Testimonials
It's a place you feel welcome and a place where you are free to think and express yourself.
- Previous education
- BA Sociology, University of Crete
- Programme
- Borders, Migration and Justice
- Country of previous education
- Greece
- Study start date
Vaia Mesitsa is a Master's student Borders, Migration and Justice.
'What I like most about my study program is that the courses are there to help you with your thesis. You can choose electives if you need more knowledge related to a topic or theme. You familiarize yourself with the ongoing debate and you reflect on your own views so that you can choose where to focus later on. You can change your mind many times before finally deciding, it's a process. We all pass through this and it's beneficial for growth. Many topics and authors that we study I was familiar with due to my sociology background; what is different is the emphasis on the spatial dimension, which I found refreshing and interesting, so I read with excitement most of the readings right from the get-go.
When I started this Master's program, I was pleasantly surprised by the nice atmosphere in class. It's a place you feel welcome and a place where you are free to think and express yourself. As Master's students, we are encouraged to think critically and our contributions in discussions are much appreciated and heard. We are respected as if we are junior colleagues and this gives me the extra motivation to keep improving.
I love my specialisation because it has interesting courses and topics. I am really happy that I am here and I feel the need to keep learning about things that fascinate me. The biggest challenge in this Master's is the pace of work and the workload. It made me more structured and seek more balance because it is easy to get caught up and over-work yourself. The university also offers writing classes and seminars offered by the Writing Lab, as well as support for burnout prevention for whoever needs it, which is great.
My specialisation is on European borders and my thesis is about refugees. Being from Greece, which is a crossroad for mobilities, gave me the opportunity to reflect and be curious about the issues that are related to the refugee experience.
I think that this degree equips you with the necessary theoretical tools and approaches so that you can have a better view of a subject. This way you can choose the view that you think is best for you. Additionally, it gives you the ability to zoom in on an issue that interests you for further research. I will keep passionately investing in my continuous learning in different ways. Learning, as in professional context, but also as an integral part of lifelong growth and development.'
I presently find the mobility dynamics in the continuum connecting rural and urban spaces, a far more compelling field of study.
- Nationality
- Dutch
Lothar Smith is an Associate Professor in migration and rural-urban connectivity.
Can you introduce yourself?
I see myself as an engaged global scientist and educator. Growing up in southern Africa, but also doing research with local partners in countries around the world, the contrasts and inequalities between different parts of the world are striking. However these differences also recur at more local levels, such as in cities.
As the coordinator of our Human Geography Master programme, with further teaching roles in courses such as 'Globalisation & Extractivism' and 'Migration, Displacement & Justice', but also as a thesis supervisor there is , happily, lots of opportunity to engage with you on your own stance, engagement and positioning in the local-global continuum that has come to define much of our everyday worlds.
Why did you choose to study/work in this field? What makes this field so interesting?
The field of human geography is quite diverse and embracing - it seeks to connect all kinds of themes and perspectives on key processes happening around the world, by giving these a literal place; understanding how they are given definition at local levels, how they impact societies at various geographic scales.
With much interest in migration, perhaps because of my own history as a migrant, as the child of 'development aid' teachers, I take particular interest in how migration impacts not only the lives of those on the move, but also those who 'remain behind'. For that scale matters, as this helps to understand that migration, as a field of study, cannot be understood fully through local or even national-scale studies. We cannot study where people migrate to, without understanding the geopolitical influences impacting on this, i.e. their very scope to migrate, their possibilities. But it also matters how well transnational ties, connecting migrants with their families and friends back home can be sustained, through remittances - financial and social - that flow back and forth. In turn their value, their merit, needs to be seen in the light of other global flows for the opportunities, but also inequalities, thereby produced.
Making such connections, by showing - through real life case studies - how people are able to both derive agency from activities such as trade or migration that they engage with, yet also find themselves subjected to unequal conditions of a global economy - is what excites me about doing research, and teaching, in this field.
