I finished my first master semester last week and I cannot believe how fast time is flying. I wanted to take the time today to show you what my master programme is all about. I would say most of LiU’s international students study engineering or other topics in the field of natural science and there are not that many that study master programmes in the social sciences. One programme that is the closest to mine is the master programme in Ethnic and Migration Studies, which I would also recommend you to check out. I am studying International and European Relations and it is a two years master programme located on Campus Valla.

This programme is divided into four semesters, which each have a different focus. The first one, that I just finished, focusses on International relations. International relations is an interdisciplinary field, which developed out of the Political Science but also touches upon questions of law, economics, history or geography. This explains why students with different study backrounds in the social sciences get accepted to this program. We completed four courses this semester, one concerning research methods, one about the politics and economics of international politics, one about the theories of international relations and one about international and European law. Since I studied geography before, which is also an interdisciplinary study field, I had touched upon many of the topics we discussed but especially the course about law brought me many new insights. Three of those courses ended with a research paper as an exam, where I was free to chose a topic related to the course. That gave me the great opportunity to really dig deeper into specific topics.

The second semester then focusses on European relations or European studies. This is again an interdisciplinary research field, where we will again complete four different courses. The first one, which I take right now, is about the European institutions. This course is very special, since it includes a field trip to Brussels. There we will get a chance to visit the main European institutions as well as institutions such as NATO. I am very much looking forward to this at it gives hands-on experience as well as the possibility to ask many questions. Furthermore, this semester we will focus on issues in security politics and European foreign and development policies. At the end of the semester, we will once more dig deeper into research methods having the master thesis coming closer.

During the third semester we can decide between taking four more courses concerning international diplomacy and organisations or taking the chance of an internship. Many of us want to do an internship, however it is up to us to organise this. This means right now we are already sending out many applications to exiting institutions, companies and NGOs all over the world. The master programme allows us to be free to choose where in the world we want to work and many jobs in that field even require you to move around. Nevertheless, there are endless opportunies like political consulting, working in an NGO or working in international organisations to only name a few. This means each of us individually looks for internships that fit their specific interests. I wouldn’t be too sad if I end up not getting an internship, since I already took the time between the bachelor and the master to gain some practical experience and the courses offered by LiU also sound very interesting.

The fourth and last semester is then completly dedicated to writing the master thesis. I have currently not decided on a topic, but I am starting to think about it more and more. There is also the possibility to write a thesis together with an institution or a company, maybe in subsequently after the internship. We will see what the future holds.

So far I am very happy with the topics the program covers and I am mostly looking forward to our trip to Brussels as well as the possibility to do an internship. With this the program manages to combine both theoretical research as well as practical issues.

I hope I could awaken your curiosity and that you might end up studying the program from next summer on!

Until next time,

Jule

 

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