Academia Vitae, a new university focusing on the liberal arts, offers a three-month program in the fall semester for undergraduates studying at a university abroad who seek a foreign challenge and rigorous academics.

• Find out about Dutch society and its cultural history.
• Learn more about European culture.
• Learn more about your own culture (as happens when confronted with a foreign one).

As you can discover on this website Academia Vitae aspires to be the ideal university. That means:

• serious attention to the questions and interests that you bring in as a student;
• intimate seminars with engaging and inspiring teachers;
• interaction and dialogue;
• a focus on critical thinking, interpretive reading, academic writing, argumentation, imagination, and respect for differences;
• a community of curious and interesting students;
• the possibility to meet professionals in all sorts of occupations (as they participate in the professional programs of Academia Vitae Institute);

Deventer is a lovely historical town with plenty of things to do. Amsterdam is nearby (90 minutes by train). Other great European cities — Berlin, Paris, London — are within reach.

Make new friends, enjoy all that Dutch society has to offer, be part of an enterprising group of students.

Program

Study at Academia Vitae for a semester, and you will learn about Europe, its history, its culture, and its politics. Find out what makes European societies so different from the United States and again so similar. Read the original sources of Western and Eastern civilizations.

And do so in a small historic town close to Amsterdam and on the way to Berlin.

Academia Vitae is a new liberal arts university located in Deventer, the Netherlands. Its curriculum stresses the study of classical works in the sciences, the humanities, and the arts in small seminars with inspiring teachers. Students are stimulated to integrate the various subjects they are studying and to connect what they learn with their own questions. What are your questions? What is on your mind? We at Academia Vitae are interested in finding out and will do anything we can to further your thinking.

Courses

Besides the normal course load, regular lectures, weekly movie evenings (followed by critical discussion), and art classes are offered. A full program entails four courses, 3.0 credits each (American system) or 7,5 ECTS (European system). Examples of courses offered in the fall semester:

• Core Course III: The Good Society and Its Individuals
• European Civilization and Political Integration: Democracy between Utopia and Dystopia
• European Culture and its Biblical Background
• The Incredible Newness of Classics: What the Classical Works Have to Teach Us about the Issues Today
• The Formation of the European Union (details forthcoming)
• Balancing between East and West: An Exploration of the Contrasts between Eastern and Western Thought (details forthcoming)

For whom

This multidisciplinary program is for talented, ambitious second- and third-year undergraduate students in an undergraduate program at any university.

The founder of Academia Vitae, Arjo Klamer, taught economics and philosophy at various American colleges and universities before returning to the Netherlands.

Academia Vitae seeks to combine the best of American and European education. You will meet students from the Netherlands and other European countries as well as professionals studying at Academia Vitae Institute. Who knows? You may stumble upon someone who can help with the next step in your career.

Study Abroad is offered in both fall and spring semesters. The number of courses offered in the spring semester will depend on the number of participants.

Students from all academic disciplines are welcome to apply.

Tuition, Fees, and Registration

For 2008/2009 the Study Abroad program is available in the fall semester.
Tuition: €1250 per course. Arrangements can be made with your home institution.
A limited number of work-study programs is available.
Room and board is an additional €650 per month (approx.).
To register, e-mail study@academiavitae.nl or call us at +31(0)570641225.

For more information, please email Study Abroad Program