INTERVIEW WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS OF HISTORY ASSOCIATION

This interview began in Helsinki, continued in Suomenlinna and was finished in Leuven. Frerik Kampman, a history and Arabic studies student from the University of Utrecht, is also President of ISHA this year. And that means a lot of travelling around. Frerik does not mind at all.

The International Students of History Association (ISHA), is a network of students around Europe, similar to other organizations that cross borders to gather students with different nationalities but similar interests. Such associations are becoming more important with the universities’ increased focus on “internationalization”. As a member of ISHA, a student can really take part in an international experience without joining an exchange program. Since August last year, the history students of Leuven are a member of ISHA. This year, a Leuven delegation went to the Annual Conference of the organisation, which was held in Helsinki during the Easter break. Although the last snow was still there, refusing to melt, the participants were prepared for some heated discussion as the opening party was held in a traditional Finnish sauna!

The Voice - What is ‘ISHA’ all about?

Kampman: ISHA is enjoying a lecture of a Finnish professor in Germany, followed by a passionate discussion with Croats and Serbs about Slovenia. ISHA is about laughing with the jokes Romanians make on stereotypes of Bulgarians and ending the day drinking Italian wine with Irish friends. ISHA is like a local student association in Leuven, but on an international level. When there is an ISHA seminar somewhere in Europe, we have a full program of academic, cultural and social activities.

The Voice - What did you enjoy the most in the conference in Helsinki?

Kampman: It was good to be back in Finland because my first ISHA event was also in Finland, in Turku. During the conference we had a Round Table discussion with Finnish history teachers of the Clioh network. The discussion was about teaching history of migration and it fitted the theme of the Conference, Integration Throughout History, very well. What I enjoyed the most was the visit to the sauna and dipping yourself in a hole in the ice, as well as the afternoon trip to the Fortress Island of Suomenlinna.

The Voice - What are the tasks of the President of ISHA?

Kampman: Together with the other members of the International Board, our secretary Elsa Mäki-Reinikka from Finland and the treasurer, Marko Smokvina from Croatia, my task is to be the coordinating body. We represent the organization to the outside world and we keep in touch with our 25 member sections. Then another fun and important part is promoting ISHA in other universities.

The Voice - What does the organization give to its members? Is it difficult to join?

Kampman: ISHA has two important pillars: one is the academic goal, the other the social one. Our academic goals are at the core of the association. As history students we like to share different perspectives on history. You pick up a lot from the seminar topic that is discussed, but you equally learn a lot about the people you discuss it with. This connects easily to the social dimension. With so many students together eager to learn from each other, we see a strong, informal network in existence. A network in which anybody can join easily. Any student can join us on a personal basis, but we do encourage people to be organized in a local section. An easy thing to do is joining ISHA on Facebook.

The Voice - Why does Leuven have important role in the history of ISHA?

Kampman: Even though ISHA was founded in Budapest in 1990, the International Secretariat moved to Leuven already after three years. For about 10 years Leuven was the focal point of ISHA. This weekend I visited Leuven; it was fun to walk around and see where the former headquarters were (red. in the Justus Lipsius street n° 44). That is also the reason why we decided to store the remaining archives in the Archive for Student Life of the Central Library. Our members here have been of great help to get the job done.

The Voice - Are you involved in student life in your own student city?

Kampman: Yes, I am and have been active in my local student association in Utrecht, called UHSK. In a way being the chairman of UHSK was not that different from what I am doing now. The only downside as President of ISHA is that sometimes you miss likeminded people around you. You meet the rest of the board mainly at the seminars. This year, I came to the point that it turned ‘normal’ to have skype meetings with people of three different countries in one day. That is great!

The Voice - What is the biggest difference between the tasks of ISHA and UHSK?

Kampman: As a local student association, UHSK back in Utrecht has more possibilities to have a say in university regulations and in facilitating for the history students there?. For ISHA it would be awfully complicated to get involved in educational policy. But we contribute as well by lobbying for internationalization and availability of English courses. Next to that we discuss educational policy and the problems we encounter in our own country. ‘Good practices’ are exchanged among students by listening how the situation is dealt with in other countries.

The Voice - Student life is quite different in the Netherlands. Student study a lot longer there than they do in Belgium. Do you have any idea why this is the case?

Kampman: It is obvious that every country has a different ‘study tradition’. It is quite difficult to say which one is better, which one is worse, but I do see some differences that might provide an answer. As you might know, the European commission does not have anything to say about educational matters. This explains why different systems of funding exist. The Netherlands have a fairly liberal system, which allows the student to make choices freely in their study career. Most of us take a year extra to make time to participate in extra courses or a year abroad. Also, the exams are less rigid than what I’ve heard from Belgium. Next to that, Dutch students are more or less expected to be self-supportive. An exodus of students on Friday is unthinkable in the Netherlands.

The Voice - We have quite a lot of Dutch students studying in Leuven; do many Belgians study at your university?

Kampman: Actually, I would not know. The international students in Utrecht live quite separate from the Dutch students. I think this is a big problem, as the idea to study somewhere abroad is to get to know the country and its people. International students have complained about this and I take this also very personally. That is why the ISHA section in Utrecht has been organizing meetings between Dutch and exchange students. I travel around Europe to meet history students, of course I would be mad if I would ignore those studying just around the corner! |

Interested? Check the website www.isha-international.org or join the ISHA facebook page. More info on Euroclio on www.euroclio.eu