A Christmas Wish to all our staff and students
As Christmas and the New Year draw near, the BA International programme board would like to share a festive message with all staff and students for this special season.
Making a List
The end of the year is a time for making lists. We can reflect back on the past year and make a list of the achievements. Also, looking forward we can make to do lists for the year ahead. 2024 has been a busy year, International Studies has awarded over three hundred diplomas to our graduates in the Pieterskerk and in September we welcomed yet again a large cohort of over four hundred students to our programme. We drafted several reports, including lists of recommendations to try to make International Studies better equipped to face the future, among others, in light of challenges to the use of the English language in higher education. Moreover, the Faculty has drafted reports with lists of plans to tackle the financial shortfalls in the short- and long-term future. It involved lists of measures that could make us more viable, efficient and cost-effective. While I am presently optimistic about the situation for International Studies, the future does remain uncertain.
If these are not enough lists on the desk, the end of the year is also a time to make other kinds of lists, purely pleasurable. What was the best film of the past year, the best book, the most popular series? What was on your Spotify Wrapped list? Whatever type of list we are making, there is vast science behind the making of to do lists. Psychologists and management studies experts have found evidence that making lists is a beneficial activity, it can help with anxiety management and in attaining feelings of achievement. Making a list can even help with processing information, rather than listing things that you are actually planning to do (or not).
As we are making not only to do lists or overviews, also wish lists for the holidays involve tabulating things. Our wish lists are either to please others with a present, or lists to offer inspiration to loved ones while shopping. Below you will find a couple of suggestions for these types of lists; how to engage in gift-giving without burdening the planet or your purse. Furthermore, how to spend some down time during the holidays by reading the best books, watching the best films or listening to the best music of 2024.
On behalf of the whole team at International Studies, we wish you all a very happy holiday season, take time to relax and enjoy the company of friends and family in these last days of 2024 and we extend our best wishes for a happy and healthy 2025 and look forward to see you back again in our lecture and meeting rooms in the new year.
To read up on the power of making lists -
- Louise Chunn, ‘The psychology of the to do list; why your brain loves ordered tasks’, The Guardian 10 May 20217. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/10/the-psychology-of-the-to-do-list-why-your-brain-loves-ordered-tasks
- Emma Johnson, ‘ The Life Changing Magic of List Making’, Forbes, 17 December 2015. https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmajohnson/2015/12/17/the-life-changing-magic-of-list-making/
Wish lists - if you are looking for a way to give presents that do not cost anything, this website offers inspiring ideas https://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/gifts/free-gift-ideas
If you are looking for ideas on how to spend your free time, the New York Times has compiled a whole series on the best of 2024 –
- Best books: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/03/books/best-books-2024.html
- Best songs: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/arts/music/best-songs-2024.html
- Best recipes: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/dining/the-most-popular-recipes-of-2024.html
Happy Holidays,
Coco, Sarita’s dog, our unofficial International Studies mascot
