The Spring Semester 2020 is on its way as if it is a normal semester, teaching is online and student and lecturers meet in their virtual classrooms. It is remarkable how swift you all have adjusted to the new situation and we want to thank all students for facilitating this! You are cooperating magnificently to make this happen.
Of course, there are some technical problems of students and lecturers who do not have the technical skills or equipment to realise everything without any bumps, but that is normal and problems seem to have been settled quickly. Fears that we had of down-breaking servers, groups of students who would not be able to follow the lectures because of technical failures and lecturers that could not handle the technology have all proved to be without cause. So compliments to all of you for cooperating with us to make this semester as corona-less as possible!
The information from the University will be available to you through the websites and emails that may be sent to you by the University, but to make sure that all of you do receive the correct information we would like to briefly mention a few important points about this semester. Until further notice from the University the online teaching will continue. We do not know if and when we would be allowed to go back to the real classrooms; possibly this will be postponed until next semester. This semester will be a short semester: it has started two weeks late, and in principle it will not be extended, although some make-up classes might be taught after the semester end of 15.07.2020.
There will be no regular teaching during the Pentecost Break from 1-5 June, but this week may be used for re-examinations or other such tests. The start of the winter semester will be delayed just like this spring semester: it will start on 2 November instead of mid-October.
So far is clear but there are also quite a few matters that are still awaiting final decisions, which is logical because they are dependent on how the pandemic further develops and how governments, state, national and international, decide how to proceed with protective measures. At the moment there is much discussion about easing the restrictions and going back to normal life. Some restrictions are indeed relaxed but we will still need to wait how the situation develops further. No clear decisions have been taken yet about the examinations at the end of the semester, whether we can and will do it at the university premises or virtually online. Also the oral exams of BA, MA, and PhD theses form an issue that still awaits a decision about how we can organise these. The Semester Abroad Programme is even more complicated because this is not only for the Hamburg or the central German government to decide but also very much dependent on the situation in the respective countries in Southeast Asia. Universities in Southeast Asia are also trying to cope with the pandemic and are dependent on what their governments and governing bodies decide. There are several alternatives to replace programmes or switch semesters, but we need to wait for the decision of the responsible committees. We will let you know as soon as something has been decided.
We ask for your patience and a continued cooperation in making this semester a good experience for all of us. We hope that the positive first few weeks can be extended to the whole semester. For that we need your continued cooperation and, even more important, we need you to stay healthy and sound, so that we can all benefit in the best possible way from this semester!
Very best wishes,
All lecturers and staff at the Department
