Study in the Beating Heart of England – Erasmus Agreement with Birmingham City University Finalised!
Since June 2017, Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt and Birmingham City University (UK) now have a new Erasmus exchange agreement for students and staff. Go and experience Europe’s bustling and diverse youngest metropolis!
Birmingham, also known as Brum, Brummagem, or Second City, has undergone a profound transformation in recent years. Once the Workshop of the World, providing for example 75% of the pens used worldwide during the 19th century, the collapse of traditional industries hit the city hard during the 1970s and 1980s. For a long time (in-)famous for its Brutalist architecture, postindustrial malaise, and social tensions due to strong immigration during and after decolonisation, at the turn of the millennium Birmingham started to shed its chrysalis, coming into its new self and assuming its rightful title as the other metropolis in the UK. (Don’t tell the Mancunians, they would disagree!) The entire city centre is transforming into a glitzy showcase of Postmodern architectural wonders, the arts, student- and night life pulsates in Europe’s youngest major city where 40% of the population are under 25, and the multicultural patchwork, with strong and active South Asian communities, enriches the social, cultural, and culinary lives of all Brummies and guests alike.
Birmingham City University, with a brand new campus in the heart of the city that gave birth to Cultural Studies, is a diverse, open, politically engaged, and welcoming place to study, work, and do research. Internationally acclaimed staff, innovative teaching methods, up-to-date infrastructure, and excellent contacts to the various cultural and creative industries of the West Midlands, the UK, and the rest of the world make it the place to be for students who are interested in pursuing academic or professional careers in the fields of culture and the media. With the BCMCR, the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research, BCU hosts a leading research facility and a team that competently covers a wide range of issues from Jazz and popular music, to film, TV, the new media, and videogames.
Since June 2017, Alpen-Adria-Universität now has an Erasmus agreement with BCU for both English and Media Studies. This includes staff mobility, but even more importantly, we now have two places per year for outgoing and incoming students each, guaranteeing a steady fluctuation of motivated students back and forth across the Channel. The academic coordinator for the Erasmus exchange between AAU and BCU is René Schallegger at the Department of English who is currently also building a strong academic and strategic relationship with Birmingham for the new master’s programme in Game Studies and Engineering.
You can find more information about Erasmus at AAU here: https://www.aau.at/international/studieren-im-ausland/erasmus/
BCU’s webpage will also give you a comprehensive impression of what studying in the beating heart of England will be like: http://www.bcu.ac.uk/
Do not hesitate to contact the International Office (stefan [dot] schurian [at] aau [dot] at), or René Schallegger (https://www.aau.at/en/english/team/schallegger-rene) for more information! Use this chance for an unforgettable academic and personal experience, or to quote Birmingham’s city motto: “Forward!”
