A good program — with some reservations Past Review

By A student (Middlebury College) - abroad from 03/26/2019 to 07/31/2019 with

Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Mainz

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

I really enjoyed the opportunity to get comfortable living in a new space where I was less familiar with the culture. While the university was not as academically challenging as I would have liked, I appreciated being able to meet students in Germany and gain an understanding of how the system there is different from what I am used to. I also particularly enjoyed being able to travel around Germany and nearby countries and feel comfortable interacting with others in a way that I would likely not have the opportunity to do simply as a tourist.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	0-2 weeks

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	I found my accommodations quite satisfactory, although I think I was in the nicest building of anyone in the program.
* Food:
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes My principal problems with the program had to do with the German University system itself rather than the Middlebury Program. I really liked Mainz and felt that Middlebury did a decent job supporting its students. Since I wanted to study abroad in German, I still feel that this was the appropriate choice.

Finances

* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget? (1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)	I found Mainz to be generally affordable.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	Yes
How much did the program encourage you to use the language? 0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program?	Intermediate
How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program?	Advanced
What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure?	300-level German
How many hours per day did you use the language?

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Dorm Apartment
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Local Students International Students
* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	Local Students
About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with?

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?	focus on immersion
* What could be improved?	social activities with other participants
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	Courses in German Universities (particularly as they apply to the Middlebury Program) are severely backloaded. Given that we only take three courses in the first semester (a contrast to German students who often take seven or more), the academic load for the majority of the semester is very light. This makes it easy to establish bad study habits that prove problematic when trying to put together final papers, which form nearly the entirety of the grade for the course.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Soziale Bewegungen
Course Department:	Political Science
Instructor:	Prof. Kai Arzheimer
Instruction Language:	German
Comments:	Classes revolved around presentations (Referate) by students in the class on either the theory behind social movements or case studies of particular social movements in Germany. Each student was expected to make one such presentation during the semester. This was challenging as presentations lasted the bulk of the 90 class session and involved effectively presenting the week's assigned readings in German and being prepared to answer some questions about the topic. Discussion in the class was rather lively and the Professor moderated discussion well, although he never formally presented any material. The assigned readings for each class were substantial, but they were often (although not exclusively) in English. Furthermore, as class only met once a week, the workload was generally manageable.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Spuren der französischen Besatzungszeit nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg in Mainz
Course Department:	History
Instructor:	Dr. Andreas Frings
Instruction Language:	German
Comments:	This was a small class (seven students). It was designed as a workshop (Übung) in preparation for a field trip towards the end of the semester. The topic of the class was the French occupation of the Rhineland around Mainz following the first world war and placed particular focus on the propaganda campaigns and relationships between Germans and the occupying forces during this period. Each class period usually involved some presentation at the beginning from the professor. This was followed by working with primary source materials: students would be asked to interpret texts, posters, photos, and other materials on the spot. I found this to be a good opportunity to contribute in class in a setting that felt less intimidating than a larger seminar or lecture. Readings for the class were generally in German, but the quantity was manageable. We only met once a week for a 90-minute session, but towards the end of the semester, we went on a field trip (Exkursion) around Mainz and Bingen (a nearby town) in which students were expected to give presentations (~10 minutes each) about the topic. As part of this trip we had the opportunity to visit several archives and see some of the influences of this time period on the city of Mainz. I found this to be a very enjoyable and well-taught class in which I learned a lot.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Mehrebenenanalyse in der Einstellungsforschung
Course Department:	Political Science
Instructor:	Dr. Carl Berning
Instruction Language:	German
Comments:	This was a statistics course that focused on one particular model for empirical analysis (multi-level/mixed-effects models). The first three or so classes were spent explaining the theory behind the material. This instruction was moderately effective, although I found that I had to do some additional reading to fully understand what we were doing, and I believe that I was not alone in this. Throughout the rest of the course, we worked in small groups (~5 people per group) to put together a research project in which we applied the target methodology of the course to German election data. I found this section of the course to be particularly rewarding, although I wish we had the opportunity to do some more structured exercises with the model and the statistical package (Stata) at the beginning of the course to ensure that we all had a firm understanding of what we were doing, as some people appeared to be lost throughout the entirety of the course. In the final class periods we presented our results. The reading level was moderate, and there were only readings for about the first half of the semester. As we only met once a week for 90-minute sessions, the workload was rather manageable.
Credit Transfer Issues: