The University of California-Davis is an amazing place. It is a research university, part of the University of California network, and has been called one of the "public-ivies" in reference to the Ivy League. Many of the students here are first generation college and the range of ethnicities and origins is simply fascinating. I haven't yet counted, but in one of the graduate seminars I am attending there must be over a dozen languages spoken by the less than 15 students attending.
Among its faculty there are members of all the academics of Sciences, Arts and Humanities; recipients of awards of all kinds, including the Nobel prize and many of their schools and programmes have been ranked first in the world, for those interested in what those rankings may mean!
The geographical setting of the campus is no less impressive. It is a clearly demarcated terrain (you can tell when you enter from the 'outside world', i.e. the town that has grown around it) that seems to contain all manner of building styles and is in permanent growth, like a living being.
It started out as the agricultural branch of UC - Berkeley, so it has strong links to that univeristy.
It's setting is nothing less than ideal.
The whole campus is smoke-free as indicated by the signs you can find everywhere (which means that the few people who smoke can be found on the edge of the campus, on the outer side of the road, smoking!)
This is the tallest building, not only on campus, not only in Davis, but in the whole county! And it's where the Languages Departments are housed.
By way of example, here goes my walk to work from home. It takes me around 10 minutes (Google maps says 11 minutes, but it always overestimates).
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| This is the beginning of the walk |
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| If I turn back, I can see "the city". On the left, the building where our apartment is, on the second floor (well, here it's the third) |
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| Walking down the path, you start to notice the lack of cars and the striking buildings |
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| This is the epicenter of transportation of the campus in connection with the city. From here people can take buses to other parts of the city, to the airport in Sacramento, to the city of Sacramento. There is one bus line that has double-deckers and there is also an old English phone booth (not sure what it is used for!). A large number of bicyles is also a distinctive sign of the campus. |
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| Here is another view of the bus stops, including the spot from which you can make an emergency call if you need to. |
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| Directly facing the bus station is the building that gives it its name: Memorial Union. It contains central offices of the universtiy (e.g. where you get your ID), a large cafeteria, study spaces, etc. |
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| This building is a theatre, Freeborn Hall. Apparently it is condemned and will be pulled down in the near future. https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/freeborn-hall-history-music-and-more. It is a shame because it looks like a beautiful structure and seems to have some provision for saving rain water that comes from its roof. |
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| Oppositve Freeborn Hall and closing the Quad (this is the Quad District of the campus) is the UC Davis store where you can find all the Aggie memorabilia. Also, an office where people can collect and return things purschased on Amazon. |
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| Here, some of the activities that were run from Freeborn Hall |
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| As I continue around Freeborn Hall, I can see Kerr Hall, where the Linguistics Department and my office are located. |
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| Here is the side of Kerr Hall. I can see my window from here. |
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| One of the two main entrances to the building |
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| And this is the inside. Many people, most students in fact, take the lift to go one floor up! I prefer the stairs |
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| And this is where I get. The one in the middle is 259, my door. |
The International Center houses many of the activities organised for international students and faculty. It is a moden building with many offices and meeting rooms but, above all, it is the activities it organises.
A number of complementary services for students and faculty. Here is just a small sample.
The various departments make an effort to reach out to the community and share the work they do in various ways. One is the
California Rock Garden of the
Earth and Planetary Science Department. It is a simple idea, but very effective: a bunch of rocks placed around the Department building. People can walk around them 24/7 and read about the different geological formations that have given origin to them
The Faculty share who they are and what their research interests and
The campus contains many examples of various art forms, as does the city. Here, some examples:
Harry Potter has a place in the
Shields Library, as does canonical literature. Here, an exhibit to celebrate Harry's 21st birthday.
I was privileged to be invited to participate in some work meetings. Here a photographs of one of those meetings, the liaison meeting of the School of Education with community representatives. A very interesting format to link the work done at the university and relevant community organisations.
The organisation of these meetings is key: clear agenda, with specific time slots for each topic, which everyon respects, name tags for all participants and, above all, a positive attitude as regards participation.
The
Center for Educational Effectiveness is a wonderful initiative. It is basically a place for faculty to learn. Learn about new pedagogical trends, new tools, new concepts that may support their work. It is a pleasure to see trainers who come from the field of Applied Linguistics and find colleagues such as Dr. Cecilia Gómez, who is an excellent trainer there.
This was posted on one of the office doors and it is very fitting to how I feel about Davis. I have made many excellent memories, learned a lot, made many new friends, and remembered what a lot of important things are about. Now it's time to go back to Buenos Aires, but having many homes is the nature of travelling, so you can come back to them.
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