European Studies - English - 4 years - Full-time
European Studies takes an international and multi-lingual approach to private business and public policy, teaching research, communications skills and foreign languages from a practical perspective with a real career context. Our programme is also flexible and allows you to customise your own curriculum based on your own interests and career goals.
Structure of European Studies - English - 4 years - Full-time
Lectures
20hours per week
Self-study
20hours per week
Projects
10hours per week
Study credits
60in year one
Year 1
Understanding Europe
Your first year at European Studies is all about understanding Europe and understanding yourself. You’ll study politics, business and culture as well as Europe’s government agencies, international organisations, non-profits and private businesses – your potential employers.
You’ll also learn the fundamentals of management and marketing within those organisations. Along the way, you’ll sharpen your professional skills and work on research and critical thinking. You’ll get comfortable with public speaking, study intercultural communication and work on your foreign languages and English. You’ll also begin a four-year personal development process to help you identify and pursue your own career goals.
The first year provides the foundation for the rest of the programme and if you successfully complete all of your courses, you’ll earn a first-year diploma (Propedeuse). It’s a challenge, and you will have to do a lot of multi-tasking, but you’ll have help from a class supervisor and a student mentor from the second or third year who will help you to adjust to university life. You’ll also have access to tutoring and language support.
You’ll also have a lot of opportunities for extra-curricular learning and you’ll have a good time with field trips, clubs and parties put on by our study association ESCAPE.
Year 2
Sustaining Europe
In the second year of European Studies, you’ll take everything to the next level, developing a deeper understanding of international businesses and organisations, public policy and European culture, while doubling down on your professional skills and foreign languages. You’ll also learn how to operate within those organisations in different situations. You will still have guidance and supervision, but you’ll also be given more independence and take on more complex challenges.
Year 2 includes a deep dive into how Europe’s organisations deal with contemporary challenges like sustainability, as well as peace and security and you will explore the decision-making processes and strategies used by governments, non-profits and companies to take on those challenges.
Throughout the year, you’ll continue working on your personal development and begin looking towards the future, as you get ready to go on exchange. You’ll get to specify several countries of interest and once assigned a destination, you will also get to choose your own courses, giving you an opportunity to customise your curriculum around your own career goals.
Year 3
Discovering Europe (and the world)
Year 3 of European Studies starts with one of the high points of the European Studies programme: a 5-month exchange to one of over 100 partner institutions all over the world. While mandatory for Dutch students, the study abroad experience, supported by the Erasmus Plus programme, is optional for internationals. While on exchange, or staying in The Hague, you will follow courses of your own choosing, giving you another opportunity to explore topics of interest and build a unique CV that is fully tailored to your own career goals. Choose wisely.
The second half of Year 3 combines your ongoing career development with an analysis of the impact of diversity on Europe and its organisations that will ask you to look at contemporary issues from a business perspective, a political perspective and a cultural perspective.
You will also continue with your foreign language learning and personal
development. By the end of the year, you should be ready to enter the final phase of your studies.
Year 4
Changing Europe
In this final phase of your studies, you’re going to have options and it will be up to you to decide you how you want to graduate, based on your own interests and the personal development process that you started in year 1.
It will involve an internship at an international business, government agency, a non-profit or other kind of political or cultural organization. You can do this abroad if you like, but The Hague also has a lot to offer as the international city of peace and justice. Wherever you choose work, you will likely be involved in doing research, producing policy advice, marketing, (social media) communications, event planning and other tasks. You could be assisting refugees with the Dutch legal system or promoting brands on Instagram. You can do an internship abroad, but as the International City of Peace and Justice, The Hague also has a lot to offer. If you’re lucky, you’ll be offered a job. That happens to one in three of our interns.
But before you take that job, you’ll have to choose a graduation project to finish your studies. The topic and the type of research will be up to you. Using your career goals as a guideline, you can choose to conduct applied research for an employer to provide them with practical analysis and advice, producing a marketing or export plan, for example. If you have your heart set on a master, a more traditional research paper is also possible. Whatever you choose, you should be able to walk out the door with an impressive diploma and a highly personalized CV.
Lecturers
Senior Lecturer
Dave van Ginhoven
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.
Lecturer, French
Anneke Schuurmans
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.
Principal Lecturer – Public Administration
Paul Shotton
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.
Lecturer, Internship Coordinator
Bart Kuijpers
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).
Lecturer, Spanish, Researcher
Claudia Bulnes
Claudia Bulnes is a member of the research group Global Learning where she conducts research on Internationalisation at Home and Internationalisation of the Curriculum. She is currently working on a research project looking at how Internationalisation at Home is implemented in different disciplinary categories based on the concept of academic tribes. Claudia is also a member of the university-wide team Global Citizenship and Internationalisation and a Spanish lecturer in the European Studies programme. Claudia enjoys supporting students in learning the Spanish language and culture and making sure that students have a truly international experience while they study at THUAS by advising and supporting programmes in internationalising curricula.
Lecturer, Politics
Guido van Hengel
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.
Lecturer, Business Management
Jonneke de Koning
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.
Lecturer, Politics & Law
Maarten van Munster
Lecturer, Spanish
Marleen Berkhout
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.
Lecturer, Business Management
Agota Szabo
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.