What are you currently doing your own research on?
Alike to my colleagues we are always involved in multiple research projects at any moment in time. In particular this says much about our wide scope of interests. However, let me highlight one research project:
Where my past research focused much more on transnational dimensions connected to international migration (e.g, the role of remittances, the influence of diasporas), I presently find the mobility dynamics in the continuum connecting rural and urban spaces, a far more compelling field of study. Not only is it empirically far more significant than international migration, if you look purely at the volume of people on the move, but - more importantly - this research can also help to better understand the relation of human movement to other flows, whether of technology, money, new ideas or other forms of capital. Thus, since 2015, I have been conducting longitudinal research with local research partners in northern Ghana, looking at these rural-urban dynamics.
What advice do you have for students making their study choice?
Given the fact that we provide you with ample space to conduct serious research with your thesis, I would warmly recommend - and I am certainly not alone in this - that you pursue research on topics you find compelling, important, inspiring, etc.
Also, while you may be more comfortable doing research in one language more than another, or one geographical context more than another, or use a more quantitative rather than a qualitative approach (or vice versa), I would warmly recommend that you really use your Master programme as a true opportunity to learn, going well beyond what you feel to be safe ground. As supervisors we will readily support you in this endeavour.
What is the best part of working with students?
At the master level the sheer commitment and strong self motivation of students is something we - lecturers - simply enjoy. You encourage each other, build on ideas we share with you, and often traverse well beyond the thematic confines of whatever we teach you in our courses.
Something else which I often share as something of an insight, is my continued amazement at the steep learning curve that a one year Master produces, without exception. This is most visible in the difference in quality, in rigour, in theorisation, in reflection when comparing BA theses with those at the MA level. This makes our thesis supervision not only something we enjoy doing, but also very rewarding.
What I like about the programme is that there is a lot of freedom in choosing courses, organising fieldwork (if you want to) and planning the writing process of your Master's thesis.
- Previous education
- Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies
- Programme
- Borders, Migration and Justice
- Study start date
- Study end date
Laura Bosch is a Master's student Borders, Migration and Justice.
What do you like about the programme/specialisation and why? How has the programme/specialisation challenged you (in relation to your previous education)?
What I like about the programme is that there is a lot of freedom in choosing courses, organising fieldwork (if you want to) and planning the writing process of your Master's thesis. Also, within the theoretical courses, there is room for critical remarks and creativity in how you want to do assignments and with whom you want to make them with. The specialisation challenged me to to think even more in-depth about social issues, especially around the why and how of internal and external borders, primarily regarding Europe.
What do you think about the atmosphere in class (for example the relationship between students and with the teachers/researchers)?
In class, there is a relaxed and comfortable environment, it is one that is characterized by mutual respect and openness. I felt able to be myself and express opinions and ideas freely. Although, in some courses this was hard, since a lot of other students dared to state their ideas as well.
What do you find most challenging in your Master’s (specialisation)? Have you encountered any obstacles?
Even though I consider the freedom in designing one's Master's as an advantage, it can also be challenging since you have to oversee your own year-planning. A lot of independence is asked of you, and as someone who sometimes procrastinates, and is a perfectionist at the same time, this is not always easy :).
Are you currently doing an internship? Or what is your thesis about?
I'm currently doing an internship at an NGO on an Island in Greece. My topic of research is the criminalisation of solidarity, which is about a growing trend in many (EU) countries to punish individuals and organizations who provide assistance and support to vulnerable and marginalized groups, such as migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
Why do you think is it important that there are people out there with this degree? What are your plans once have received your Master's degree?
In my ideal world I would, for a part, continue to do (academic) research regarding subjects that have to do with Europe and its borders. For the other part, I would like to do something more social work related. Next to my studies I did a lot of voluntary work at organisations who worked with undocumented people. Lastly, I would like to continue working in this field more on a social work or policy level.