MAASTRICHT. Most of the 55 courses offered by the Maastricht Summer School will not take place because of the corona crisis. A selection of eighteen that are also suitable for online distribution, will go ahead. That is to say, if there are sufficient enrolments.
The Maastricht Summer School, founded in 2012, was to open its doors again at various university locations in July and August. The school provides one-, two- or multiple-week courses in fields such as Data Analysis, Climate Change, Economics, the Brain, Europe, or Leadership. All of them for students and interested parties from the Netherlands and abroad. The prevailing language is English, except for the course ‘Journalistiek en Effectief Schrijven’ given by Observant, which is in Dutch. Students receive credits for courses. A number of them use this as a way to fill up a credit deficiency.
The corona virus has now thrown a spanner in the works. It is unclear whether participants and lecturers can safely attend regular tutorial group meetings. Aside from that, the number of enrolments was not great, says Annemarijn Weber from the Summer School. Many borders are closed, students are reluctant to enrol, not knowing whether they will be able to travel or not. In consultation with the lecturers, it was decided to only put those courses online that are suitable. The two-week course by Observant is not one of those: physical presence is essential. The possibility of organising a Winter School is now being discussed.
Prices of the online offer have been adapted, which means that they have been lowered. Furthermore, the schedules will take into account as much as possible that participants may be in different time zones.