Yujing Tan

Hi, my name is Yujing Tan. Over the past years in Leiden, I learned to be an independent thinker and professional researcher whose work spans the fields of socio-economic anthropology, area studies and international political economy. I am highly motivated by my colleagues and supervisors who are sharing knowledge and research insights to younger generations. Now I am happy to work as teacher and share my knowledge to the younger peers from different countries and learn from them.

During this semester, we will spend a lot of time staying at home to give or participate online lectures and tutorials, facing technical challenges. This, however, would give us more space to reflect how we could continue learning and exploring humanity through social transitions. My solution to deal with this situation is: giving students more space to share and gain knowledge from their peers. “Knowledge leads to compassion.” — David Graeber (1961-2020)

Chris Colijn

Hi, I’m Chris Colijn. I have an MA in Russian and Eurasian studies and I started teaching at BAIS last semester. I was also once a BAIS tutor so I’m excited to be teaching Principles of Economics and Cultural Interaction this semester. I know from experience how rewarding it is to apply what I learned at BAIS in various work environments, such as events management, embassies, and journalism.

Although online learning can be challenging for everyone to stay motivated and engaged, I look forward to sharing knowledge and experiences and having interesting discussions with you, recognising and applying concepts across the world and in different academic fields to make theoretical discussions come alive.

Maaik Gankema

My name is Maaik Gankema and I will be teaching Cultural Studies and Introduction to International Studies this semester. I am an Alumnus of the International Studies Programme, I have completed a MA in International Relations: Global Political Economy in 2018, and I have obtained my teachers degree at the beginning of this year. I currently live in the beautiful city of Leiden and in my spare time I play volleyball and sing in a choir.

The biggest Corona-challenge will be maintaining contact with our students and colleagues. When teaching online I think we must create some time to allow students to talk about their regular lives in Den Haag or elsewhere. I am looking forward to meeting you and working with you!

Marlene Zijlstra

My name is Marlene Zijlstra, and I am one of the new tutors teaching both Introduction to International Studies and Cultural Studies as part of the first year courses of BAIS. In 2017 I completed the bachelor myself with a focus on African culture, and in 2019 I graduated cum laude with an MA in Cultural Diplomacy and International Events at the University of the West of Scotland and the ICD in Berlin. I definitely see tutoring as a two-way street; as I hope, being a new tutor, to also learn a lot from the students themselves. Within this new ‘online’ climate, I aspire to keep students engaged to the course and foster an inclusive and enjoyable student environment. In my opinion, there is no such thing as a stupid question, and I am excited to see what teaching as part of such a diverse and international bachelor has in store!

Paulina Lucas

Hello, everyone! I'm a tutor for Cultural Interactions and previously Latin American culture and language. My specialization area is cultural analysis and the Latin American region. I'm looking forward to working alongside my students in gaining new academic skills - I'm passionate about collaborative learning, which means I encourage my students to source knowledge together in the tutorials. 

This semester I'm teaching on campus, so a particular challenge is to help the students who might have symptoms and can't come to class; for that, we are finding creative solutions, like having them skype one of their classmates in the classroom. My hope is that these decidedly uncertain circumstances will bring out the best in us when it comes to generating and sharing knowledge and academic skills.

Vedant Mehra

My name is Vedant and I am from India. I am a Leiden Alumni and graduated from the Masters in International Relations and Diplomacy in 2019. Prior to joining BAIS, I interned at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the Embassy of India, The Hague. My areas of expertise are - International Relations, Diplomacy, Security and South Asia.

Having been away from University for a year, I realized I missed the academic atmosphere and the ability to gain insights into new topics every semester. Being a tutor means I get to do exactly that, and simultaneously share my knowledge with the students at my Alma Mater.

This semester all my teaching is on campus, so my challenge is to help students gain affinity with University education in the 1.5m distance classroom setting. I aim to solve this by regularly encouraging students to follow the COVID-19 protocol set by the University

Andy Ciofalo

My name is Andy Ciofalo, I recently finished my PhD project that challenges and expands upon previous archaeological understandings of botanical foodways during AD 1000-1500 in three geographic regions: Northern Dominican Republic, The Bahamas, and Central Nicaragua. Because of the Corona crisis, I have been unable to defend my dissertation, which was a personal corona-challenge. However, I am very excited to continue in academia as a tutor for Global History and Cultural Studies!

Jessica Elias

Prior to joining Leiden as Tutor of Comparative Politics and Politics of the Middle East, I was researching the peace process involving the Syrian opposition groups in the Geneva and Astana platforms. In addition to my research, I was teaching Public International Law at the Amsterdam University College and the Free University of Amsterdam.

I have had the chance to teach Politics for the first year students and that experience confirmed my first impression: that students at LU are increasingly involved in the world around us and that teaching them is partly also about contributing to a better outlook when they take the stage in the future.

A major challenge we face in our online teaching is: seeking personal contact in the learning environment. The corona measures invite us to use digital methods creatively especially if we consider the learning environment essential for the learning process. My students and I address this challenge already at our first online session together by sharing digitally a playlist of songs that hail from the Middle Eastern region. The online aspect is actually helpful here because it makes this introductory exercise more efficient!

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