Program Reviews

I am a law student from India. I attended the security governance and conflict resolution summer programme in June 2017. The course structure was very interesting and the lecturer Mr.Martijn Dekker is an inspirational human being. He was so knowledgeable and humble and not to mention FUN. The University had planned 2 trips to the ICC in Hague and the Nato SHAPE in Belgium. These 2 trips were once in a life time opportunity. The housing was very comfortable and located at the heart of the city. Above all my classmates were intelligent, wonderful people. And living in Amsterdam for 3 weeks felt like I was living in a dream. Must attend!!!!!!!!

This is a fantastic program. The lecturers were excellent and covered many different topics of theoretical addiction models, policy, and treatment. We looked at local and international policy; adolescence; prevention and education; genetics and addiction; treatment via internet; future policy and trends; psychology, behavior; international research; novel treatment programs and much more.
We had great excursions to facilities around Amsterdam such as a Dutch youth prison; 'coffee' shop management; residential facilities for chronic substance users; AA meeting; drug testing
Accommodation was with student housing so it was basic but good and very inexpensive. My partner and I had an apartment for less than 30 Euros a night. It's even cheaper if you are single and share rooms.The student housing was good as you also got to mix with all the other students and go out socialising in Amsterdam together.
Our course had 17 students from 14 nations so we had a really great mix of ideas and experiences from around the world. It was a fantastic group and we all became good friends very quickly.
Amsterdam is a lovely little city and is especially great in Summer. We had beautiful weather for the entire 2 weeks. Sunny and warm everyday!
There is much to do and see in Amsterdam and all the other students are very friendly so we had a great time going out after classes finished for the day. It has been really great staying in touch via Facebook with the friends that I met during this course. This is a fantastic course and I had the best time!

This summer institute was a great experience from academic, professional and social point of view. The composition was excellent and I got to meet very good set of people from diverse backgrounds, from academics to professionals and social workers in field of sexuality studies/ research/work. The faculty were no less. in four week period we covered in depth, diverse topics from concepts and theories to art and media to urban tours of sex districts and sexual politics. Such a diversity with depth combination is hardly covered in any usual sexuality courses where they are limited by disciplinary boundaries. But Summer school at UvA just did the unusual. The teachers were distinguished and well versed and also open to critiques and sensitive to contextual differences. I made great friends with faculty and students and hope to reap these professional connections for my professional work in future.

Apart from school Amsterdam is a great place to explore, given its openness in attitude and tolerance to sexual difference. The gay pride gave a taste of its vibrancy as much as the sex district or Dutch people themselves. AS walk through the city lets you learn so much. I enjoyed my daily doze of Frites and felafel, fresh cheeze and lots of dutch friends. I miss the WTF parties very much.

It's a fantastic summer program. Professors gave us interesting lectures and provided us with basic knowledge of the social policy in Amsterdam. The most amazing part is that we went to different sights to see what it was in reality. That's pretty easy for us to understand what the conception and idea professor taught in class.

The location, the lecturers, the people were all amazing. This was something i would never forget. My only difficulty was speaking English everyday, but I managed to handle it after a while. It was the best way to spend your summer; making friendships, staying in an amazing city, and learning the most valuable subjects by very good lecturers.

The course was extremely academically beneficial, with fantastic teachers and support staff. I felt instantly welcomed and the whole thing was very well organised.
In terms of a social experience, it scores 10/10, it gives you the opportunity to meet such an array of interesting people who you can learn an infinite amount from.
Amsterdam as a backdrop to the study is perfect, a welcoming and vibrant place to spend a summer!
I would highly recommend the programme to anyone considering it.

This program consisted of some of the most interesting material that would not be found in any other country.The staff was friendly, helpful, and fun to be around. We had many interesting lectures, with a large quantity of time for tours and excursions. The cultural experience you will receive from this program will not disappoint you.

My experience with the Social Policies & Pragmatic Tolerance was great! The professors were so helpful and knowledgeable about what they were teaching. The guest speakers brought in we also informational and beneficial to my learning experience. The entire experience was great! I appreciated the staff's suggestions on other excursions we could do on our own. The food was good as well. I felt like we were treated very well, both physically and academically. I would participate in study abroad again at the drop of a hat. Thank you!

Studying summerschool drug and alcohol addiction really gave me new perspective of how deal with drug and alcohol addicts. My knowledge about alcohol, drug and addiction improved after I attended this course. The course provided me with the range of experiences how to deal with alcohol, drug and addiction. The course surely equiped me with thorough understanding of the complexity of social problems come up with addiction, what are contemporary theories and concepts that have been developed in the field of addiction studies, and what are the treatment strategies in dealing with it. In addition, I learned policy models and multi disciplinary approaches to solve the problem of addictions.

For the University I am currently working, as well as the Center for Psychological Services which is newly established in 2009, this will be great opportunity to upgrade my knowledge about addictions. In addition, as the university still lack of the expert who are concerned with alcohol, drug and addiction, this will fill in the scarcity of the lecturer who can teach the students with proper understanding and comprehensive approaches in dealing with these problems.