Freie Universität Berlin’s International Summer and Winter University hosts Students to the Lankwitz Campus
A new term of FUBiS, the International Summer and Winter University of Freie Universität Berlin, started on Sunday with 160 students from 20 countries. During the six-week term, the students will attend German language classes alongside courses in other subjects. Most of the students this term come from the United States, Singapore, and China. The FUBiS term will run through July 15.
At FUBiS, students can choose between German language classes, various other classes taught in English, or a combination of the two. There are seminars on a variety of topics, including the history of Germany during National Socialism, the European Union and migration in Europe, as well as European art history and psychoanalysis in the visual arts and literature.
Freie Universität Berlin awards credits for all FUBiS courses according to the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), which students can then have recognized at their home university. All courses are designed with a special focus on the city of Berlin due to its immense cultural and historical significance. The academic program includes field trips, such as a boat trip on the Spree River, a street art tour, a guided tour to important sites of the 1968 student movement, as well as a guided tour of the Reichstag building. Participants can also take part in daytrips to Potsdam and Leipzig. In addition to other services, the program offers specialized mental health support, including interactive workshops and individual psychological counseling, to ensure the best possible care for international students with their diverse backgrounds.
The FUBiS Summer University was held for the first time in 1998, and a winter term was added in 2007. 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 in English. In past years, FUBiS has regularly welcomed around 600 students from 40 countries to Freie Universität Berlin.
The academic quality of FUBiS was awarded certification through the US American Quality Improvement Program (QUIP) yet again in 2018, and it remains the only summer and winter university in Germany to have 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 within its curriculum.