Amsterdam and Hofstra: A Historic Exchange Program that Opens the World to Students

You notice it before you step off the plane. You notice when you’re coming in for a landing, staring out at the approaching landscape. The land is flat, bright green, verdant, water-logged, broken up by canals, hemmed in by the sea and fresh water that surrounds the countryside. And everywhere, scattered along canals and on farms, are windmills. There are traditional windmills that dot the countryside, picture-perfect, tall and bulky, wooden and preserved from another era, but alongside them on land, and by the hundreds in the sea, are new windmills, sleek and white, the type that harness the power of the wind to create clean energy.

It occurs to you that you’re in a place that integrates the old and the new, the historic and the innovative, in a particularly interesting way.

Perhaps that was why, when Hofstra University decided to create a program that allowed its best students to study abroad, the University looked to its heritage and reached out to Dutch colleagues. It was over 25 years ago that Hofstra University first partnered with the University of Amsterdam for a global exchange program, a new initiative for both universities, to create a pathway for Dutch and U.S. students to study in another country for an entire semester.

In the fall of 2018, Hofstra University and the University of Amsterdam celebrated their 25 year partnership with a one-day symposium, “New Netherland, New Amsterdam: A Celebration of Dutch Heritage and Transatlantic Exchange,” officials and students from both universities considered why the ties between New York and Amsterdam, and Hofstra and the University of Amsterdam, were so significant.

In the audience was program alumna Vera Kuipers, Senior Policy Officer Press & Cultural Department for Performing Arts, Film, Literature at the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Vera credits the program, which she attended in the fall of 2001, for creating a career that allows her to span the two countries. “This job (at the Consulate) was written for me. Performing arts, film, literature…I majored in theater studies, and I understood transatlantic communication, the ties between our countries. I have always been able to bridge the U.S. with my own country in all my jobs. This job was really like an ambassador for Dutch arts and culture but also public diplomacy, the branding of our counties, communication, press relations. I always think if I hadn't come to Hofstra, the whole drive wouldn't be here to do this type of job, to come back and connect.”

The keynote address was by bestselling author, historian and journalist Russell Shorto, whose book The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America (2004) has led to a broad reconsideration of the early Dutch colonial period of New York City and State and surrounding areas. Among many other works, he has also written a history of the city of Amsterdam (Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City, 2013), and just published a fascinating new illumination of the period of the American Revolution, called Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom (2017). 

The symposium also featured panels on the student experience in Amsterdam in Holland and at Hofstra in New York; on the organization of life from the 17th century on in Dutch houses and villages in Holland, and in New Netherland and New Amsterdam, with presentations by faculty and staff historians from Amsterdam and Hofstra, and the professional researchers of the New Netherland Institute in Albany, who spoke about projects to recover the historical record of the early Dutch colonies in the New World. A display from the university’s Special Collections documented Hofstra’s Dutch heritage.

Exploring New Pathways

The exchange program can create unique opportunities for students. Christiaan Perez, currently the manager of advocacy and digital strategy for Latino Justice PRLDEF, was a Hofstra student who studied in Amsterdam from 2010-2011. He credits the program for starting his career in independent media and social justice. “My internship was at an organization is now called Free Press Unlimited. It had a different name back then. I went to a job fair that had a bunch of different Dutch NGOs and different companies who were looking for people to intern. My role was to edit the English website, at first, and over time I went more into programming. I was working at this media NGO, focused on independent media, during the Arab spring, which was very much about independent media and different perspectives.

I talked to a journalist from Egypt who was there for training - his newspaper was one of the newspapers that was targeted by government crackdowns. It was really interesting to talk about the importance of independent media and the ways we support it to someone who literally has to check on his office to make sure it’s still there or that his stuff hasn’t been messed up. It led to a lot of introspection because I was out of my element, but now in my career I’m engaging with folks like local journalists and international journalists to try and address those same (free press) issues.” The stint at the NGO in Amsterdam led to work with a Mexican radio station for his thesis and then community-based journalism, and eventually advocacy, after graduation.

Art and Friends Around the World

Robin Deering, a French and fine arts student who returned to Hofstra from Amsterdam in the spring of 2018, was sold on the program after becoming friends with a University of Amsterdam student who attended Hofstra for a year, and whose family hosted Robin often during her time in the Netherlands.

