Student Profiles – The Euroculturer

Interview conducted by Ivana Putri

Joyce Pepe (2018-2020) is half-Dutch and half-Italian. After studying European Languages and Cultures in the University of Groningen for her Bachelor’s degree, she embarked on the Euroculture adventure -one of the main reasons she chose to apply for Euroculture was the interdisciplinarity of the programme. Unlike other studies, it does not limit itself to study Europe from just a political point of view but rather allows you to broaden your perspective by giving space to social and cultural aspects too. She believes that this is of fundamental importance to function as an intermediary in a world increasingly characterized by different cultural groups and regional settings.
Joyce is close to finishing her first semester in Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany, and she will be going to the University of Udine in Italy next semester.
Thank you Joyce, for taking the time to answer these questions!

1. What was the most difficult thing that you had to adjust to when you started the programme?

I believe that my previous studies–which, like Euroculture, were quite interdisciplinary–have overall prepared me well to face difficulties that may arise when undertaking new subjects. So, from an educational point of view, I would say that I haven’t had to face a lot of hardships. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that compared to my Bachelor studies, my workload has increased. Considering that the semester in Göttingen only started in October, I have had and still have a lot of work to do in very little time. Continue reading “Student Profiles: Joyce Pepe (IT/NL, Göttingen-Udine)” →

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Interview conducted by Ivana Putri

Samuel Yosef (2017-2019) is half-Italian and half-Eritrean. Before Euroculture, he studied Law at Sapienza – University of Rome. After his Bachelor’s, Sam wanted to do a Master programme in European Studies that combined travel and an opportunity to experience new things outside his hometown Rome. He heard about an Erasmus Mundus Master from a friend who was doing one on Space Studies. After a look at the universities and cities comprising the Euroculture Consortium as well as the possibility to study outside Europe, he decided that Euroculture was a perfect combination of his ideal MA programme.
He studied in the University of Strasbourg, France in the first semester and spent the second semester in the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He just returned to Rome after a research semester abroad in Osaka, Japan, and is getting ready to move again to Strasbourg for the last semester of his studies.
Thank you Sam, for taking the time to answer these questions!

1. What was the most difficult thing that you had to adjust to when you started the programme?

Bureaucracy and housing. When I first moved to Strasbourg, I didn’t have a place to live–just an Airbnb–and my mother came with me to find a house. I arrived in Strasbourg a week before classes started. I didn’t know how to look for a house because I’ve never had to do it before. With everything being in French it was hard for me to communicate, let alone find something. On top of that, there are a lot of French “regulations” with the housing search that I didn’t know about. For example, most of the housing offers for students require a French guarantor.
In the end, the housing search turned out to be very hard. It was also partly my fault because it was already too late when I started looking, and anywhere, September is a very busy month for students in search of a place to live. Eventually, everything worked out, but at the time, it felt like my major source of “threat” was finding a house. I learned from this, of course–for my fourth semester, I started looking in September to find a place to live from January.

2. What were your expectations of the curriculum and how does it match with the reality at the moment? Continue reading “Student Profiles: Samuel Yosef (IT/ER, Strasbourg-Groningen)” →

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