Nearly all higher education institutions from Utrecht will participate
Utrecht Summer School also offers courses abroad this year
Fieldwork course on the battlefield of Waterloo. Photo: Utrecht Summer School
In recent years, Utrecht Summer School has become one of the largest summer schools in Europe. The majority of the courses take place in Utrecht and almost all institutions of higher education in Utrecht are participating. For example, HKU University of the Arts runs courses on "Filmmaking for Beginners" and "The Power of Sound" and the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences offers courses that include circular economy, digital innovation, and mental health. This year, the University of Humanistic Studies is joining the programme for the first time with a course called "Politics of Disablement," which will discuss social justice for people with disabilities.
Going abroad
With 120 courses, Utrecht University accounts for the lion's share of the offerings. Most notable is a course called "Waterloo Uncovered Battlefield Excavation", offered by the Faculty of Humanities, which will be taught on the battlefield at Waterloo, the stage of some heavy fighting during World War I. Students can also take the opportunity to learn Chinese, delve into data science or join a biomedical laboratory. All faculties offer courses this summer.
In addition, plenty of courses will take place outside Utrecht or abroad. Freie Universtität Berlin, for example, offers the courses "Art in Germany from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century" and "The Making of Europe". Those interested in taking the course "Walk for Understanding," which talks about 21st-century skills, will need to go to the University of León, in Spain, where they will walk part of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella. This course is designed in collaboration with the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. UU will also organise specific art courses in Florence. Another course discusses the Baltic States and requires students to travel as far as Latvia.
A wide price range
Course prices vary quite a bit, with many offering special student rates. The cheapest course is a webinar about stress management hosted by the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, which costs only twenty euros. There are also online courses costing around 150 euros, in which students can learn the computer language Python. The course on politics of disablement offered by the University of Humanistic Studies, is also cheap: 135 euros. The priciest one is "History of Art: A thousand years of European highlights", at almost 3,000 euros, but that's because it includes travelling to several European cities. That's not the only course that can be considered quite expensive: the course on entrepreneurship offered by the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and the Preparatory Course for the Master's Veterinary Medicine are pricey as well, even though they take place in Utrecht.