You are at our University and at the International Studies Programme in particular to increase your knowledge of the world and your intercultural awareness. You have chosen to participate in our academic community as a student, and conversations and debates form essential elements of being part of this community. We introduce this Charter to emphasise that being a member of an academic community brings with it certain responsibilities. We are committed to open debate, as long as that debate is carried out in an academic manner respectful of others, based on facts, and clear in argument We expect everyone to abide by this approach, not just in face to face meetings, but also, and especially, online. In this way, we all contribute to our Programme’s academic community in a professional and respectful way.

Femke Roos, who graduated from the B.A. International Studies in 2024, shares her experience presenting her thesis research at conferences and publishing it in an academic journal.

What to read and watch this Winter holiday? According to good tradition, the International Studies Blog has collected tips from your lecturers.

In this interview, we’re talking to Bas le Cointre, third year student International Studies. During the pandemic this year, he did an internship for a renowned Dutch radio station, where he produced his own podcast series. We ask him more about this experience, and what his advice is to fellow students.

On March 22nd at precisely 16.45h, we excitedly opened the doors of Wijnhaven’s biggest lecture hall and watched more than 400 students and staff members stream into the many increasingly cramped rows of our long-awaited ‘North Korea Event’. At the grand desk below between the busy-looking organizers from BASIS, four calm and concentrated people in suits were checking their speeches and presentations one last time. Dressed in modest black, two representatives of the South Korean NGO PSCORE and one translator, seemed to direct the audience’s attention to the woman dressed in bright red. A peculiar prominence for all of us in International Studies knowing of the unprecedented enigma of the country of her childhood, family, and home – The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Do you want to help future 1st year students feel at home at International Studies? Become a student mentor! We still need a few more persons to complete the team.

A few months ago I wrote about the walls we build between ourselves in a blog post on this website. In the current situation, with the Coronavirus going around, we are faced with yet another barrier: physical distance. What does that mean for how we interact in our International Studies Programme?

Maartje Mensink, a third-year International Studies student with a focus on East Asia and Mandarin, shares her journey into the world of global democracy advocacy. Maartje recounts her experience with the NGO Democracy Without Borders (DWB), an organization that seeks to make the United Nations (UN) more democratic and representative. It has offices all over the world, filled with over 100 volunteers, but its headquarters, where Maartje was engaged, are based in Berlin.

In April, the BA IS Latin America section hosted a thought-provoking panel on the mounting challenges to democracy in the region. International Studies teacher Juliët Tinebra provides a concise recap of the event and its key takeaways.

The Programme Chair of the BA International Studies and Historian Joost Augusteijn has been consulted by various Dutch and Belgian media lately to shed his expert light on the matter of the Irish border and the Brexit negotiations. Feel like a deep dive into this subject? Find the links to radio shows like VPRO’s “OVT”, BNR nieuwsradio’s “Internationaal” and VRT’s “De ochtend”.