Study Abroad: Germany

By: Anna Farb, LAEP Grad Student

Just a few years back, I was unaware of the existence of landscape architecture. Now, from studying at Hochschule Anhalt in eastern Germany, I see that this field has the power to break down borders. My peers in Germany come from various fields. An interior architect from Bangladesh. A real estate agent from Ghana. A production designer from Texas care of Hong Kong. A horticulturalist from India. Architects from El Salvador, Nigeria, Syria, Iran, Panama, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and Armenia. Two other landscape designers from South Korea and China. And I am an environmental scientist turned landscape designer from Maryland now of Utah. My peers have moved me so much and some will be lifelong friends. Each class that comes to this international program is special—you have to dig around a little to find this place, so you end up with a group that is unafraid to take risks, and open to new people and ideas.

Coming out of my first year in Utah State’s MLA First Professional program, I had big expectations in terms of faculty quality and dedication. But just as with the students, I was blown away by my professors in Germany. The teaching style and course structure is quite different than at USU (for example, our submissions are a bit more open-ended), but I am grateful to be exposed to both and I can see the value in each approach. One commonality is group work, which is a staple of this field. Adding an international component to this is challenging at times, with some comical language issues, but incredibly rewarding at the end.

The question I get asked most often is, “Why did you come here to Bernburg?—in the middle of nowhere—from the USA?” I always laugh and think in my head, “Why not?” But the other part of the answer is a bit more complicated. In fact, one reason I chose USU was to be able to take advantage of this study abroad option. I studied abroad for two semesters during my bachelor’s degree as well, so this wanderlust is part of my bones. Moreover, Wolfram Kircher, my planting design professor in Germany, was a huge draw. He wrote the book on natural swimming pools (which use plantings and other strategies to clean swimming pools in lieu of chemicals), and now we are developing my thesis on this topic. My trials are starting this summer of 2019, and I could not be more enthusiastic for this unique opportunity.

The proverbial cherry on top of studying in Germany is the chance to travel even more, since we are so centrally located. Class excursions have included Dessau (a center of the Bauhaus movement), Leipzig (residence of Bach), Harz National Park (an ecologically complex natural forest) and more. Upcoming trips are to Armenia and Georgia for a botanical adventure and to Barcelona for history class. I am continually inspired by the German people’s dedication to sustainable development, even if it is through the typical German bureaucracy and regulations.

Just like with landscape architecture, I would have never known about this small university of Anhalt in this small German town of Bernburg if it weren’t for a set of lucky decisions that I made on my winding path. I absolutely cannot wait to reunite and share with my USU LAEP friends, but who knows—I may make my way back to Europe. Let’s keep this partnership going!