This spring BA International Studies will be a focus of investigation! An investigation we invite you to become an active participant in, by joining in and discussing some profound questions in order to build a strong(er) community in the uncertainty of the world around us.
University Social Responsibility is a recent concept. We know about Corporate Social Responsibility as an attempt to take the hard edges off free market capitalism, but USR? Initially supported by the EU, it proposes “universities should go beyond the core functions of teaching, research, and service and voluntarily act beyond legal requirements to promote the public good and environmental sustainability” (Lo, Pang, Egri, & Li 2017).
The embassy of Bangladesh and BA International Studies present a creative observance of the day.
Many students see themselves working at an NGO in Brussels after graduation. Alumnus Calum Thomson (26) is doing just that. In 2021 Calum started working at the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (EaP CSF): a platform aimed at promoting European integration, facilitating reforms and democratic transformations in the six Eastern Partnership countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Countries whose international relations are currently very much in the news. What is it like working here, which steps led him to this point and what advice does he have for current students of International Studies?
Did you know Leiden University offers a humanities-based master’s degree in International Relations?
Leiden University has a lot of master's to offer for International Studies, for example did you know Leiden University offers a humanities-based master’s degree in International Relations?
Maxime Schut tells everything about her internship, which culminated in a podcast on Cabo Verdean Oral History, now available on Spotify.
Under this rubric, we want to report on our tutors' international and intercultural experiences. Most of our tutors at BA International have done some sort of fieldwork for their Bachelors, masters, PhDs or post-doc projects. In these articles they share their experiences and tell their funny and memorable stories when being abroad and being part of another culture. They also share their experiences and reflect on the challenges that the COVID-19 crisis is putting on their research and teaching. In this edition, our tutor Dr. Henrike Hoogenraad shares her insights on “intimate borders” and her research on transnational love and intimacy for which she conducted fieldwork in Zanzibar (Tanzania) and Adelaide (Australia).
The first semester of this academic year saw the return to a relatively normal on-campus student life. It was invigorating to meet again in person, to explore our interests, discuss issues beyond covid-19, and continue our investigation into the global challenges of today from a vantage point that was not our computer screen.
For the past few years I’ve been invited to give a couple of lectures at a diplomatic academy outside of Europe. I suspect they found me through a chance meeting between a couple of algorithms and a search engine, but I’m grateful for that. The lectures are about regional organisations, specifically ASEAN (Association for South East Asian Nations) and the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation).
