VI. ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT

19 Oct 2011, 01:35

The academic enrichment after my international exchange has certainly been abundant. The quality of teaching in Austria accompanied by the professionalism of the teaching staff of the IMC and the academic content of the degree in Tourism, have allowed my professional knowledge to increase significantly.

CHOSEN COURSES

2º Semester

1º Semester

As shown in the list of taken courses, the subjects chosen in the IMC are related to tourism as they all belonged to the Tourism Management program of the university. Most subjects were chosen because of their similarity in content with those that should have been studied at the URJC in Madrid, but there are others courses that I chose for personal reasons such as Chinese or Meeting Industry Management.

The teaching method of the IMC includes in all the subjects a considerable importance to the practical side and that is why all of the courses include practical activities related to the given theory. In many cases the students had to analyze case studies, solve exercises, develop projects, attend to presentations made by professionals and visit companies and have direct contact with the tasks performed there. This type of teaching allows the student to put into practice the skills learned in the theoretical part of the subject and thus develop skills related to professional activities that he or she will have in the future. On a personal level, one of the subjects that have contributed the most to my professional curriculum was Event Management. The more I progressed in my studies, the more secure I was about specializing in this area and this course helped me to deepen my knowledge in this field thanks to the theory taught and a series of practical activities required.

On the other hand, another remarkable aspect of the IMC was the degree of internationalization of its teaching. Many of the teachers who taught the courses were not Austrians and some of them were even from another continent. It was the case of Mr. Teye, a professor of the course "International Tourism and Leisure", African by birth, but American resident for many years. He teaches at the University of Arizona and travels every semester to Austria for two or three weeks to teach his subject. And like him many other teachers coming from China, Turkey, Russia, etc. This internationalization allows the content of the subjects to have a more global focus. This, plus the fact that the classes are taught in English, results in a group of trained future professionals ready to develop their business internationally.

As I said before, the enrichment has been quite high, especially in people who are passionate about their careers, like me.

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