BIG in Milan
As with the best teams that are competing for Euro 2016, the winning feature of BIG, the Bachelor in International Politics and Government launched by Bocconi in September 2015, is the group. "Collaboration" is one of the terms that the 60 students of the program use most often to describe their experience. "I'm enthusiast about the international environment, teamwork, collaboration and mutual appreciation", says Sofia Boi. "At first I fell in love with the program, but then I fell in love also with the people", adds Elisabeth Frommelt.
Internationality is also appreciated, both by those who have already studied abroad, like Riccardo Colella, and by those who consider BIG their first international experience, even if lived in Milan, like Francesco Brusaporco.
One of the challenges was to integrate quantitative methods into social and political analysis. The challenge was met, according to Lea Fahrnberger, amazed by how engaging Statistics lessons proved to be, and Edoardo Magalini, fascinated by those in Mathematics.
"Actually I had to work to lower the anxiety that quantitative methods raised in some students", says Statistics Professor Anne-Marie Jeannet, "but the audience was mature and interested in practical applications. They are students with a strong interest in the public debate, avid news readers, informed, always ready to explore".
The program director, Vincenzo Galasso, confirms that BIG students are not average students: "They are mainly interested in politics and international relations, and much less in business, and we will consider this inclination when designing the elective courses. They underwent a strict selection and are excellent students". This does not mean that there is no room for improvement, first of all in order to ensure, at the beginning of the courses, greater homogeneity. "This year we will upload recommended readings and the syllabus on the website before the beginning of the preparatory courses, which may be too compressed".
Concluding with the words of another student, Benedetta Bonometti: "Leaving my hometown and coming to share the BIG experience with strangers and foreigners I've found more people akin to me than ever before in my life".
CLICK HERE to watch the Facebook album "A BIG Year"