Nominate a colleague to be a Student Member in the International Studies Programme Board!

On May 29, Mikhail Khordorkovsky visited the Leiden University Campus of The Hague to debate with students about the future of Russia. It is the first time this critic of Putin and former captain of industry visits the Netherlands. This event has been organised by the organisation Raam op Rusland and the study association of International Studies, BASIS.

The Bachelors of Arts in International Studies provides students with the knowledge and tools to study regional topics, developments and phenomena from a humanities perspective, and put them in a global context.

International Studies offers its students ample opportunity to prepare for their future. You can now find all the information about that on "Mapping your Future" on this website.

Bhumika Gupta (21), International Studies alumna, secured an internship in the OPCW, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. She has set a path for herself, leading towards the job of her dreams, and this internship is a big step towards that future job.

Before deciding on coming to Leiden for International Studies, Maurice Kirschbaum had already studied two years of law at King’s College in London. During his time as a jurist for SOS Jurists, a local legal aid NGO that helps asylum seekers in the Lake Geneva region, he realised he did not speak any of the languages of the refugees or could understand the politics of their cases he had to take to court. “I wanted to connect with people in those situations, so I applied.”

I am happy to introduce this Newsletter specially dedicated to the alumni of our programme. It has again been a good year for International Studies, with a record number of students joining the ranks of the alumni when graduating in August.

Since February 1 of this year, the BA International Studies has a new Programme Chair. We took this opportunity to ask Giles Scott-Smith, a few questions about his new position, his ideas for our programme in The Hague and, in light of his background (see below this article), of course we asked his prediction for the upcoming US presidential elections!

Are you curious where our alumni end up? We have asked them to give us an insight into their lives after graduating from the BA International Studies. Enjoy the diversity in stories and career paths!

Meet Roos ter Elst - she will be Student well-being counselor for International Studies. That means she'll be doing a lot of activities around students’ state of being and (online) community building. A very useful person to get to know, obviously! In this mini-interview she'll tell a bit more about herself.