Dartmouth-Oxford Exchange Student: Eric Chen '17

Each academic term at Dartmouth College, four undergraduate students participate in the Dartmouth Oxford-Exchange program, attending the University of Oxford’s Keble College. Through this experience, students become fully immersed in the Oxford community while taking pre-approved courses and living amongst Oxford students. A Computer Science modified with Economics major, Eric Chen ’17 had the opportunity to partake in this program in the spring of 2016.

Eric initially decided to apply to this exchange program because of his interest in both studying abroad and in the history and culture of the University of Oxford. Oxford is comprised of a central university and 36 independent colleges that operate under the British tutorial system. Eric was attracted to this different teaching style, where classes meet infrequently and students spend more one-on-one time with the professors.

One of Eric’s goals coming into the program was to connect with and form relationships with students and faculty at Oxford. Reflecting on his experience there, he found that he was able to manage his time well enough to get involved with student life. He joined a variety of student clubs and has kept in contact with the friends he made during his exchange term.

Eric took a British economic history course while at Keble College, which is a course not offered at Dartmouth, and which gave Eric the opportunity to examine economics through a different historical perspective. As his second course, he took labor economics, which allowed him to examine how the British economy functions as opposed to the United States. Being able to study abroad and take courses that focused on Britain’s economy opened Eric's mind to a new way of thinking about how a country’s economy functions.

In his free time, Eric enjoyed traveling around Oxford and the UK on the weekends. He participated in intercollege sports games, such as basketball games at Keble College.

- Submitted by Bethany Malzman '19, Rockefeller Center Student Program Assistant for Communications