Freie Universitaet Berlin: International Summer and Winter University FUBiS at Freie Universität Berlin Starts New Year with an Expanded Range of Services
On Wednesday, Freie Universität Berlin welcomed 91 students from 17 countries to its International Summer and Winter University (FUBiS). In the first three-week FUBiS term of the new year, participants can enroll in numerous academic courses in German as a foreign language and other subjects. The program will also be offering special mental health support services to the international students, most of whom are from South Korea, Singapore, and the United States. The term will run through January 26.
Students who partake in the FUBiS program can attend German language and culture classes for different proficiency levels as well as four seminars taught in English on a variety of topics including European history, politics, and law, with a focus on highly relevant subjects such as populism and fascism.
For all FUBiS courses, Freie Universität Berlin awards credits according to the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), which students can then have recognized at their home university. All the courses are designed with a special focus on the city of Berlin due to its immense cultural and historical significance. The academic program also includes field trips such as a guided tour of the Reichstag building.
FUBiS Program Director Sophia Schmieder says that the intensive, critical approach taken to examining Berlin’s history and the opportunity to explore the city itself make the program a hit among students. This was confirmed in a survey taken during the 2022 summer term in which almost 100 percent of the 182 respondents stated that they would like to return to Berlin on vacation or even to study, work, or do an internship.
In spite of the participants’ clear enthusiasm, it can be extremely tough for students who are moving abroad for the first time to cope with both everyday life and their studies, which can have a profound impact on their well-being and grades. That is why the program will also be offering special mental health support services to international students from different personal and cultural backgrounds so that they can make the most of their time in Berlin. As Schmieder explains, “All students will receive an introduction to the topic of mental health and how it relates to new intercultural experiences. If they are interested, they will also be able to participate in an interactive workshop and one-on-one psychological counseling.” The participants can expect to benefit in particular from acquiring new time management skills and tools to cope with personally challenging, unfamiliar situations and certain intercultural interactions.
The FUBiS Summer University was held for the first time in 1998, and in 2007 a winter term was added. FUBiS offers summer and winter programs lasting three to six weeks that are made up of German language lessons and a wide range of academic courses primarily conducted through English. In past years, FUBiS has regularly welcomed around 600 students from 40 countries to Freie Universität Berlin.
In 2018 the academic quality of FUBiS once again was awarded certification through the US American Quality Improvement Program (QUIP), and is the only summer and winter university in Germany that has successfully completed the QUIP evaluation. The goal of FUBiS is to help create a global community of empowered individuals who will actively shape a better future; thus, future issues and the inclusion of the United Nations’ global “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) play an increasingly important role.