In April, I had the opportunity to visit Dr Ieva Stončikaitė at the Department of the Humanities at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain through the Erasmus+ Job Shadowing programme. Dr Stončikaitė and I are colleagues working in the field of ageing research. We met a few years ago at a COST Action network meeting through the Ethics in Dementia (EDEM) CA21137 network and have kept in contact ever since.
Normally, when taking part in international activities, it involves presenting current research. When going for a staff exchange through the Erasmus+ programme, it is common for the guest to teach at the hosting institution for a pre-agreed number of hours. However, visiting through the Job Shadowing programme for a few days allowed me to attend seminars and presentations with the main purpose of learning rather than teaching myself. Visiting without preparation enabled me going in the first place during my own ongoing teaching period at Åbo Akademi. The visit at Pompeu Fabra University was a truly inspiring and enriching experience, and I got practical tips on how to engage students during the lessons. I attended when Dr Stončikaitė delivered a lecture on political rhetoric based on the works of George Orwell. It was inspiring to see how a lecturer can engage and activate students by moving around in the classroom and talking from different corners of the room during the lecture. Additionally, the students were activated by being asked individually to read quotes or smaller sections of text out loud. While this may be a more natural teaching element for students in English literature, I think similar activating assignments could be relevant also in social sciences. During my visit, I also got to take part in more informal conversations before and after the lectures about teaching in general, which was too an enriching experience. During my visit, Dr Stončikaitė arranged a book launch at the University, as she has recently published the book Contemporary Literary Perspectives on Female Ageing – Insights from Erica Jong with Routledge. I was very fortunate to be there to attend the event, and I got quite inspired to perhaps one day be part of writing, or editing, a book myself. To summarise, the visit in Barcelona was a very rewarding experience and I am thankful for being able to go.
I am grateful to Dr Stončikaitė, Professor Camilla Nordberg, Harriet Klåvus, Åbo Akademi, Pompeu Fabra University, and the Erasmus+ programme for enabling this visit! 😊 Thank you!
Picture taken at Pompeu Fabra University after Ieva’s book launch.
Ieva presenting.
I had been warned about pickpockets, and therefore took a post-run swim with both my phone and hotel key card in hand. 🙂
One of the campuses of Pompeu Fabra University.
Feeling grateful to be able to spend enriching and inspiring days in Barcelona together with my friend and colleague.
Best wishes,
Sarah Åkerman
Postdoc researcher / temporary university lecturer in social policy