What do you like about the programme/specialisation and why? How has the programme/specialisation challenged you (in relation to your previous education)?
What appeals to me about this specialisation is how you try to analyse current themes together with the lecturers and in small groups of students. While some Bachelor's courses can be a bit broad, you really go in depth in courses such as Theories of Comparative Politics. In all courses, we often discuss recently published scientific articles and together, we try to get to the heart of the matter and to identify any weaknesses in the research. You learn a lot by working so intensively with the material. We cover various topics during the different courses, so there is always something interesting to learn.
What do you think about the atmosphere in class (for example the relationship between students and with the teachers/researchers)?
I think the small scale of the programme is the biggest advantage for me. The relationship between the students and the teachers is very good. If you miss a lesson, they ask if there is anything wrong and often after finishing the course we go for a drink with the whole group and the teacher. During the lessons, the teachers are enthusiastic and really try to actively think along with the understanding of texts and questions
What do you find most challenging in your Master’s (specialisation)? Have you encountered any obstacles?
The programme actually starts quite intensively right away, in which you follow three courses that require a lot of preparation. Compared to the Bachelor's, that is a bit of a switch, but as long as you keep up with it every week, you will succeed. It requires a somewhat different approach compared to studying in the Bachelor's, but I think everyone is capable of making that switch.
Are you currently doing an internship? Or what is your thesis about?
At the moment I am not doing an internship, but next year I will probably do an internship at a consultancy firm that deals with the issue of how citizens can be actively involved in the decision-making process about healthcare. This involves looking at examples abroad or studying how something like this works during, for example, a citizens' council or participatory budgeting. I'm curious to see how it works in practice!
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?
I think it is important because in this specialisation we are actively involved in analysing things intensively and still being able to see the bigger picture. In the lessons you are busy critically reflecting on the information presented and I think that will certainly come in handy in practice. For now I don't have a concrete plan ready yet, but I'm interested in the gap between citizen and government and implementing forms of more direct democracy, so I think it would be interesting to do something with that later!