On 20 November, BA International Studies hosted an event connected to the 2018 Brazil Week, which, since it was first set up by Sara Brandellero and Marianne Wiesebron in 2013, has been organized for six years now by staff and students working in Brazilian Studies in the Latin American Programme at Leiden.

PRINS 2018 proved once again that for each and every BA International Studies student, as well as each of the commissioning organisations, this consultancy project is a ‘win-win’ proposition. In the end, six of the 30 participating student teams took top honours in this competition, selected by juries comprising Leiden academics and key members of the participating organisations. And the winning teams for cases from Starbucks, Google, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Transparency International have been invited to the organisations, to present their findings to larger audience.

In the 21st century skills articles we highlight tutors’ international and intercultural experiences. Leiden University strives to enable students to develop so called "21st century skills" which are defined as "the ability to work in teams, international and intercultural skills, entrepreneurship, leadership qualities and digital competences" Most of the tutors have acquired these skills during their studies, fieldwork for their masters or PhD and are happy to share their impressions and experiences. For this article, we talked to Rosa Vieira de Almeida.

Sometimes student life merges rather smoothly into a working adult life. This is the case for Boris Kowalski. At International Studies, he chose Russian as his language and Eurasia as his region of specialisation, he obtained his Master’s degree at Oxford in Russian and Eurasian studies, ended up in Ukraine during the presidential elections and now he works at a think tank in Poland, where he can put into practice everything he has learned. ‘The region’s internal contradictions appeal to me the most.’

What does life look like after International Studies? For Chris Colijn who graduated in 2018, it involves working on his Master’s in Russian and Eurasian Studies, in combination with a bustling traineeship for “Raam of Rusland”, a think tank, focusing on Russian and Ukrainian politics, economy and culture. How does he do it? In this interview, he elaborates.

In the 21st century skills articles we highlight tutors’ international and intercultural experiences. Leiden University strives to enable students to develop so called "21st century skills" which are defined as "the ability to work in teams, international and intercultural skills, entrepreneurship, leadership qualities and digital competences" Most of the tutors have acquired these skills during their studies, fieldwork for their masters or PhD and are happy to share their impressions and experiences. For this article, we talked to Zeynep Gültekin.

Your thesis. It’s the final achievement crowning your studies. It asks for hard work, patience, research and persistence. Not only from the students, but also from the thesis seminar supervisors and, maybe you weren’t aware: the Thesis Seminars Coordinator. At International Studies, we’re very lucky to have a dedicated Thesis Seminars Coordinator – devoted to smoothly coordinating the process of planning and organization.

On Wednesday 18 October, Prof.dr.mr. Maurits Berger, professor of Islam and the West, and Prof. dr. Sarah Cramsey, professor of Judaism and Diaspora Studies, invited International Studies students for an information session about the ongoing situation in Israel and Gaza.

This page describes the social media of International Studies with their links: Website, Instagram and Youtube.

For individual questions or issues of students, International Studies has its own team of study advisers.