International Relations in Beijing

My semester with IES was an incredible experience. One of the most memorable factors about my time abroad was the field studies trip to Tibet that was an academic components of the program. I had never before had the opportunity to take a mobile course, and being able to have the experience of travel accompanied by a professor that guided our analysis of everything we were exposed to was academically enriching.

The Chinese language courses at IES are very rigorous, so I found that my language level had many improvements, although placement into the class levels is not always extremely accurate. Subject classes are not as rigorous as they are at my home university. Going into the semester, I knew very little about Chinese politics and international relations, so although in my case the classes were very informative, I still found that they weren't extremely challenging. However, I think that having a low academic commitment was also part of the experience because it gave the students time to focus on seeing Beijing and other areas of the country without sacrificing academic standing.

I found that staff at IES to be supportive of all of my personal problems. The professors in the program helped me develop and senior thesis by personalizing the course work to my interests (as well as those of other students) and providing me with resources for extended exploration that I would not have found on my own. Th center staff always made themselves available resolve any problems that I might be having, and the RAs in the program are well chosen and trained to mentor and help students navigate the country with success.