Senior Honors student Grayson Bodenheimer has spent his final semester at the University of Helsinki, Finland. As a sociology major and global studies minor, Grayson is studying the Finnish education system as a piece of his larger research concerning teacher burnout in America and Finland. At the University of Helsinki this Spring 2017 semester, Grayson has been busy conducting interviews with Finnish teachers for his Honors thesis, participating in an academic conference on intersubjectivity, and taking master's-level courses in sociology and social psychology. As Grayson shared, "This experience has introduced me to numerous scholars in my field, as well as in similar fields, and exposed me to theories and ideas that I had never before encountered. Courses on sociologist Erving Goffman, grounded theoretical study design, the concept of agency in social psychology, and the Finnish education system have left me with an invaluable knowledge that only adds to the amazing experience of immersion into a new culture. Even with snows lasting until May, it has been an incredible experience and one that has undoubtedly prepared me for graduate school in the near future."
Story by Garrett Alexandrea McDowell, Ph.D.
Photo contributed by Grayson Bodenheimer
