)

 

 

 

  

I had the amazing opportunity of participating in the ‘Global Health and Human Rights’ course in the University of Geneva this summer, and for that I am forever grateful.

What was amazing about the course is that it brought together people from all over the world under one single roof. Ranging from undergraduates and postgraduates to pharmacists and physicians and so on, it was as diverse as it could get. In a group as multifarious as ours, probably the only thing we all shared in common was a unifying passion for the subject, and I think that there is something really beautiful in the harmony with which we all still got along.

The course itself was very rewarding. Not only were the lectures interesting and intellectually stimulating, they were also taught by experts in the subject matter. To name one out of many- we were taught by Professor Daniel Tarantola, who I was especially excited to learn was involved in the smallpox eradication programme in my home country Bangladesh. However, it wasn’t just attending lectures-we had case studies to do and weekly group presentations to give, all of which facilitated my understanding of the topics discussed. Role playing activities were often incorporated in our group presentations and even one time at the ILO when we were divided into three sections to represent the tripartism of the ILO. One of the perks of having a classroom brimming with diversity was that everyone could offer unique viewpoints, and I not only learned from my lecturers, but from my classmates as well. The course also granted me the privilege of visiting the UN along with many of its agencies (WHO, OHCHR, ILO). Discussions with the UN staff allowed me to get a more in-depth understanding of how the UN works. This one time we were taken to the US Mission in Geneva and introduced to a group of human rights bloggers, and hearing about all their accomplishments despite the adversity they faced was nothing short of awe-inspiring.

But it definitely wasn’t all work and no play. Be it going out on Fridays until the night would turn to day, or dinners with alpine horns playing in the background. Be it the time spent in Fête de la Musique swaying to Arabic music or joining a lake parade and just dancing down the streets, enjoying a moment which was truly just about the journey and not the destination.

And on weekends, instilled with a sense of wanderlust, we went on adventures to the neighboring cities. We visited the world heritage site that is the old city of Bern, and tried to forever imprint into memory just how breathtakingly beautiful it was. We drove to Gruyère just to try cheese fondue; we travelled to Annecy and raced each other in paddleboats; we went on top of Mont-Salève in France and looked down to see all of Geneva in all its glory.

In evenings we often had picnics by Lake Geneva and stuffed ourselves with Swiss delicacies, while we looked at the Jet d’Eau rising up to the heavens with the outline of the Swiss Apls in the distance. Sometimes we dived into the lake to escape the heat of the summer sun.

While I may have stayed in Geneva for just a matter of 25 days, I have gained a lot from my time there. But perhaps among the most important things gained are the friendships made, that transcends borders and age groups, and the knowledge acquired from the course, that has proved indispensible. And for all that, I am incredibly thankful to Geneva Summer School for making this experience possible.

 Kaushik Ahmed (GSS 2015)

This summer I had the privilege to be selected to participate in an exchange between the University of Geneva and my own, King’s College London. As a result, I spent twenty marvellous days at the heart of the international community, trying to grasp what Global Governance is all about. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have had this opportunity. Through my participation in the Geneva Summer Schools, not only was I able to discover a city that was new to me, but I was also acquainted with some of the most motivated, open-minded, and proactive people I know. Not to mention the fact that we were taught by lecturers coming from all corners of the world. In fact, I especially appreciated the truly global focus of this course, which enabled us to achieve a better understanding of contemporary geopolitical issues. Considering how Eurocentric my academic experience has been at times, it was very refreshing and eye-opening to see the bigger picture.

Each lecturer provided us with their own puzzle piece, according to their area of expertise. Every so-called ‘hot topic' was discussed in this way - from the Eurozone crisis to the ‘New World Order’ thesis, the War on Terror, and the worrying environmental deadlock. We especially focused on the vital role played by international organisations in the context of an increasingly interconnected world. Undoubtedly, Geneva constitutes an ideal atmosphere in which to study these institutions, which are ever so present in this small yet truly cosmopolitan city.

Being in Geneva, we were able to visit many of these organisations, and talk to those passionate individuals who work hard everyday to promote understanding and peaceful cooperation at the global level. The UN, the International Organisation for Migration, the World Health Organisation, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the European Organisation for Nuclear Research were just a few of the institutions we visited. All along the way, we were encouraged to ask questions and speak our minds. All in all, the knowledge and the impressions that we took with us are invaluable. If, like me, you wish to know more about how the world works and, more importantly, how you can contribute towards making the world a better place, the Geneva Summer Schools are a perfect starting-point. Personally, I am definitely coming back. 

Elisa Gomez (GSS 2015)

 

Cet été, j’ai eu l’opportunité de participer à une « summer school » à « The Chinese University of Hong Kong » durant un mois et demi.

Hong  Kong est une ville à multiples facettes. D’une part, des buildings reliés par des passerelles, un trafic intense, une densité de population impressionnante et parmi cela, des temples et de multiples marchés de rue. D’autre part, des paysages inconcevables, des réserves naturelles à perte de vue, des cascades et des plages désertes, où j’ai pu faire de magnifiques randonnées.

Ces 6 semaines sur le campus ont été une expérience inoubliable. Elles m’ont permise de rencontrer des personnes de tout horizon et de lier de belles amitiés. 

Les cours et les échanges avec les autres étudiants m’ont donné la possibilité de pratiquer et ainsi d’améliorer mon niveau d’anglais.

J’ai suivi le cours intitulé « Engineering, Innovation and Entrepreuneurship » centré sur les « start-ups » portant notamment sur l’analyse des processus de création et d’évaluation, le management du risque, le développement de stratégies et la création de business plans.

Ce type de cours n’étant pas donné à Genève et portant un grand intérêt sur le sujet, j’ai beaucoup apprécié pouvoir le suivre. De plus, il était animé par divers travaux de groupes qui le rendait plus attractif et intéressant. Merci à la « Geneva Summer Schools»! 

Victor Korulski (GSS 2014)

 

So far CUHK has been pretty awesome : ) !

We are studying on a campus out of the city center, but with a beautiful scenery around us. Sport, grocery, and other facilities are all on campus making life very convenient. Over 400 other international students are with us, bringing diversity and cultural exchanges, portrayed in classes, (thought in an american style, less academic and more built on regular assignments, lectures and individual/group papers), where people give different answers and have different perspectives depending on their background.

The city of Hong Kong itself is amazing, giving us the opportunity to do many visits of temples and old Chinese neighborhoods, as well as financial centers, and nice restaurants by the shore populated with expats communities.  Macao can also be visited, being only one hour by boat from Hong Kong, and the Special Economical Zone of Shenzhen is also on the list.

It is definitely a summer school that is worth to be done, bringing us a big extra in education and practical experience to our studies in Geneva, recommending therefore to keep the summer school for the coming years.

Yann Mayorm (GSS 2014)