Among the first exchange students at USI: Julius Reimer's experience

Julius Reimer, M. A., is a junior researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research, Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI). He studied communication science, economic policy and sociology at the University of Münster. His current research interests focus on changing journalism in times of digitisation and datafication. He is particularly interested in the changing journalism-audience relationship, start-ups and new organisational models, innovative reporting styles, automation, transparency as well as (personal) branding in journalism.

In autumn 2006, Julius spent a semester at the Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, being among the first incoming exchange students at USI. We asked him a few questions about his time at USI and the impact this experience has had. 

Julius, when we contacted you to ask if you were available for a short interview, you immediately said you were enthusiastic. What was it about your mobility stay at USI that left you with such a positive impression?

The reason is that my stay in Lugano, although it only lasted six months, had and continues to have a significant influence on my academic career. What's more, I couldn't forget my time in Lugano because, as a journalism researcher, I constantly run into Colin Porlezza, who was an assistant at USI at the time and supervised at least one of the seminars I attended.

Do you remember how it came about that you chose USI, a university that was then very young and certainly not as well-known as it is today?

I have always liked the Italian language and took Italian lessons at school and later at university. That's why I wanted to spend my semester abroad at a university where Italian is spoken. I was quite disappointed when the coordinator at the Department of Communication in Münster said that there was no cooperation with an Italian university. I think I then applied for a place in England. But a week or two later, the coordinator called me and said that a new cooperation with USI was just being set up at very short notice and asked if I would like to be one of the first two students to try it out. Of course, I said yes. 

My Italian did actually improve in Lugano. Unfortunately, I have now forgotten most of it.

Looking at your academic and professional career, in what way and to what extent did this experience play a role?

As I already mentioned, my stay in Lugano did have an impact on my academic career. At the Department of Communication of the University of Münster, where I studied, Communication science and, in particular, journalism research were at the time strongly influenced by Niklas Luhmann's systems theory. In Lugano, on the other hand, economic theories were applied to media and journalism. I found it very exciting to see that one theoretical perspective can reveal insights that remain hidden when viewed from the other theoretical perspective. And although systems theory has remained my ‘theoretical home,’ ideas from economic theories continue to flow into my own work – thanks to my time in Lugano.

Studies in the field state that during a mobility experience, friendships are formed that last a lifetime. Did this happen in your case as well?

That’s not exactly what happened in my case. But as I said, I occasionally meet Colin at conferences – and then we always end up talking about Lugano.

Do you have a particularly funny or meaningful episode from your time in Lugano that you would like to share with us?

There are quite a few funny stories, but perhaps it's better if they remain between those involved...

And finally, what is your current relationship with the Italian language and with Italian-speaking Switzerland more generally?

I still love Italian! Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to continue learning it, and I don't have enough opportunities to speak it. But every now and then I read a scholarly article in Italian – and then I have it translated by AI and see if I've actually understood something correctly.