Global Studies

Salomé Chemla, Student ambassador BSc Global Studies 2023-2024

Salomé is a third year student Global Studies from France

Why did you choose to study Global Studies in Maastricht?

“I based my decision to study here on the contents of the programme and not so much on the city. So, you could say that Maastricht in fact chose me! I chose Global Studies because of the interdisciplinary character.”

What do you enjoy most about the programme?

“We discuss issues from different angels within one course, instead of having courses in strictly defined disciplines. For example, when we discuss the issue of statelessness in class, we talk about the international law perspective because not all states have signed treaties to protect stateless people. We also take an economical perspective and ask: why did people leave their country? And we also take the psychological element into account by asking how an individual manages to be separated from their family.”

“What I really like about the interdisciplinary approach, is that I learn to build bridges between perspectives. I analyse why people think a certain way. This will help me to work together with people from different backgrounds and to understand them better.”

How do you like living in Maastricht?

“I come from a big city, and Maastricht much calmer. You can bike everywhere here. What I like to do is walk around and enjoy all the small shops. Especially the bookshops. The people are nice and welcoming. It was not a big shock to move here, because it’s quite close to home. What did surprise me is the eating times. It’s earlier than I’m used to!”

What would be your dream career?

“First I will be doing a field study in Mozambique. I will be working with PhD students at the University of Maputo and local organisations and NGO’s. Together we will work on a research paper. I’m looking forward to putting my knowledge into practice there. Eventually I would like to work at the United Nations. I see myself working in policy making or policy analysis, or representation of a country by being a diplomat.”

Putting things into perspectives

The trailblazing cohort of the Global Studies bachelor programme has graduated. Gaia Gazzara and Vincent Tadday look back on transdisciplinarity, challenging yourself and integrating new perspectives.

In 2020, Maastricht University launched a brand new bachelor’s programme. Co-taught by all six faculties, Global Studies (GS) posits that the big problems facing us cannot be solved by the wisdom of any one discipline. Along with skills and knowledge, students learn to navigate complexity by incorporating different perspectives and approaches.

“I knew I wanted to study at UM,” remembers Vincent Tadday, who went to high school in Krefeld, where he also played water polo in Germany’s first division. “I’d been to the Open Day and knew some people who studied in Maastricht and loved it.” His main interest at the time was international relations and GS contained many of those elements. “I also really liked how it was taught by six faculties and would offer so many different perspectives.”

Every GS semester has a guiding topic, co-designed and taught by different faculties. “Migration & Citizenship was my favourite topic,” says Vincent. “It was taught by professors and researchers of law, psychology and UNU MERIT because just one perspective won’t allow you to grasp a complex phenomenon like global migration.” Gaia Gazzara describes the programme’s broadness as a strength. “Of course, there is a lot of ground to cover – it’s both stimulating and very challenging. It allows you to discover complex interdependencies and also what you’re passionate about.”

Transdisciplinary knowledge and skills

The curriculum is laden with research methods and academic and professional skills. “In the first two years, there is language training, quantitative methods like basic programming, data analysis and statistics, but also interview techniques, presentation skills and much more.” Both admit that they didn’t become experts in any discipline but point out that they have integrated perspectives and techniques from all of them.

Vincent found the theme Tolerance & Beliefs the most challenging. “It’s very confronting and you really have to reflect and question yourself. It gave me a much richer understanding in the end.” Gaia adds that the concept of positionality not only made her a better interviewer but a much more effective communicator. “Like with so many things we learned, it made me realise that things are much more complex than they seem, especially on a human level.”

Solving real problems

While the students have to get a daunting amount of transdisciplinary theory under their belt, there is also plenty opportunity to apply it. Semester 5 contains a field study that sees small teams of students go abroad for a month. Vincent went to Cyprus to interview people on both sides of the island to find out how self-perception and identity relate to citizenship. “it was an intense experience but I learned a lot – not just about research but also about myself.”

Gaia went to Bogotá to conduct research around social entrepreneurship and an organisation teaching disabled children. “It was an amazing opportunity but also a bit intimidating. I think in general, GS made me challenge myself so much that I came out much more confident.” The learning also paid off closer to home: “I’ve found the informatics and statistic we learned to understand how the carbon tax works really challenging. At the same, many of those IT skills have already come in handy in my position as president of Philia [UM’s first international sorority] and volunteering for Amnesty International; as has everything we learned about data management and privacy.”