For many years, Aspira has been offering students, teachers, and non-teaching staff the opportunity to gain new experience at partner educational institutions through the Erasmus program. When the same opportunity presented itself to me, with the help of International Cooperation Coordinator Josip Radić, I applied for the International Week of the University of Suor Orsol Benincasa in Naples, which took place from the 4th to the 6th of May.
In less than an hour, by direct flight from Split (by a low-cost company), I found myself in the most important and largest city in southern Italy, Naples. I still can’t find the right words to describe it, but I’ll try the following: chaotic, noisy, cultured, dirty, rich in long and complicated history and a range of personalities who passionately adored or hated it, and it them. Nothing in half seems to survive in such a city, which is why Goethe concluded “Seeing Naples and dying.” Walking through Naples, you can admire the beautiful castles, but also notice the dilapidated facades of buildings. You can see children playing street football and elderly gentlemen playing cards or discussing daily happenings or simply, spontaneously singing Napoleonic arias. You can ride the beautiful and tidy subway and try the pizza, which smells on every corner. Although in itself attractive enough to visit, there is no lack of cultural and fashionable facilities in an environment of no more than an hour by train or boat. There is Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius, the islands of Capri, Ishia, Procida, the Amalfi Coast and its beautiful beaches.
The university I visited is not far behind with its attractions. Suor Orsola Benincasa is located in a convent on a hill above the centre of Naples and from their rooms there is a view of the whole city. International Week began on May 4th with a welcome speech by Rector Lucio d’Alessandro as well as Erasmus office staff that took place in the monastery’s former chapel. After that, lectures from colleagues from all over Europe started, so you could learn something about Contemporary Political Theories at a lecture by Professor Manuel Knoll from Istanbul University, a brain drain that torments Lithuania at a lecture by Gintruda Kasnauskiene, professor of statistics at Vilnius University, New Generation e -learning after the Covid-19 pandemic at a lecture by colleagues from Krakow. The next three days were filled with lectures as well as organized sightseeing and informal evening gatherings. Every afternoon was reserved for the presentation of partner institutions, so I also had the opportunity to present Aspira and the study programs that Aspira offers, as well as the attractions that Split and Zagreb offer to students. International Week ended on May 6th with a get-together that served as suggestions for collaboration, exchanging contacts, and sharing Certificates.
Lectures and informal conversations with colleagues from all over Europe gave me the opportunity to compare the practice at their universities and Aspira and thus gain new perspectives in working with students, as well as in scientific research. The experience and contacts I gained on my first Erasmus trip are invaluable and I will definitely do my best to repeat such an experience as soon as possible.
Antonia Tudor
