Jorick Mijnans

After obtaining my educational degree in geography and two years of teaching in high school, I reached a crossroad and questioned myself: ‘Is this teacher-life really for me or is there something more on the horizon?’ – I decided to choose the last option. Since I am very interested in contemporary politics and voting behaviour in particular, the master-programme Politics and Society was already very much appealing to me. After completing the Sociology premaster-programme, I was ready to dive into the intriguing world of interplay between Politics and Society.

Now that the end of my student career is in sight, I can state that I fully endorse the educational choice I’ve made two years ago. The courses in the master programme were not merely interesting and insightful but also showed that questions arising from the relationship between politics and society are often more complex than you would initially think. For instance: ‘How can we explain that populism gained so much ground in the latest years?’ or: ‘How do political parties react to globalisation and immigration?’ These questions are, opposed to what some people think, not so easily answered and thus need thorough and extensive examination.

This complexity in combination with small-scaled education and an excellent, approachable, staff makes me think that this master fits a lot of critical-minded students interested in the subjects mentioned above. Besides that, I’ve experienced that during lectures and tutorials there is plenty of room to share your thoughts and critiques and discuss them with the lecturers and peers on the spot. This was, in my opinion, a very valuable characteristic of this programme.

I think that this master programme not only provided me with valuable academic experience but also made me more analytical, critical and open-minded. Things that probably will come in handy in my future professional career.