Meet the new Tutors at International Studies!
Welcome to our new tutors at the BA International Studies! Mid-August 14 new faces joined our team! We are happy to welcome them to the International Studies community and want to introduce them to our students. We asked them where they come from, what they expect of teaching at International Studies and whether they want to share something that not everybody knows about them. Here are their answers:
Habiba Chafai
I am a former lecturer of Arabic language and cultures at the University of Minho in Portugal and the University of New England in Morocco. I earned a PhD in Language Sciences from the University of Minho in Braga, and my current research interests combine gender, Islam and migration. With my background in Sociolinguistics and critical discourse analysis, and my fascination by the role of language in shaping and reflecting our identities and social interactions, my contribution will definitely make a difference in International Studies. Citizen of the world, Portuguese born in Morocco, I am fond of learning languages. I also enjoy my freedom of biking anywhere and exploring nature and old buildings in the Netherlands. Looking forward to innovating and sharing with my students!
Flor Gonzale Correa
My name is Flor, and I am re-joining International Students. I come from Mexico, where I studied International Relations, but I did all my postgrad education in the UK, one of my favourite countries. I am currently teaching Principles of Economics, Politics of Latin America and Academic Reading and Writing. Like most of our students, I enjoy thinking about the world, travelling and learning new languages (I am currently struggling with Dutch). I am happy to be back and be part of our fantastic team!
Henrike Hoogenraad
After studying Cultural Anthropology and African Studies in Utrecht and Leiden, I moved to Adelaide, Australia, to pursue a PhD in Anthropology. I studied marriage migration as ‘happiness journeys’ among African-Australian couples, and how such quests for happiness are obstructed by migration policy, and ideas about gender and the ‘Other’. I am excited to work as a tutor at IS as to put my intercultural and international experience into practice, and to engage daily with an amazingly diverse group of colleagues and students. What people may not know about me is that I speak quite a bit of Kiswahili!
Lennart Jacobs
My name is Lennart Jacobs, born and raised in the Netherlands, and I will be your new tutor at International Studies this year. I am first and foremost a historian with a specialization in Marxist ideology and communist thought, But I am also an expert of East Asian politics and political economy. Last years I have mostly been active at China Studies and Asian Studies at Leiden University, teaching courses like Modern Chinese History. At International Studies I will continue to teach about history and East Asia. I am looking forward to work with you all this academic year.
Querine Kommandeur
I was born in France and grew up in both France and the Netherlands. Academically speaking, I have a background in International Development Studies. I decided to tutor at International studies because I found out I enjoy teaching last year at the University of Amsterdam and I switched to IS because I enjoy working in an international environment. One thing people probably don't know about me is that I grew up at a campsite in Southern France which has been in our family for generations and which I still visit every summer.
Yung Lin
I am from Taiwan. I did the MA International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS, University of London and now I am doing PhD at Leiden University. As a researcher and a teacher, I believe that knowledge generates from conversations and discussions. While focusing so much in my research project, I rather enjoy sharing thoughts with the younger scholars as they always surprise me with their distinguishing opinions. I love literature especially 18th-19th century English literature as it is the liberation of human thoughts and expression of feelings. I write poems when traveling just like liberating thoughts from daily routines. I keep promoting literature studies as words are the magic of human beings.
Yonathan Listik
I am was born in Brazil but I also have Israeli citizenship. I did my studies in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University. I also spent time at the Sciences Po in Paris and the University of Essex. My background is in philosophy, social and political theory. Here at International Studies, the Cultural Studies module is very interesting and I am excited to teach it. People are sometimes surprised that I have tattoos but maybe the most surprising fact about me is my taste in music which ranges from Disco to Indie Rock.
Mary MacKenty
I am from the United States and have an academic background in international relations, Latin American and European studies and international education. I decided to tutor at International Studies because of my passion for teaching about different cultures and how we can interact and learn from each other. I am a bit of a nomad, having wandered from country to country, mainly in Latin America and Southern Europe. My favorite pastime is drinking Argentinian mate tea in a remote natural place with old friends or new travelling acquaintances.
