Schooling Down South

This post is looong overdue.

To start off, I would like to blame school work as the primary culprit in my tardiness. Since I still have not described my school situation in any sort of depth (and since this blog serves as meaningful procrastination from studying for my Economic History of the World midterm), it only seems right to begin this game of "catch up" with post about good ol' UADE (Universidad Argentina de la Empresa [The Argentine Business University]).

In order to make this post more fun, it is necessary that you know how to pronounce UADE. We don't simply say U. A. D. E. like most people do with UCLA or UT. Instead, UADE is spoken as a word, which to the English ear sounds something like "WAD" + "AY". WAD+AY=UADE. Go ahead and say it out loud, I promise not to make fun of you…until I get back.

I decided to attend UADE in Buenos Aires mostly for the fact that St.Edward's and UADE have a reciprocal exchange program for students who want to study abroad. That just means that while I'm here in bustling Buenos Aires, an Argentine student from UADE is studying abroad in sunny Austin. I pay all of my fees to St.Edward's and they pay all of theirs to UADE. It's a simple program, but it definitely works.

UADE is located off of Avenida 9 de Julio, the main street in BsAs. From the outside the school looks like any other modern building in the heart of the city. Of course, a gigantic "UADE" and the school's seal face the Avenida, accompanied by another sign that says "UADE Art Institute" (in case you were wondering whether or not UADE offers other majors besides business degrees, the answer is yes). The campus, converted from a hotel into a school in 1957, covers one entire city block. It rises eight stories high and reaches four stories underground. Similar to practically any college or university in the States, it boasts plenty of classrooms, a library (which just won a cool award), professional offices for the faculty and administrative purposes, a gym, student residences, an auditorium, a big courtyard, and six widely varied places to buy food (including a Starbucks and the only Subway that I have seen in Argentina). All in one city block!

An astounding 15,000 students are currently enrolled in classes at UADE. That's five times greater than the undergraduate enrollment at St.Ed's, roughly the size of Lamar University and only about 10,000 less than Texas Tech! Needless to say, their use of building space is very efficient. However, I still miss the beautiful lawns and buildings of St.Edward's. Go Hilltoppers! Like many things in BsAs, the entrances are guarded by a private security company, On top of that, in order to pass into the school and leave it, I have to swipe my UADE card across a scanner that is linked to a system which keeps track of who is in the school at what time. The classrooms are small and most can hold thirty to forty people, although a few rooms have a larger capacity. Wide windows line at least one wall of most of the classrooms and every single room is rigged with the latest Mac technology.

Curriculum wise, the school is very similar to any in the United States. Unlike the majority of other schools in BsAs, UADE is structured on the British/American systems as opposed to the French system. This means that the average student graduates with her or his degree in four years, usually taking five classes at a time. The classes, however, count for 4.5 hours instead of the typical 3 hours in the States. The structure of school week is also obviously different: each class only meets once a week…for four straight hours. My short American attention span suffers every time. Classes take place in three separate time slots: 7:45am-11:45am, 2:00pm-6:00pm, and 6:30pm-10:30pm. About two hours into the lecture, each class takes one thirty minute "recreo" in which the entire student body either 1) escapes the building, hoping that the professor does not notice their absence in the next half of class, 2) rushes outside for a cigarette break, 3) floods the many sources of food and coffee including the conveniently located deli stands and coffee vending machines which provide a dixie-cup worth of caffeine for one peso, or 4) slips into a 30-minute power nap.

While all of our European friends are required by their home schools to take five courses (some in English AND some in Spanish), we lazy Americans are only taking three. Trust me…it's enough. I cleverly arranged my schedule so that I don't have any classes on Monday or Tuesday. On Wednesday, I take Economic History of Argentina at night. Thursday is Economic History of the World in the afternoon and by Friday afternoon, I'm barely hanging on in Comprehension of Contemporary Art.

None of my classes exceed 30 students, much like the classes at St.Edward's, and the students come mostly from Argentina, but also from Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, El Salvador, and many other Spanish-speaking nations. All of my professors are women and they are all very, very, extremely, unquestionably intelligent and well-versed in their respective subjects. Unlike many of my classes at St.Edward's where the professor simply speaks while the students take notes or stare at the pretty pictures on the power point slides, the classes at UADE have proven to be much more interactive. Students constantly ask questions, offer hypotheses, or provide pertinent information and my professors ALWAYS feed on the discussions and are fully capable of responding to any question, whatever it may be. On top of that, hold their students accountable for the information in class and the information from the required readings (which is a boatload). I've found that the midterms are CLEAR evidence of these high standards. I cannot speak for the hundreds of other classes at UADE, but the three that I am taking have truly impressed me and as far as I'm concerned, UADE could easily hold its own against any average or above average university in the States. Honestly, the only characteristic that rubs me the wrong way would be the grading scale. Possible grades range from 0-10 and SOMEHOW, the administration has decided that a 4, not a 6 is equivalent to 60%. Who knows.

In any case, I'd say it's a pretty good school and it's definitely keeping me on my toes.

Ciao chicos,

Clint