21st century skills: Tutors in the Wild
Under this rubric, we want to report on our tutors' international and intercultural experiences. Most of our tutors at BA International have done some sort of fieldwork for their Bachelors, masters, PhDs or post-doc projects. In this rubric, they share their experiences and tell their funny and memorable stories when being abroad and being part of another culture. They also reflect on the skills that they obtained during their time abroad. In this newsletter, Jovan Pesalj shares his experiences when doing research in Austria and The Netherlands.
What was your research about and how did your international and intercultural encounters look like?
Most of my research was done in Vienna in the Austrian State archives. I mainly researched people from 200-300 years ago. My doctoral research project was about the first systematic border controls in Europe between the Ottoman and the Habsburg Empire between 1699 and 1792. The project was funded by the Austrian Science Fund but defended at Leiden University in 2019. I focused on migrants in the 18th century and how they dealt with authorities, borders and epidemic diseases. Also quarantines and border checks were important topics of my research, issues that are very current due to the corona pandemic. Researching the past is in some ways like researching a foreign country, so I experienced this special way of encountering other cultures and people from different backgrounds. I used different kinds of sources, mostly administrative documents, but also court records, with personal testimonies. I realized that people in the past people were quite similar to us than we usually imagine. I was intrigued to learn how mobile they were at that time and how many people were on the move.
What did you learn about yourself and “the other” during your time abroad?
When I was doing research in Austria and working for the University of Vienna, I was also a migrant because I am originally from Serbia. But instead of going to foreign countries, staying there for a while to return to my home country, I stayed and still live abroad. I had a project of 4 years in Vienna and spent 2 years there and the rest of the time in The Hague. I spent a lot of time and money travelling back and forth, so I was true working migrant.
The major difference between The Netherlands and the Serbian and Austrian cultures was that Dutch culture is very direct. I managed to deal with this and find this much more efficient than the indirect communication with which I grew up in Serbia. I notice that in some ways I am becoming more Dutch. When I go back to Austria or Serbia, sometimes I miss subtle hints and meanings, so I don’t always understand what people were actually trying to tell me. But most of my friends and family have realized that by now and adjusted.
What I discovered during my time abroad was that different countries have different hierarchies of migrants, based on their economic position and the country of origin. The hierarchy is slightly different in the Netherlands than in Austria in Vienna, I could speak Serbian in the supermarket, as many jobs in the service sector are taken by a large immigrant community from the Balkans, but also experience some stereotypes. In both countries, I am privileged being a highly educated migrant.
In the beginning it was a cultural shock for me when I arrived in the Netherlands. But people are usually very friendly and helpful and genuinely interested. What I really appreciate here is the mutual respect people show each other. What I also appreciate is that volunteering is a normal thing, and everybody is expected to contribute. I benefitted from this. I had a language partner for 2 years and learned a lot about Dutch politics and habits.
What are the main take-aways from your time abroad? What skills did you get and what would be your advice to our students when going abroad?
I learned that I had to manage my expectations. What I found in other countries was often different than what I expected. My advice would be to be very open minded and not to focus too much on your initial plan, as this can and will change, especially when you are doing research. I also learned that the world is much more complicated, it is never black and white. We have to take the world in its full complexity. And this is what I try to apply in my work with students. Offer them a counter perspective, to challenge some of their basic assumptions. My main idea is that people are very similar, our human nature is universal, even if there are many differences. It is important to try approaching everybody as an individual.
My recommendation to our students would be: Go to a country where most of your colleagues are not going, explore things outside the capital city and meet people, meet their friends and families. Also try to maintain these relations after your return.