Long Study Tour, Cyberpsych Edition
- Jessie Shen
- Apr 30
- 5 min read
Last week, I experienced the long-awaited Long Study Tour with my Cyberpsychology Core Course, where we went to The Netherlands.
(For some background info, something super cool about the DIS program is that we get to travel to another European city & country with our Core Course classmates & faculty! The Long Study Tour has a mix of academic & cultural visits.)
As of today, we have exactly two weeks left of our study abroad program. In case you’re wondering, I’m not ok. But more on Long Study Tour & my time in Amsterdam…
Monday: Canal Tour
WE’RE IN AMSTERDAM! We were blessed that it was sunny out! Our guide told us it had been raining just two hours earlier, which would’ve been unfortunate, considering our boat had zero cover.
We learned that in the late 12th century, settlers called the town Amstelredamme, which translates to “a dam on the Amstel River.” Over time, it became Amsterdam. Which explains the canals that are literally everywhere. And why Dutch people are extremely direct.
Tuesday: Digital Detox
No phones the entire day. Just a paper map of the city. And a goal of making it to our class dinner by 18:00.
The night before, my friend and I had signed up for a WWII walking tour. I am a big fan of those “free” (tip-based) walking tours because I always learn so much more about the city that I’m visiting. The meeting location was only supposed to be a 15 minute walk away from our hotel, but it took us almost 30 minutes to actually find the meeting point. By the time we made it to the meeting point, the group had already left. The email had instructions on where to catch up if arriving late, but I wasn’t expecting us to be late so I didn’t write them down. Luckily we spotted them in a park about 10 minutes later! Our guide was very intrigued by the fact that we were spending the entire day without our phones.
A fun fact: If you notice some of the buildings along the canals leaning forward, that’s on purpose! This is so when the furniture is hoisted up by pulley hooks, it doesn’t crash into the facade.
There’s so much you notice without a phone.
Older folks navigating with paper maps, just like us. Every time other people pulled out their phones to take a photo, we took mental snapshots, trying to remember everything from the temperature, to the sounds and scents of the city.
I became more curious. I asked more questions, because I couldn’t just Google them.
After the tour, we continued exploring the city. We went to the Albert Cuyp Market and I got a delicious but extremely extremely sweet stroopwafel. We found a bench by a small body of water (lake? canal? unclear at this point) and just sat and drew. It was so peaceful and relaxing!
And yes, we made it to our class dinner early AND without asking anyone for help! Map expert status unlocked!!
Wednesday: The Dutch Countryside
A long, long day, but definitely my favorite.
We woke up early to head to Zaanse Schans, a neighborhood in the Dutch town of Zaandam. Think historic windmills and wooden houses straight out of a postcard. We watched a clog-making demo (shockingly fast — took under 5 minutes) and got the Henri Willig cheese experience! The Henri Willig cheese shops are EVERYWHERE around Amsterdam, so it was cool getting to visit their main “visitors center” and taste some delicious cheese!
Then, we went to Volendam, a waterfront town and fishing village that reminded me of the San Diego harbor (oh how I miss being by the water with the sun shining!), followed by a quick stop at Castricum Beach.
Back in Amsterdam, we visited the Anne Franke House. From 1942 to 1944, Anne, her family, and four others hid in a secret 3-story annex behind her father’s company. On August 4, 1944, they were discovered and arrested by the Gestapo. Only Anne’s father, Otto Frank, survived. In 1947, The Diary of Anne Franke, under the title Het Achterhuis (The Secret Annex), was published, fulfilling Anne’s dream of becoming a published writer.
Thursday: The Zombie Apocalypse
This morning, we met with a professor who does research at the University of Amsterdam. Our lecture focused on political microtargeting — how campaigns tailor messages to different groups via advertisements, often making conflicting promises. We also discussed generative AI, and how disinformation becomes even harder to detect. We saw AI-generated images that we couldn’t distinguish from real ones which was honestly quite terrifying.
Later, we went to Lightning VR for a free-roam VR experience. A free-roam VR experience is an untethered VR experience where you get to walk around the arena. We were experiencing a zombie apocalypse!! We had previously learned about “presence” in class: that psychological and emotional feeling of “being there” which is at the core of VR. VR tech tries to trigger this illusion, to get your brain to accept a synthetic environment as your reality. The group I was with screamed a lot (yes, including me), which made the zombie apocalypse feel very real and a lot more engaging.
Friday: Still Processing
We started the day at the University of Amsterdam’s Communication Science building. We met with two researchers who recently studied online disinformation among kids in the age of generative AI, from what shows up on their feeds, what feels most real, and what they perceive to be most dangerous. It was interesting to see how Dutch kids perceive generative AI, and what they think are the boundaries between fun and harm when it comes to creating disinformation.
In the afternoon, we went to the Nxt Museum. This was truly THE COOLEST museum I’ve ever been to. The current exhibition, Still Processing, features seven large-scale, immersive installations blending art, science, and technology. The exhibition explores how people and technology translate data into meaning. If you’re ever in Amsterdam, I highly recommend visiting. You walk through dark rooms filled with light and sound that completely take over your senses. Time stops feeling real. What a powerful exhibition on how the human brain processes movement, light, and sound, and how we draw meaning from that.
Saturday: It’s Over Already?
And that concludes Long Study Tour…which is perhaps what is widely considered the highlight of the DIS Core Course experience.
Tomorrow is my last Core Course class…
Which means my time abroad is almost over…
WHAT??!!
Jessie
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