Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS Speciality : Performing Arts
programme: Theatre

University with good structure and good professionals, I recommend it to other students. Satisfactory experience as a student, receiving quality education that was attentive to the students’ demands. The education met my expectations.

Despite everything, university here in Brazil is free. Currently, it is possible to enter with a universal test, for all universities in Brazil, or a specific test for UFRGS. A higher education course is always a valid option, a diploma, nowadays in Brazil, is financial security. However, thinking about my course, Performing Arts, we have few options other than to end up in a classroom (and that’s what the diploma is for). The most important thing about the university is the knowledge and contacts we make there. It is necessary to criticize, teachers have been at the university for years and far from the job market and end up not passing on the reality of the professional world to students, outdated and overly theoretical methods end up depriving the student of constructive experiences. The Performing Arts course does not prepare the student for a public notice, for theatrical production or even financial education. The building where the classes take place is falling apart, sockets that give shocks, elevators that don’t work on rainy days, wiring that explodes light bulbs, rooms where the structure is so weak that you can’t jump. This happens due to the unequal transfer of money from the university itself, which favors some courses and the arts are left last. There is another university that offers the same course, I’ve never been there to find out what it’s like, but other people praise it a lot. I would recommend another university, but if you don’t want to continue in the job market and want to stay in academic life, UFRGS is good at training researchers who are not prepared for the world outside of it.

The quality of teaching is spectacular. Excellent teachers, good curriculum. A very positive point is having contact with other courses in different areas (and being able to take subjects from these other courses). The negative point is the scrapping of some buildings and materials.

I’m a drama/theater student, and my department is very low on the financial totem pole of the university. We study at a building not exactly adequate to our needs, with very limited space for our work and many times we have to deal with defective or lacking equipment. Teacher are mostly good, with a lot of knowledge on their fields, although I feel a general lack of knowhow about our professional world. They usually are going to guide us toward a more academic mindset, which is great for those interested. We could certainly use more scholarship opportunities, which are also limited by lack of money, of course. In general, is a good experience that could be improved upon.

I think that in my case, as a theatre student, the facilities where the classes happened were not appropriate for the students and professors to study, learn and grown. But overall, it is a very well served university with great opportunities for learning and developing yourself as a good professional and I am proud to conquer my degree from this university.