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Internationalisation @ Home

Internationalisation @ Home

In digital as well as physically co-present contexts, the capacity to successfully and respectfully communicate and collaborate across cultural and linguistic borders is widely recognized as a necessary 21st century skill.” Steve Thorne – professor of Second Language Acquisition

There are plenty of ways to obtain an international or intercultural experience without going abroad. Enrich your international experience in various ways, work on your language skills and experience working in or being with an international or culturally divers community. There is always an option that suits you, so please take some time to find out about the broad scale of possibilities. Below you find some ideas listed, to help you on the way!

Organised through HU

Please find the options related to your study programme via the tile Options per Institute and also ask your programme coordinator about the options of Erasmus+ and VIS to this regard. Also, think about doing an internationally oriented / English-taught minor at HU or do your projects, assignments or internship in an international environment, for example a global company like UNICEF and WWF or a refugee organisation. And get inspired by / join (one of) the many initiatives that take place at HU!

Furthermore, there are a lot of options outside the curriculum where you can obtain interesting and useful international and/or intercultural experience, like through the HU-Community and courses of the Utrecht Summer School. Some can provide you with credits and some will just provide you with experience, a network or, for example, an honours title. Check the honours-year-calender for available options.

Outside HU

Nuffic developed an information site on I@H in co-creation with several higher education institutions, like HU. It discusses different topics on various levels. Students can join internationally oriented student associations, either as participant or as active member or buddy. You can find them in various forms, some organise weekly meetings on international topics, some have a broad international network and some work mainly with international students. See for example: ESN and Buddy Go Dutch, SIB and AEGEE. Also see student organisations AIESEC and JoHo, who might be able to provide you with (job) experience abroad as well.

Utrecht is an international region with a lot of internationals and initiatives to make their stay more valuable. Think about events and attractions but also about the weekly Language Café where you can practice a language in an informal way. There are many ways to join and serve the international community, also check websites like New Dutch Connections and De Voorkamer and start volunteering.