East Asia

Read the stories of our alumni specialized in East Asia here.

Alumni dreams #194

After graduating from the BA International Studies David van der Veen went on to do a Master's at Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam and volunteer work at COC an LGBTQ+ nonprofit organisation in Amsterdam.

At Erasmus, he studied sociology which he combined with volunteer work. David wrote his thesis on racism in the gay community, interviewing through the extensive network built while volunteering. Time at COC Amsterdam allowed him to connect with like-minded LGBTQ+ people, with focus on LGBTQ+ empowerment through anti-racist work.

The BA International Studies program equipped him with the necessary knowledge and skills to pursue his passion of emancipating the queer community. Through exposure to queer literature in the program, he was inspired to further embark on this journey.

Although writing a Master thesis during Corona was difficult, he was able to contact and talk with fellow students from both Leiden and Erasmus. We helped each other through difficult times. "It is in times like these that we have to support and find support from each other."

Inspiring David! May you, especially in present times, continue fruitfully on this path of significant societal work!

Alumni dreams #209

Teodora Stirbat graduated specialising in East Asia. During her semester abroad in Japan she was inspired by the land of rising robotics and became passionate of robots revolutionizing social care. Her Bachelor thesis on Socially Assistive Robots was published here: https://lnkd.in/e5Xs5TS

Another pivotal experience was participating in the PRINS consultancy project assisting the Netherlands Commission for Unesco in drafting a global code of ethics for artificial intelligence. That was the spark that guided her career path and, after graduating from the Masters of Political Science specializing in International Organizations at Leiden, she started her adventure as a Schuman Trainee at the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Age at the European Parliament.

Thanks to the versatility of the BA she was able to explore less conventional routes and find her unexpected passion. She is most grateful for her PRINS project and her team Machina Moralis for an amazing practical experience in the field of Ethics and Artificial Intelligence. She is open to connect with any future graduates and detail her path until now.