As a student of art, Robin had an invaluable experience. “Just having that opportunity to talk about pieces in class and then see them in person, especially architecture because we really don’t have that really old architecture here in the U.S., we have some old amazing paintings that are on display here of course, but even the buildings that they are displayed in are pieces of art themselves (in Amsterdam). I mean the Rijksmuseum is like, astounding. So to just be surrounded by that constantly was like a dream for me.”

 Her time in Amsterdam opened her eyes to other cultures. “I think especially in Amsterdam this is really common, a lot of the friends I made there were international students. They weren’t just Dutch students; we were from all over, like South America, other European countries, Canada and Singapore. So when were able to get together in these really casual settings, in our dorms hanging out, we could talk about topics like politics, with this ability to examine how other people go about the same problems in different ways, how they handle that. So (studying abroad) just gives you a larger sense of where you fit in and the different approaches you take to the same issue. You’re surrounded by others of different cultures, different experiences, and they all want to learn about your experiences as much as you want to learn about theirs. So it just allows you to see that from a different point of view.”

Cultural Competency in a Global Economy

(pick a few photos) Establishing this type of global environment is intentional, according to Guido de Wilde, Manager of Global Student Experience and Global Student Engagement at the University of Amsterdam, and develops students who are culturally competent and ready for a dynamic workforce. “I believe you have to create a brave space of intercultural learning, that you have to teach them what intercultural competence is, and create an environment where they feel brave enough and safe enough to experiment. So we create an environment where they are there to talk to each other, communicate. We give them some kind of cultural constructs to make sense of it all, and you have to build in moments to reflect on it as well.”

“We are all preparing, both your students and our students, for a changing global labor market. You have to be resilient in that arena. They will be working on international teams. And as I just explained, sometimes that can be difficult as well, so you have to build some kind of resilience. But it also creates creative entrepreneurs. I believe that if you tap into that rich network, the cultural network that you are building around you, that you get a lot of knowledge from all these various markets, but also creativity. Different approaches, different perspectives on how you might solve specific problems.”

Hofstra and Americans in Amsterdam: Adjusting to Living and Learning Abroad

In the fall of 2018, three Hofstra students attended the University of Amsterdam. Tia DeSalvo, a senior public relations major with a minor in political science; Rachel Bowman, a double major in German and political science, from Baltimore, Maryland; and Haritsa (Hari) Halepas, a double major in economics and global studies from Woodbridge, Connecticut.

Each came to the University of Amsterdam to push their boundaries and grow, to prepare them to live and work anywhere in the world, but still had to balance the program with their curriculum and requirements for Hofstra. “I specifically wanted to come to Amsterdam because I wanted to be in a place that was very centrally located. I love being able to travel, and being in Europe has that accessibility,” said Tia. “The University of Amsterdam is also an internationally acclaimed school with rigorous coursework, and I found that they had a lot of options that matched up with my course load at Hofstra.”

Hari knew that doing an exchange program would enable her to develop new abilities. “Independence is a huge one of the skills that you acquire. I think it’s important to do (an exchange) since the world is becoming so interconnected, and we have international students at Hofstra and you just hear about how everything is spreading around the world and you can communicate with people around the world. I think it’s also beneficial to come here and put yourself out there and get out of your comfort zone, to see where they’re actually coming from.”

Since Hari was nearing her Hofstra graduation date, she was able to take classes that would enable her to finish her degree on time. “I’m taking the History of Economic Thought, Calculus for Economics, Migration, Integration, and Diversity, and Environmental Law and Policy. Those are the equivalent of what I would have taken if I stayed at Hofstra, and what I need in order to graduate in May.”

At the University of Amsterdam, the international students are able to take classes in English. Much of Dutch mass media and higher educational coursework is in English, and this allows the students to have confidence that they will be able to adjust to a new environment and culture.

However, the academic structure is different from higher education in the U.S., providing new experiences that allow growth, according to Tia. “I have some classes that meet two hours a day, twice a week. I have classes than meet an hour and a half twice a week. I have classes that meet once a week for three hours. The classes are really rigorous, challenging. I did have a preconceived notion that I’d come into studying abroad and have an easy semester, or I’d be more into culture than I would be in books, but here they’ve challenged me.”

