As a criminology lecturer in the School of Law, I undertook three Erasmus+ teaching exchanges in three years.
Each asked something different of me, and each offered something different in return.
My first exchange (April 2017) was to KU Leuven in Belgium. I taught at an international, intensive seminar, as part of the normal curriculum, and was fully integrated into departmental life. My discussions in Leuven resulted in a return visit from Leuven colleagues and enhanced cooperation between our Schools.
In January 2018, I visited VU Amsterdam with a self-contained research elective. The elective is a regular feature of the MSc in International Crimes, Conflict and Criminology, allowing VUA to bring in outside expertise. It gave me a chance to test new material and approaches that will be integrated into a new course on Criminologies of Atrocity in Edinburgh.
My latest experience was a week teaching at a relatively new university in Turkey, MEF in Istanbul (April 2019). This pushed me in new directions: teaching English for law students; lecturing in new areas; and even lecturing in Turkish (but just for 10 minutes). The visit was arranged around teaching, but was also a chance to collaborate with a co-author based there. Soon after the exchange, we finished a paper which has since been accepted for publication.