Hello dear GRS community!
My name is Helen and I am here on exchange from the Humboldt University in Berlin. I study Agricultural Sciences. I particularly chose to come to LFS because I admire the very interdisciplinary approach of the GRS programme. At my home uni, I often missed the methodological linkage between our current food systems to current global issues. Here at UBC I am looking forward to getting to know different opinions on global issues and different approaches on how to assess and tackle them. One of my main interest is sustainable, rural development and agroecology, especially in tropical regions of the world.
My studies in Berlin focus on the science of agriculture, and often neglect the societal implications of changes in agricultural ecosystems. This is why a majority of courses I have chosen this semester revolve around topics associated with social and political sciences. One of the courses is called International Nutrition and it deals with malnutrition and hunger as well as food security on a global scale. Big words that appallingly have never been analysed in lectures in Berlin! I think it is a very unique skill to be able to connect science with arts.
I am also very excited about the fact that UBC has an organic farm on campus! I have volunteered at UBC Farm the past weeks and it has been absolutely amazing because every time I got to the farm, the sun came out. I am very passionate about farming and often spend my summers on little farms. Food is love!
Another big opportunity is the African Awareness Club. Since I have lived in Morocco and Ghana, I can relate to desultory, generalized assertions some people – even university professors – make about Africa as a whole! This club is essential to an open-minded and reflexive academic environment. I joined this club and am looking forward to upcoming discussions and events.
I am thrilled to be in Vancouver and at UBC!
So let the year commence…