Sophie Rodriguez
My name is Sophie Rodriguez. I come from Quito, a lovely city in the Ecuadorean highlands. As an International Studies tutor, I have the privilege of engaging in the topics that I am passionate about, communication practices, digital media, and cultural analysis in the context of a multicultural classroom. I aim for my tutorials to be interactive, and thought-provoking while also making them fun because I believe learning should be fun. That said, besides being a tutor at IS I am a skilled suitcase packer, for I have relocated to a new country five times!
Saeedeh Shahnahpur
My name is Saeedeh Shahnahpur. Originally from Iran, I came to the Netherlands in 2010 and obtained my Master and PhD degree in the Middle Eastern Studies from Leiden University. Teaching is the most fulfilling work of my academic career— not only because it is an instrumental and adaptable tool for effectively imparting knowledge, but also because it enables me to engage with student’s academic development. I enjoy interacting with students of different cultural backgrounds. Therefore, being a tutor at International Studies, where diversity and transnationalism are valued, is highly appealing and well-suited to my experience.
Jamaseb Soltani
I am a political refugee from Iran to where I feel a very strong connection. Like many political dissidents who leave their countries, I too am obsessed with politics, waking up to watch the news and going to bed, still watching the news. I have studied Economics for my BA, but for my Master's I felt the need to gain some academic insight into culture, so that I can better understand the problems that both the Iranian society is facing as well as the integration problems that have been so prominent here in the Netherlands. Hence, I studied Cultural Anthropology with a specialization in Multiculturalism. Right now, I am finishing my doctorate dissertation in Political Science in which I conduct a comparative study between the Iranian secular struggle in the 20th century and secular struggles elsewhere in the world. That multidisciplinary background, together with my passion for and experience in teaching, is what eventually brought me to International Studies. I had already encountered many IS students at the Campus when I was studying and they struck me as very curious and I recognized that same inquisitive drive that I had felt. So I am very happy to teach here. Interestingly, not only is my name very unfamiliar to all of you, but also to many Iranians since it is a very old Persian name from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. Neither I know its exact meaning, but one day I will set out to discover it. That'll probably be my most difficult research yet.
David van Maaren
I was born in Hilversum, a small city close to Utrecht, but I grew up in a city close to Amsterdam which is called Almere. I am an alumnus from the International Studies program at Leiden University, which I finished in 2019 with a specialization in Latin America. In 2020 I finished my masters in Crisis and Security Management and started working for the security department of Schiphol between 2020-2021. Over the last three years I have also been teaching languages -mainly Dutch B2- to expats and refugees as well as providing guest lectures at Leiden University for the department of Latin American studies. I decided to tutor at International Studies because it allows me to combine my personal experience with the program with my passion for teaching. Linguistics and Latin American studies are two areas within the course that I am particularly passionate about. I am also the presenter and co-founder of a platform for Latin American contemporary affairs called "El Panorama" through which I discuss relevant developments in the region with specialists from around the world. If you share my passion for the region, feel free to participate!
Fatma Zaki Khalil
I am Egyptian, born and raised in Caïro, and lived there till my early 20s. Majored in political science, my main academic focus now is social psychology of political behaviour. The Egyptian revolution in 2011 ignited my interest in researching why citizens act politically different despite living in the same political context. My political science background helps a lot in enriching my research. I have lived in 5 countries so far, for academic and personal reasons, which polished my multicultural side. I speak 5 languages, with various fluencies. This made a tutoring vacancy in the International Studies bachelor quite interesting for me. I love to learn and grow, and helping others do the same. I believe we can keep learning till the day we depart this planet and go elsewhere- maybe Mars 😉.
Fleur Zantvoort
I’m from the Netherlands, I currently live in Utrecht. My background is in Development Studies, I was studying and working at the International Institute for Social Studies before coming to International Studies. I’m particularly interested in socio-ecological justice struggles. My own education has been very international and interdisciplinary, so International Studies is a great fit! I enjoy learning with and from people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, and I like to work with this in my tutorials. Besides teaching, I really love to cook and I’ve started growing my own food, it brings me a lot of joy and creativity!