Student testimonial
Student Deedee – MSc International Development Studies
After her BSc in Cultural Anthropology and Development studies at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, Deedee started with the Sociology of Development specialisation in MID. During her masters, she did her internship at Pakhuis de Zwijger Amsterdam. “Pakhuis de Zwijger is a cultural debate centre in Amsterdam where people come together to engage in dialogue. Complex and urgent social issues of our time are discussed.”
My internship was very results-oriented, every time we finished the weekly program felt like a victory.
Pakhuis de Zwijger
“My internship involved creating programs on social dilemmas. To create the programme of one event, you work six weeks on that topic. At the event people come together to engage in debate, conversation or discussion. This is often complemented by theatre, dance, music, spoken word, videos, or documentaries that give food for thought on the issue. Often, the aim is to reflect together on a new future. For example, what a post-capitalist city would look like. But we have also had a program on the future of sex workers in Amsterdam, through the eyes of sex workers.
Ultimately, the idea is to make a program entirely by yourself. In my case, I developed a program about punk music as a form of protest. There has been an increase in the programming of punk music in the Netherlands and it is also increasing in the charts. I thought it would be interesting to learn why. In looking in to this, I came across frictions and tensions within punk's protest movements, such as the commercialisation of it. I wrote my internship report on resistance and theories associated with that, which I linked back to my study program.
I did not yet know the media, journalism and culture-oriented world. I had always been interested in it but never did anything with it during my previous studies. The freedom I was given within the MID program allowed me to get a taste of this world and try a lot. That's how I found out that I really liked presenting and leading group discussions. My internship also went really well, so it gave me a lot of self-confidence. In addition, I really experienced that the practical internship that MID offers helps you discover your strengths, which is very beneficial when searching for suitable jobs.”
Deedee’s advice…
“Take advantage of the freedom Wageningen University offers its students. There are tons of interesting electives available. Almost nothing is impossible. You can interpret your internship and thesis in your own way, including travelling and going abroad. I would recommend everyone to explore and experiment. While studying MID, I took a break to travel to Australia for three months. This helped me get a better idea of what I wanted to do later on. There is also plenty of support available to help you with this.”