Anglo-American University in Prague AAU Lecturer Experiences the Beauties of Norway First-Hand
Senior lecturer Alena Foustková gave a presentation before AAU students and staff in two parts, on October 8 and 23, discussing her travels in Norway and her impressions of Volda University College, one of AAU’s Erasmus+ partners. Foustková’s visit to that institution came as a result of her invitation to International Staff Week, an annual event aimed at bringing together representatives from the university college’s associates abroad.
To reach Volda, Foustková and her husband embarked on a road trip that took them through much of Northern Europe, passing through Germany and Denmark and, from there, to Norway by ferry. Once on Norwegian soil, she said she was immediately struck by the wild and unspoilt character of the landscape, as the couple made their way along meandering roadways that took them, quite literally, through the mountains and past a seemingly never-ending supply of waterways.
“There is only nature and only wilderness and lakes that you pass, which is like being in a paradise in some way,” recounted Foustková. “You go around the fjords and around mountains…and it’s…beautiful, very picturesque. The nature looked so pristine. ”
It was an impression that would remain with her throughout the course of her travels in Norway and extend to Volda itself, which is set against a fjordic backdrop and surrounded by mountains, with vegetation Foustková described as verdant and lush.
International Staff Week drew an appropriate mix of participants that included, alongside Foustková, representatives from Spain, Poland, Hungary, Germany, and Austria. It was through this program that she was given a front row seat to what Volda University College has to offer students and staff.
Founded in the 19th century, today the university college is one of the largest institutions of its kind between the cities of Bergen and Trondheim. Operations are housed on a single campus, with all buildings within a short walking distance of one another. The Faculty of Media and Journalism, where visiting AAU students will spend most of their time, boasts a newly constructed building with state-of-the-art facilities that include industry-standard studios, editing suites, control rooms, and cameras. Foustková had the chance to sit in on a number of classes offered by that faculty and said she was taken with what she saw.
“What’s good about the program in Volda…is that you can really try, hands-on, all kinds of techniques or technologies…at the highest level,” she said.
The university college has its own student-run TV and radio stations, which offer students the chance to gain real-world experience and skills in production and broadcasting, working as anchors, photographers, designers, reporters, and story-tellers. Foustková witnessed first-hand a live video broadcast, in which students took on roles both before and behind the lens.
“This is like a live news media studio where you can experience what it takes to create and to run a TV show,” she recalled. “You can try editing and narrating voice-overs. You can see how you put things together in the post-production process. All the equipment is available to students. This is a really great way to explore.”
The media building also houses an editorial studio where students run the school’s in-house magazine, Peikestokken, which covers news and events in Volda and the surrounding area. Here, students plie the art of story-telling, working on layout, graphics, and page design; and developing stories, editing interviews, and recording their own podcasts.
Alongside the foregoing, media and journalism students can participate in specialized visual art and creativity workshops and work in a variety of media, including wood, clay, textiles, drawing, and painting.
The main gathering point for international students is Pangaia, a hub intended to provide its members with a home away from home. Here, students can sign up for events, socialize, relax, and participate in activities such as karaoke, day tours, hiking, and movie nights.
Foustková said the cafeteria offers varied and flavoursome cuisine at student-friendly prices surprisingly consistent with those found in Prague. And within the same building, there is a concert hall serving as the venue for events including concerts, open mic nights, live sports broadcasts, and cultural programs.
Through its student organizations, the university college also offers a number of outdoor and sporting activities such as mountain hiking, surfing, handball, indoor football, hockey, volleyball, and badminton. Opportunities within the University College Choir and Symphony Orchestra are also available to students, in addition to KRIK and VOKS, Christian groups focused on physical education and student integration, respectively.
Volda also plays host to Norway’s oldest and largest annual documentary film festival, which attracts participants from across the country and beyond, while the school’s animation department organizes the annual Animation Festival, featuring workshops, world premieres, and noteworthy guest speakers. Each winter, Volda, which has its own ski slope, also serves as the setting for the X2 Extreme Sports Festival.
The village of Volda is home to roughly 9,000 inhabitants, with local architecture made up primarily of traditional wooden structures, in addition to a stone church located in the center. The community also lies in relatively close proximity to Geiranger Fjord, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the Sunnmøre Alps, which offer terrain well-suited to hiking and other outdoor activities.
When not sitting in on classes, Foustková found time with her husband to explore the village, fjord, and adjacent countryside, where they visited a nearby “sweetwater” lake frequented by students, as well as a shore-side sauna on the opposite side of town that had, to her amusement, been converted from a structure once used to store dynamite.
“[There is] very beautiful, gorgeous nature surrounding the town of Volda,” said Foustková. “The whole setting is very natural, very pristine. And [students] are encouraged to go for hikes and to explore nature and just enjoy this kind of natural beauty that the school offers.”
Volda student and Oslo native Iris Jakobsen Aagaard, who is studying this semester at AAU, said Volda’s close-knit community and active social scene offers students multiple ways to connect with one another, citing Pangaia, in particular.
“Pangaia is probably one of the best student organizations that I’ve experienced,” shared Aagaard. “It’s the…meeting point that especially the Erasmus exchange students go to. They always have free coffee, and they’re super inclusive and nice.”
Aagaard added that affordable housing is another perk of student life in Volda, where most students live in houses within the village, and spoke to the flexible life a student can lead at the university college, whether that be one of solitude or social interaction.
After completing the week in Volda, Foustková and her husband started their journey back home by way of Oslo, enjoying more of what the country had to offer along the way, before passing through Sweden and Germany to reach Prague. It had been a stimulating journey covering roughly 4,000 kilometers and one that Foustková said will remain in her memory.
AAU students interested in studying at Volda University College are encouraged to reach out to Natalie Kvackova-Sipula, international cooperation specialist, at natalie.kvackova@aauni.edu, or Beáta Tomečková, study abroad coordinator, at beata.tomeckova@aauni.edu. While the program is tailored primarily for students in the School of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences, all students are welcome to apply.
Learn more about Volda University College through the videos below.