I am very passionate about domestic politics, but at the time I applied I was not so fond of law studies, so I decided to go for Bocconi University for the Bachelor’s Degree in International Politics and Government, hoping that at least a fraction of what I love would be a course topic.
At a very first glance, Bocconi reminded me of American campuses, with a large personalized area (it is not so common in Milan, especially in the city centre) with a lot of amenities for students on campus, such as a library, a cafeteria, a sports centre.
Over the past months, I experienced several courses in hybrid mode. This gave me the opportunity to get to know better the learning methods, both in-person and online. I should say, they’re great. The proprietary platform, Blackboard, is very student-oriented and it is intuitive and simple to use. In-person, professors are very open to students’ questions and doubts (even more than in high school for some cases). In my experience, they always replied to emails very quickly and precisely.
On the other hand, from a strictly educational point of view, they are not the best professors I have ever had in my–albeit short–life. The language barrier surely does not help at all, because lessons are sometimes monotonous and grey. I am sure professors would result (in students’ eyes, at least) in some ways more passionate about topics they teach if they did not have to give lectures in English. Also, some courses, such as Political Science and Comparative Politics, result in a little bit biased toward the Western way of dealing with political phenomena.
Subjects, in general, are not so similar to other Political Science courses in Italy, but rather a mixture of a little bit of Economics, Government, Law and Political Science. Mathematics is not excluded and it is a rather hefty part of the first semester.
On the students’ side, there is the availability of teaching materials. In fact, in my opinion, books are not essential, because professors put everything you need on Blackboard.
In the “BIG” course, as we call it, a great half of the students are international, so there is no problem in familiarizing with other cultures from a direct point of view.
To conclude, a special mention should be given to Milan. The city has got plenty of opportunities to give to anyone interested in any topic. Bocconi University offers a series of student associations that meet up every semester on campus to make students enrol and participate, as well as a gorgeous sports centre.