European Studies - English - 3 years - Full-time

Dr. Agota Szabo ​is a passionate and highly-motivated academic and business professional who believes in the power of good leadership and transparent governance systems. She spends most of her academic work understanding how top management teams make decisions, design their organizational governance systems and implement good governance practices to their organizations. As a lecturer, her goal is to educate the next generation of students to become ethical leaders of their organizations and to introduce change for a more transparent governance system. In 2019, she was invited as a visiting scholar to the George Washington University, in Washington D.C. Agota holds a Ph.D degree in Organizational governance from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a Global Business and Stakeholder Management degree from Erasmus University.

After finishing High School, I wanted to live abroad for a year and I went to Spain. I loved the country, the people and their language and culture so much that I started studying Spanish at the University of Amsterdam, and now, some years later, I transmit my love for the Spanish language and culture to students who choose Spanish at European Studies. Apart from teaching Spanish I co-ordinate the supervision of ES and, of course, I also supervise students myself. I like to motivate students, to help them discover their talents and think about their future career. You might also see me with a camera, because one of my passions is making pictures, and I also do this here at school.

Maarten van Munster is a lecturer in International Human Rights Law and European Union Law at the European Studies programme. He also teaches an elective module on developing countries in the same programme. He holds an LL. M. degree in Constitutional and Administrative Law from VU University Amsterdam. His research focuses on a current transitional justice process in Angola. The research project focuses on the interaction between international (intergovernmental and non-governmental) and local actors within this process. It seeks to enhance the understanding of the way in which contemporary governance structures are organized and changing and how these changes affect the general public. It also aims to provide insight for (future) professionals working in the field of peacebuilding, transitional justice specifically and governance and international relations more generally. Maarten has been working for THUAS for fourteen years during which he has taken up different roles, such as team leader, researcher and developer of a University-wide minor on development cooperation. He has also given guest lectures in Brazil and Angola on human rights topics.

I come from Spain and have been living in The Netherlands for some time. I enjoy helping my students to communicate in Spanish, which you will be able to do straight away once you start learning the language. In addition, I particularly enjoy sharing Spanish culture with my students and guiding them in discovering different aspects of the Spanish speaking world. Besides being a Spanish teacher, I also work in a university-wide team called Global Citizenship and Internationalisation as another passion of mine besides teaching Spanish is to make sure that our students have a truly international experience while they study at THUAS.

I’m a lecturer in business and mom of two kids. My background is in business. I started my career as a management trainee at Unilever and worked there in various commercial roles. After that, I worked as consultant for Albert Heijn, where I analyzed big data to improve customer loyalty. Next to understanding how businesses work, I’m passionate about contributing positively to society. While studying, I did an internship with the UN WFP in the Gambia. Furthermore, I also was active in politics as a member of D66. However, recently I’ve changed my focus to social business, as it combines the best of both worlds: using effective methods to achieve meaningful goals. That’s why I’m so excited to teach at European Studies, were the private and the public world are mixed and students can learn about social enterprises and sustainability.

I teach courses on contemporary European politics, history and culture. Before I joined the European Studies programme in 2015, I used to work as a historian, freelance writer, interpreter, communication manager, European youth worker, and editor. In my current position, I try to bring students into contact with scholars, journalists, thinkers, cultural entrepreneurs, policy-advisors and other stakeholders in the area of politics, culture and art. The PhD-thesis I defended in 2015 was on student mobility in the Austro-Hungarian Empire around 1900. Having learned what it meant to students to move across borders in the past, I now aim to positively contribute to a transnational student network in the present.

In the last semester of your study, you do a work placement. As the placement coordinator for European Studies, I need to ensure that you make the right choice and are well prepared for this challenging experience. I think the placement is the most important step towards becoming a European professional. We offer placements in medium-sized and multinational firms operating on the European market, national and international governments and non-profit organizations. The choice is yours! The other part of my job is being a lecturer in Business Management. I love to teach topics like international marketing, export management, strategy and even research skills. My slogan is “teaching is fun, so show it”. I also enjoy helping students individually with their papers and projects. I’m patient and willing to explain the same thing over and over again (as long as you take the effort to come well prepared).

Paul Shotton PhD is Principal Lecturer in European Public Policy within the European Studies Programme at THUAS. Prior to working at THUAS Paul worked in Brussels as a Public Affairs Practitioner (lobbyist) for a number of blue chip companies. Paul lectures in European Public Policy with notable courses simulating EU decision-making and lobbying campaign design. Paul’s research focuses on the Professionalisation of Public Affairs with the objective of promoting the definition of a body of knowledge for public affairs practitioners, developing courses and trainings for the profession as well as measuring impact and performance in public affairs.

I have always loved teaching and coaching students. I have worked in higher education as a French teacher for more than 30 years now, and I am extremely happy that since 2008 I’ve been able to do this at European Studies. In my opinion, there are no study programmes at universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands that offer a better language programme. I do a lot of other things besides teaching French: I am a study career supervisor, I coordinate the higher years of ES and I am the alumni officer for European Studies, which means that I stay in touch with our graduates. This allows me to see the variety of careers that European Studies alumni pursue and their success stories really make me feel proud of the programme.

My favourite part of working in an international and interdisciplinary environment is the diversity. I get to do a lot of different things at once, across different disciplines, just like our students. In my case, I get to teaches courses about culture, media and politics, research and professional communications skills. Every day is different and thanks to the diversity of our staff and students, everyone is different and brings something unique to everything we do. I’m curious to see what you’ll bring to the party.