Tia, like her fellow students, finds the unique international mix at UvA to be one of its most rewarding elements. “I go to AUC, Amsterdam University College, which is 50% international students. All courses are taught in English, so it’s been interesting to be in such a global classroom. You hear a lot of different viewpoints that definitely don’t match up with your own, but it’s interesting to see how we can all collaborate and still discuss the same kind of topics.”

Only a few weeks into the semester, in September, the three were already confident finding their way around the city and the school. They had gotten into the Amsterdam way of riding bikes to and from campus; or taking the Amsterdam tram network all over the city. Shopping and living in a place without a car was an adjustment for them. “The first day was a little bit overwhelming because you don’t know if you’re on the right side,” admitted Hari. “The traffic lights are different compared to the pedestrian lights and they may not be green all at the same time. It took a little bit of adjusting but after a while you find roads that are less congested...”

However, the University of Amsterdam’s large international student network gives its students support in adjusting to a new environment. “Living in the student body is really interesting because you meet people from all over the world with different backgrounds, but then you’re able to find things in common with them,” said Rachel. “Just coming as an international student, we all kind of struggle to adjust. But luckily we have each other to help; we’re all in the same boat. If I don’t know where to go to the grocery store, somebody is there to help me, and it’s really nice knowing that your fellow students are going to support you through your process of adjusting.”

Living at the University of Amsterdam

Visiting with Hofstra students at Tia’s residence hall at the Amsterdam University College. More about campuses at UvA.

Tia’s goal is to have a career that spans the globe, and her semester at UvA has given her new confidence. “I’d like to work for a multinational company, specifically on international projects within communications. This is giving me an experience to put the abstract in the concrete.” While being at Hofstra and near New York City has been valuable, living in Amsterdam gave her more experience. Here, (at UvA), I’m with people from all across the world that speak so many languages and have so many talents and have had experience that I couldn’t even imagine. We get to use those backgrounds to push everybody forward.”

A Successful Semester

As the semester wound down, and the students began to think about coming back, they reflected on a life-changing and transformative experience.

Rachel had traveled Europe, sometimes solo, and sometimes with new friends. She wrote an account of her travels to Barcelona, Antwerp, Rome, Paris and London, among other cities, on her blog, Reviewed by Rachel, and guest-blogged on Hofstra friend and inveterate traveler Sara Whitman’s blog, Sara Whitman My Thoughts, sharing her experiences and newfound knowledge with the next generation of student travelers.

In her blog, Rachel said, “Studying abroad has pushed me out of my comfort zone in more ways than I ever thought possible, and I found myself doing something I always dreamed about but was never sure I could do. I took a solo trip to Rome.” She went on to make new friends and walked around Rome with fellow brave travelers.

And Tia found an internship as a student research assistant for Kieskompas, a Dutch voting advice website. She assisted a team of market researchers on a project around different ideological currents within U.S. political parties during the midterm election, and helped collect data on candidates’ stances on economic, healthcare, foreign policy, environmental, and social issues. The project was produced for an international think tank, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, a social democratic foundation in Germany. “It was an insightful experience to be able to gain global work experience, especially in a capacity that allowed me to use my knowledge of American politics in a meaningful way,” said Tia.  “I’m grateful that I was able to find a unique way to enrich my time in Amsterdam while also having my research published for the first time.”

The research project she assisted with can be seen on the Friedrich Ebert Foundation website.

Amsterdam, Hofstra and New York: A Natural Partnership

By the end of their trip, all three students, like decades of Hofstra students before them were mesmerized by Amsterdam, the “Venice of the North,” its history of tolerance and innovation, and the people they met, recognizing the parallels and synergies between Amsterdam and New York.

Rachel “loves Amsterdam. Every street you turn down, there’s another canal, and these beautiful homes lined up against it. It takes my breath away. There are a lot of unique neighborhoods within Amsterdam, so you have all these street markets, and lots of street food, and just very interesting things that you can find.”

And Tia could “definitely see ties between Amsterdam and New York. New York was New Amsterdam. So even to see the cities, like the Harlem part of Amsterdam, because we have Harlem in New York. You also see a lot of ties between (Hofstra’s) campus and what’s here. The tulips are definitely a huge thing when you see them, it’s kind of like being at home. I also think culture-wise people are just as friendly and just as open. People here are really willing to help each other, which I can definitely say is true on Hofstra’s campus as well.”