Day to day life walking around the canals

Author: Laney Kellybrew | Majors: Journalism, Sociology | Semester: Summer 2023

This summer, I spent four weeks in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I initially sought out this program to take the International Criminal Justice course since it was in close proximity to the Hague and has a deep history with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Close to the start of the program I found out spots had to be reserved for upperclassmen, and was given my second choices of Feeding the Billions: Food and Water Insecurity, and Global Health. I could not have had a better experience in these courses. Through my first Feeding the Billions course, I was offered a comprehensive analysis of the drivers of global food and water insecurity. We discussed the current extent of these issues, problems that accentuate them, effects, and possibilities of worsening conditions due to climate change and a growing population. We also did work to distinguish among groups and areas who are affected disproportionately, such as the global south. At the end of the course, we got to choose a presentation topic and my group presented on food and water insecurity issues in the southern United States. We discussed the ways we could integrate the Netherlands agriculture practices to alleviate the stress of these issues caused by food deserts, scattered communities, and low income and education rates. My second class, Global Health, also gave me a fully encompassing look at the difference in health systems globally. In this course, we learned what a health system actually is, how it runs, and who runs it. We also learned and debated about topics surrounding current issues with health systems. We engaged in an elaborate debate about the morality of mandating treatment and testing for HIV/Aids in South Africa’s hospitals. The students were placed in groups and given roles of different stakeholders of society (government officials, private sector, NGO’s, pharmaceutical companies, etc). We debated this topic significantly until we could compromise on some aspects of our arguments and come to a conclusion on the best way to alleviate the effects of such an extensive virus while maintaining citizens’ bodily autonomy. On top of gaining these understandings of food and water insecurity coupled with general health, the diversity of my classes were another area of growth for me. Never in my life have I been surrounded with so many people of different ethnicities, home countries, languages, and customs. I learned as much through my classmates as I did with the coursework.

While class was extremely beneficial and fulfilling, I had a wonderful time outside of class in Amsterdam. Amsterdam maintains an extremely normalized attitude towards several taboo topics in the U.S such as prostitution, drugs, and homosexuality. Living in an environment as accepting as this was extremely comfortable and not at all unsafe as some of us initially considered. This city is absolutely beautiful. There are canals running like the layers of an onion going out from the city center in what I would consider their downtown area. There are markets, restaurants, shops, and more. Me and my classmates spent almost every day there after class, and still did not have time to visit all the neighborhoods in the city. Also, transportation was extremely easy to navigate. I would say Amsterdam has three districts: downtown, historic, and business. Not only did this give us a diverse experience there, but it was very easy to move between them. Whatever was not in walking distance was a short metro, train, or bus ride away. The public transportation was fast, clean, and easy to understand (even though it’s in Dutch)! By the second week of the program, we all considered ourselves locals in regards to fluidity with running public transportation. While the transportation was amazing, I loved walking whenever I could. Amsterdam requires a significant amount of walking, but the canals and streets are so lively and beautiful that I never minded it.

My program ISA, and my program coordinator Lindsey, were amazing. I would recommend this program to anyone! They communicated with us significantly before the trip started so that everything was in place when we got there. Our housing was wonderful, complete with our own rooms, bathrooms, and small kitchen areas with utensils. We stayed in apartment style student living that was very nice, and only around a 20 minute commute by Metro to campus. My advice to students who may pursue this program is to take it all in, don’t waste a minute you could spend in the city, and take weekend trips outside of it as much as possible!