Heading to Europe for Grad School this Fall

Köszeg, Hungary – Photo credit Jenna Goodhand

After a lot of thought and discussion with family and friends, it looks like I will be joining the incoming Fall 2010 class of the MA International Economic Relations program at the Institute for Social and European Studies (ISES), Corvinus University of Budapest, in Köszeg, Hungary.

Orientation starts on September 20, with the first week of classes taking place week of September 27. I’m so excited! It looks like I will be on a plane headed for Europe very shortly after all.

The opportunity to live, work and study in Europe for the next year emerged just over two weeks ago, in seemingly random conversation with Jenna Goodhand, a good friend of mine from Waterloo who will also be enrolled in the MA program with me. Jenna has been in Köszeg helping with some program development at ISES this past summer and has been a past participant in their International Summer University, hence my connection to the institute.

What started out initially as a casual conversation regarding a potential volunteer placement at ISES this coming winter, since of course, I was still in the ‘exploratory’ phase of my adventure, quickly turned into a serious discussion of enrolling in the MA program this September, when I realized that a lot more possibilities would open up if I decided to choose this path. It also helped that I was a competitive candidate for the program, and given my field of interest in social entrepreneurship/social innovation as well as global politics, this graduate program seemed like a great fit with my current life/career trajectory.

About the program, from the ISES website:

Since 2005 the Masters Programme in International Economic Relations at the ISES Foundation has provided students from around the world with the opportunity to obtain theoretical and practical knowledge in the fields of international relations, European structures and integrative solutions, international economics, political science, sociology and European culture and history.

The MA in International Economic Relations is open to B.A. level diploma recipients of any area of study and profession but may be of special interest to:

• social science graduates, especially those who wish to specialize in theory and practice of European Studies,
• those interested in making a significant contribution to the non-governmental sector in the developing world as analysts, policy-makers, researchers or practitioners
• those with work experience in the developing world, wishing to expand their knowledge of the role of the EU in the international arena
• government officials and non-governmental practitioners interested in working in or with the EU on regional and cultural development cooperation issues.

Although this MA program does have quite a strong European focus, the multi-disciplinary nature of the program as well as the strong diversity of the staff and faculty involved, will surely have its advantages in this increasingly globally complex and dynamically changing world that we live in today.

Plus, packing up once again and moving to Hungary for the next year, a country where I don’t even speak the language (yet), is so far out of my comfort zone I don’t even know what to expect. Should be a great time!

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