Report Semester Abroad - the University of Westminster

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Business Management Department

Report about my semester abroad at the University of Westminster

in London

Nora Adelhardt[pic 3]

Matriculation number: 9020746

Semester abroad in the 5th semester

University of Westminster

35 Marylebone Road

London NW1 5LS

United Kingdom

www.westminster.ac.uk

The Education Abroad Team

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Jens Böcker

Date: 11th May 2015

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1        Description of the University        3

2        Courses        4

2.1        Global Economy        4

2.2        Work Psychology        5

2.3        Project Management        6

2.4        Introduction to Events        8

2.5        The English Study System in comparison to the German system        9

3        Technical and individual Experiences        10

4        Satisfaction of the maintenance        11

4.1        Bonn Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences        11

4.2        University of Westminster        11

5        London, Citizens and Additional Tips        12

1. Description of the University

The University of Westminster is a public research university located in the heart of London and one of Britain’s oldest and largest higher education institutions. As the first polytechnic in the United Kingdom it was founded in 1838 under the name “Royal Polytechnic Institution”. ^[a]Nowadays^[b], the university includes four main campuses. “Regent Street”, “New Cavendish Street” and “Marylebone” are in central London while “Harrow” is in the west of London. (Westminster.ac.uk, 2015) Within these campuses there are six faculties:

The 1997 founded Westminster Business School^[c] is in the Marylebone campus in the opposite of the famous Madame Tussauds waxworks museum and Regents Park as well as next to the Baker Street. At this campus there are three different buildings: Chiltern Building, Luxborough Building and Marylebone Building. In 2009 the School joined with the Harrow Business School so that it now appropriates higher education for 4000 students. It is divided into the following departments: Business Information Management and Operations, Economics and Quantitative Methods, Accounting, Finance and Governance, Human Resource Management, Leadership and Professional Development, Marketing and Business Strategy. Furthermore, the growing Westminster Business School includes three areas of activities: learning and teaching, research and business engagement with a wide international orientation. The University of Westminster invested 20 million pounds in the Marylebone campus. Thus, students have a fantastic learning platform including a 24-hour access open library, a café, a bookshop, and several IT laboratories with usable printers and scanners, plenty of study spaces, state-of-the-art lecture rooms and further facilities such as prayer rooms, sports rooms and recreational facilities^[d]. (Westminster.ac.uk, 2015)

The University of Westminster has a very global ambition. In total they provide more than 300 degree programs for over 5000 international students from 150 different countries from ^[e]all over the world and the staff represent that too. Thereby, approximately 20 percent of the student body is international. The Students’ Union provides several clubs and societies. (Westminster.ac.uk, 2015)

1. Courses

For my abroad semester I chose the modules “Global Economy” (Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods), “Project Management” (Department of Business Information Management and Operations), “Work Psychology” (Department of Human Resource Management) from the Westminster Business School and “Introduction to Events” (Department of Property and Construction) from the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.  

The undergraduate grading system in the United Kingdom includes the following classifications: First class 70 – 100% (equivalent grade A), upper second class 60 – 69% (equivalent grade B), lower second class 50 – 59% (equivalent grade C) and third class 40 – 49% (D).

1. Global Economy

As the name suggests, the module Global Economy is about the growing integration of the world as well as the environmental and economic developments and threats through this integration. The students are supposed to gain an understanding of several economic analyses ^[f](such as absolute and comparative advantage) and their application to issues concerning the global economy. Essential topics for the module are globalisation, trade, economic integration, development issues, international capital flows, labour migration, financial crisis, state capitalism and climate change. Thereby, aspects like the benefits of trade or labour migration, the coherence between globalisation and greater inequality, the mechanism that leads to financial crisis, the uniqueness about China’s brand of capitalism or^[g] the costs of climate change will be discussed (right tense^[h]?). Except from the understanding about global economic issues, students are also able to improve their ability to research, analyse tasks and solve problems. (Westminster.ac.uk, 2015)