European Studies - English - 3 years - Full-time

I am a Business Management lecturer with a great passion for governance and strategy. During our business courses, you will be introduced to the world of international business and the future of ethical leadership. We work with you to build your knowledge, from understanding business to developing future strategies. What I love about teaching business is that everything we learn from theory can be directly applied to real organisations in both the public and private sectors. I use a lot of case studies and current issues in the business world to demonstrate the challenges organisations face and together, we try to come up with solutions for them. In the higher years, we work together with companies to develop international marketing and export plans, which provides a great opportunity for you to take a peek at the internal organization of companies.

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.

I have worked as a lecturer in higher education in the past 18 years, both in the Netherlands and abroad. The subjects I teach range from human rights to European law and politics. I thoroughly enjoy these subjects because they provide ample opportunities to have discussions in the classroom and help students develop a broad understanding of important societal issues. Topics we discuss and learn about are for example: what are the limits of freedom of speech? How does Europe deal with mass migration? And what is the future of the European Union? Apart from the benefits of deepening understanding, having key knowledge of European law is also essential for starting professionals who aspire international careers. Knowing what your rights are and how the EU works truly gives you a head start on the job market!

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.