Testimonials
About networking
Guus van de Ven
“I always liked connecting with people from other cultures and hanging out with people from all other the world. This study makes that a reality. My friends are from Slovakia, China and even the Netherlands. I was active in politics and in Lion’s clubs before this, but now I’m specialising in private sector and I want to get into lobbying. Starting with that, you can actually change things.”
Deeping my knowledge
Maria Tanhuanpää
"I wanted to deepen my knowledge on different factors in Business. The minor Strategic Choices ended up being just right for me. I gained knowledge of financial & cost accounting, as well as strategic management. The best aspect for me was an interactive simulation game, in which every student had to run their own start-up company and expand globally, whilst competing against each other. We don’t do much math at ES, but the teachers made the accounting parts do-able and very interesting. I would recommend this minor to everyone who’s interested in strategical side of businesses. I’m sure the skills and knowledge I gained from this course will go in use in the future!"
Specializing in different cultures
Maria Tanhuanpää
"I’ve also done electives like Multi-cultural Consumer Behaviour & American Studies because I wanted to specialize more in business and different cultures. I chose these two because I am interested in different cultures and marketing. Multicultural Consumer Behavior was great. I learned a lot about how cultural aspects can affect marketing communication and how big corporations adapt to foreign markets. American Studies was really interesting as we learned about American history, customs and culture. Both of the classes were lectures, but the teachers were keen to encourage discussion and questions."
Minors and Electives
Shape your degree
European Studies offers you the chance to customise your curriculum with electives and minors. From Year 2 onward, you can follow elective courses on a variety of cultural, political or business-related topics. Examples include American Studies, Global Development Issues and Multi-Cultural Consumer Behaviour.
Later on, you choose minors, intensive packages of courses on subjects relevant to your interests. You can explore social entrepreneurship, study sustainability, sharpen specific skills, discuss cultural differences, peruse the possibilities of political ideologies, investigate international and human rights law and more depending on your interests and goals. Examples include Campaigning and Lobbying in the EU, Export Management, International Law, Language and Culture minors about different countries and much, much more.
ES also allows students to earn credits for extra-curricular activities of their own choosing, including projects like Zukunft Deutschland and Futur France, which explore the culture of nearby countries. You can also get hands-on experience in marketing by joining the Student Public Relations Team or in event planning as part of our study association HEBOS; working as a language partner for someone who needs help learning your native language and much, much more.
Working methods
Lectures, seminars, study visits, self-study, group activities and project work
Our curriculum has been recognised for excellence in internationalisation because it’s designed for a diverse student body and uses diverse methods. You can expect a mix of theoretical lectures and interactive workshops, as well as different types of assessment, from multiple-choice tests to essays, research reports, presentations, proposals and other professional products as well as simulations of real-life situations and projects. Some assignments involve group work and come with coaching on effective teamwork, but others will facilitate individual achievement.
Because we’re a university of applied sciences, our programme is practical. You will learn some theory, but the main goal is to put theory into practice and apply your knowledge and skills to something you need to be able to do in your career.
Whenever possible, we also like to take the learning outside the classroom, with field trips – including regular trips to Brussels – and a wide variety of extra-curricular activities.
News and Events
Contact the programme
For questions about European Studies, contact the programme directly.
For questions about admission requirements, enrolment procedures or related matters, please contact the Enrolment Office,
Find and follow European Studies on Social Media
European Studies is very active on Social Media, where you can find a lot of information about the programme and get the chance to meet people and ask them questions. Questions are answered 365 Days a year.
You can find European Studies on:
Contact with the student
Simran Khan
Hi, I’m Simran Amani. I’m 24 years old, and a 2nd year ES student at THUAS. I also live in The Hague. I studied in the UK before attending THUAS and I’m of mixed heritage. If you have any questions regarding studying here, and the ins and outs thereof, feel free to leave me a question! :)
Ask Simran a questionAssistance during your studies
Study coaching and advice
European Studies is committed to helping every student succeed. In addition to having a mentor who supervises your class and provides personal coaching, you will have access to a vast support network that includes confidential advisors, counsellors and a team of school psychologists. So if you run into any problems – whether they’re academic or personal – you can get the help you need.
The Hague University of Applied Sciences also offers personalised support for students with special needs. If you have any special medical or psychological needs, our team is ready to make the necessary arrangements to make sure that you have every opportunity to succeed. Ask your mentor for details.
Collect ECTS
Binding Study Advice (BSA)
To continue your degree programme after the first year, you need to earn 50 of the 60 credits (ECTS). Some degree programmes also set other requirements to pass onto the second year of the course. This could, for example, be a specific subject that you must pass and that counts towards the 50 credits. We call this a qualitative requirement. If you meet the credit requirements as well as the qualitative requirement where applicable, you will receive a positive binding study advice (BSA) from the Examination Board at the end of your first year.
If you earn less than 50 credits and do not meet the qualitative requirements where applicable, you will receive a binding negative study advice and will have to leave the degree programme. This is why this advice is called a Binding Negative Study Advice (NBSA).
Your academic progress may be affected by personal circumstances such as illness or the professional practice of a sport. It is important that you inform the Examination Board immediately of any personal circumstances that might apply to you. The Board can take these into account when issuing its study advice.
Read all the rules for the binding study advice in Chapter 7 of the Programme and Examination Regulations (PER) for your degree programme.