Psychology senior Atousa Motameni studied abroad last year in Denmark, through the Maryland-in-Copenhagen
program. While this is typically a semester-long program, Atousa loved
her experience so much that she decided to stay for the whole year! We
asked her to share her experience with us, and here is what she said.
Keep in mind that applications for Maryland semester, short-term, and
exchange programs for next winter, spring, and spring break are due on
October 1st! Visit the UMD Education Abroad website for more
information, and always remember to check with a PSYC advisor to make
sure you have time to study abroad.
"I chose the
Maryland-in-Copenhagen program at DIS initially because all I knew about
Denmark was that they were consistently on the top of the list for 'the
happiness country in the world' and I was curious what made the people
so happy! Additionally, the class options for both my majors (Psychology
and English) interested me and it was great to have those credits
transfer so easily, which is what allowed me to stay the whole year
without worrying too much about not meeting graduation requirements!
The
unique thing about DIS is how much we traveled. For my Core Course,
European Clinical Psychology, we went to Western Denmark just a couple
of weeks after the semester started. This was
well timed because my main
group of friends in Denmark was solidified during that trip and we
became inseparable after one of the group dinners! During that week our
class saw more of Denmark and visited different therapeutic sites around
the country, including a Veterans center that pioneered PTSD research
in Denmark, a youth prison using a very unique short-term intensive
psychoanalysis, and a Snoezelhuset, which uses operational therapy
principles for people with autism and dementia. There were also great
cultural aspects of this trip where we went to a beautiful art museum
and then bonded over Danish sweet dough that we heated up over the
bonfire. It was amazing to see the Danish way of implementing therapy
and psychology. I took a few other psychology courses while I was in
Denmark, including "Psychology of Leadership," "Psychology of Endings,"
and "Psychology of Adolescence in Scandinavia." The Leadership class
falls under the I/O psychology field and for it we met with CEOs,
Ministry heads, and other executives to learn about their leadership
style and how they motivate the people they lead. For the Endings class
we explored the different aspects of endings people encounter ranging
from loss of life, job or significant other to the ending of a
conversation or class. The Adolescence class explored the life-stages
for Danish and other Scandinavian youth would go through and we compared
them to American adolescent experiences!
For the same European
Clinical Psychology class, just a few weeks after the first trip we
traveled to
Vienna, Austria to visit the birthplace of three important
schools of Venetian psychology: Freudian, Individual (Adler) and Logo
Therapy (Frankl). These legendary psychologists lived close to each
other and their theories were developed simultaneously and also
influenced by each other. We walked in their footsteps and visited
current-day psychologists that are practicing within those ideologies.
In Vienna, we also visited the Leopold Museum and the Belvedere where we
chose a painting and we wrote a psychological analysis of in the scope
of one of those ideologies. Since current affairs in Europe are still
affected by the 'refugee crisis' we also went to one of the centers
where the refugees are sent upon their arrival to Vienna and compared
that visit to a harrowing and humbling trip to one of the concentration
camps on the outskirts of Vienna. Each of these out of the classroom
experiences related to the material we had been studying in class and
were essential to us having the necessary knowledge to engage in those
real-life settings. Our cultural visit in Vienna was going to the Opera
Tosca at the famous opera house! Honestly, the whole year was like a
dream! And the great thing about Maryland-in-Copenhagen is that it is
well-structured to allow for those outside the classroom experiences,
which truly make for an unforgettable life-changing semester, summer or
year abroad!"
