Report Royal Holloway (RHUL), department of Classics. Intercollegiate MA
programme Ancient History/Classics. Other institutions involved: King’s College (KCL) and the Institute of Classical Studies (ICS), University College London (UCL).
By Pim Schievink
Courses taken: Athenian law and social history (RHUL); Late Antique Magic (KCL); Digital approaches to cultural heritage (ICS); total of 30 ECTS (60 UK Credits) As a Postgraduate (in the Netherlands an MA) student in Ancient history, an Erasmus+ exchange to Royal Holloway has several benefits. For the reader with a limited amount of time, I will shortly list them now: the programme allows you to take courses at Royal Holloway, King’s College, University College and the Institute of Classical Studies.
Moreover, there is a large library (ICS) that has only books related to the ancient world. I will also shortly list the troubles I had, before I will elaborate on them further: administration, course options and the place of the seminars. Most of these troubles are related to MA-programmes, so I do not expect Undergraduate (BA) students to experience the same problems.
Arrival
If you travelled by airplane to Heathrow Airport, you could choose to be welcomed by Royal Holloway and driven to campus. I arrived by train at St. Pancras and thereafter took the train to Egham. When arriving at the train station, I expected there to be people from Royal Holloway to guide me. Instead there were some signs placed where to go. I found it (which was not that hard) and entered campus and found my room. The first week was called “Fresher’s week” and there were plenty of activities. During this time, I met most of my friends.
Education
The courses listed above reflect on both the opportunities that an exchange to Royal Holloway offers, as well as on the limitations. A keen observer will see that the courses are diverse: Athenian Law deals with, mostly, the fourth century BC; Late antique magic deals with late antiquity (what’s in the name); Digital Approaches focuses on creating a specific toolset for further research relating to antiquity. More explicitly, there are three different institutions involved. It is noteworthy that an exchange student has very limited options to chose from in comparison to English students. This was one of the reasons my programme is as diverse and not more specialized.
For obvious reasons, the chance to go abroad is a great opportunity to study in a new
environment. One of the perks of going to Royal Holloway as a MA student – both in Classics or Ancient History – is their collaboration with two other universities in London (KCL and UCL) and above that the opportunity to take courses at the Institute of Classical Studies (ICS). Essentially, you are experiencing, if you chose courses at all of the institutions, an exchange to multiple universities.
As one would expect, this has not only pros. One of the main issues, both for English and exchange students, is the amount of paperwork involved. I like to know what I am up to in advance, but upon arriving most of my programme was not yet settled due to administrative work. I do not wish to bash on the offices, because at the beginning of the year it is busy. I
was lucky, however, that the programme I chose was available; others might not be so lucky in the future and might have to switch courses. The supporting staff was really helpful, so in the end this everything got solved.
All courses were taught within central London (even the one of Royal Holloway), which, although Royal Holloway is part of the University of London, is quite the travel
(approximately 20 minutes walk from campus to train in Egham, then 40 minutes by train and, lastly, some time by underground of walking). Without discount, the train costs 9.90 pound for a single trip. Getting a room in London for one term was hard and I chose to use the accommodation of the university. Because of my choice, I had to commute from my room at the campus to London. I was lucky enough to only have to travel twice a week, but it is good to bear in mind when choosing a MA exchange that it can be possible to travel more days a week – some people I know from Royal Holloway had to go to London four days a week. Again, for BA exchange this is not a problem because all courses are taught on campus itself. Commuting, while tiresome, was not too bad if you take into account the amount of expertise situated in London in terms of academic staff. I have no complaint whatsoever about the quality of the seminars and staff. I was taught by Prof. Lene Rubinstein, dr. Ioannis Papadogiannakis and Dr. Valeria Vitale, all experts in their respective fields. Accommodation
I lived in Founder´s Building on the campus of Royal Holloway. This is a really beautiful building and more often than not it felt like I was walking around Hogwarts. I shared a pantry and toilets with some 10 other male students (corridors are based on gender). Most of these students were first year BA students, which made the corridor noisy and due to my age and as a MA student I did not really bond with them. However, I had limited options to choose from and for a BA student this would probably fit better.
As it was a catered hall, all meals were served in a good-looking dining hall. While the food was not special, it was not bad at all. The discount given to students living in the hall made it not too expensive either (see below).
Expenses
I paid ca. 1900 pound (2200 euro at the time) for accommodation costs. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were approximately 8 to 10 pounds a day in the dining hall. Laundry costed 2.80 pounds per batch. Commuting costed me approximately 20 pound every time; for 12 weeks 2 times a week it is ca. 480 pounds. The Erasmus grant was ca. 972 euros. All in all, it was an expensive trip, but nonetheless a good one.
Brexit
In the future, it is possible that Brexit has some effects on the exchange. However, it is extremely unclear what those effects might be. Most universities will still try to get
international students to their university, so I would not feel too discouraged by the possibility of Brexit in 2020.
London
London is 40 minutes by train (to Waterloo Station), which makes going there for sightseeing not that bad. The city is huge and there is a lot to do. I would advise going to the British
Museum during the week, as the weekends are busy, and preferably in the morning.
Moreover, pubs are great; every British person goes to a pub for dinner and a drink. The food in most pubs is not too expensive in comparison to restaurants and most of them serve
traditional British food (pies, fish ‘n chips etc.), but have vegetarian options as well. I did not enjoy English beer, but Guinness is great.
An exchange to Royal Holloway and London is a great opportunity to meet new people and to study in a new environment.
