Anne Hampel

Anne Hampel, from Germany, graduated with a degree in Contemporary European Studies and International Relations in 2008.

I found the Contemporary European Studies (CES) programme was a varied and interesting programme, with a wide range of courses covering a lot of subject areas - the students are really spoilt for choice! By choosing different pathways in Year 1, students create their own degree in European Studies. For me this is very positive, because that way you can choose to focus on history, politics, economics or whatever area you like or need for your future career.

I am currently working for an international fundraising company which has its headquarters in Germany and works together with various German and international NGOs, especially in England and Spain. Since it is a rather small company my job include cross-national tasks, which means that my knowledge of Spanish and English come in very handy.

The pathway I chose focused particularly on politics. Although this isn't something I need in my job right now, I chose my current position in order to gain the necessary work experience to eventually move on to a position in a big international NGO. An understanding of European politics and the international system will therefore play a role in my future work life.

Languages were very important during my degree course: Spanish prepared me for a year of studying abroad and helped me understand the Spanish culture and the cultural differences between Spain, Britain and Germany. It is certainly an advantage to be able learn a new language while studying a language-related course like politics and European Studies. In that context I cannot rate the Erasmus year high enough! Even though it was very tough at times to take lessons and sit exams in Spanish, the insight into another culture, into another people's way of thinking, the people one meets and the friends one makes make up for this a thousand times. For me it really did broaden my horizon, improve my language skills and help me understand and value the different opinions and views on the EU that exist around Europe.

I also very much enjoyed the evening courses in French and Dutch, by the way! Thank you so much for offering these at the University of Dundee!