Internationale Betrekkingen en Internationale Organisatie

My name is Liz Winterhalter and I am a student in the International Relations and International Organizations Bachelor’s programme. I was born in the United States but was raised mainly across the Middle East and Europe. This cosmopolitan start to my life has motivated me to pursue the study of politics and of course take a major interest in the languages and cultures of the world. As far as hobbies go, I love going to the gym, playing video games, drawing, knitting, and playing chess. Additionally, next to my studies, I am an active member of the IRIO study association Clio.

Why IRIO?

I chose the IRIO programme here at the University of Groningen because I saw so much potential in the classes that are provided. Due to my background of moving, I had absolutely no geographical limit to where I could place my application, but Groningen spoke to me for three main reasons. The first reason is that the courses within the programme are specific. With IR studies in general, they tend to be very broad, so seeing that the individual courses are all for a specific field was very intriguing. Secondly, I loved the built-in language course to study. Language learning is a huge passion of mine, and having another language in the field of IR is an invaluable skill. Lastly, the overall flexible course structure, and the ability to have a bachelor's degree that can really be supplemented with anything additional you wish to take is a huge advantage.

Read more about Liz and why she chose to study International Relations and International Organization in Groningen!

Questions? Send Liz an email!

Ik ben Isa en ik studeer Internationale Betrekkingen & Internationale Organisatie. Ik kom uit Overijssel maar ben in 2023 verhuisd naar Groningen. Momenteel ben ik actief lid van SIB (Studentenvereniging voor Internationale Betrekkingen) en speel ik twee keer per week volleybal bij Donitas. Naast studeren lees ik graag, speel ik piano, eet ik met vrienden en speel ik games.

Waarom IRIO?

Ik kwam voor het eerst in aanraking met IRIO omdat een familielid het studeerde. Een jaar later begon ik met het proberen van verschillende MUN-debatten en ontdekte hoe beperkt mijn kijk op de wereld eigenlijk was. Als kind besef je opeens dat de wereld veel groter is dan je achtertuin en dit was het moment ik besefte hoeveel groter dan dat het nog was.

Ik koos IRIO vooral omdat het zeer relevant is. Voor mij werd het leuk omdat alles wat je kunt leren toepasbaar is op echte nieuwsberichten en actuele debatten. Het idee om wereldwijde problemen te kunnen ontleden voorbij generalisaties zoals bijvoorbeeld 'dit land/ding is slecht' naar 'waarom?' en 'hoe?' sprak me erg aan. Ook leek IRIO de beste studie voor mij omdat het veel verschillende vakken heeft. Je krijgt een toolbox met internationale geschiedenis, economie, rechten, politicologie, filosofie etc. Daarnaast vond ik de studie in Groningen vooral uniek omdat het een vreemde taaldeel heeft. Ik overwoog bijvoorbeeld diplomatiek te gaan doen en het wegnemen van taalbarrières komt erg goed van pas.

My name is Sofie, I am 19 years old and since 2020 I have been studying International Relations & International Organization (IRIO) at the University of Groningen. In my spare time I take boxing classes at the student organization ACLO and participate in fun activities organized by Study Association Clio.

Why IRIO?

I chose IRIO because I am interested in how the international world works. I would like to learn how countries and international organizations interact with each other, how international cooperation arises, and what causes international conflicts. IRIO seems the best study for this, because it has courses on history, politics, law and economics. Because of these different perspectives, you gain insight into all aspects of the international world. Moreover, these perspectives result in a varied programme that is never boring! I am also very enthusiastic about the foreign language as part of the IRIO programme, because I believe foreign language skills can be very useful in an international career. Ultimately, an international career is my ultimate goal and the IRIO study seems like a good starting point to achieve that.

After studying French law for almost two years, I was looking for a broader programme where I could fully study in English and that would give me the possibility to learn about various subjects, such as law, economics, history, politics. However, the feature that convinced me to apply for this programme were the compulsory language courses that allow me to learn a foreign language intensively. I picked Chinese and studying this language is so much fun!

The international aspect of the programme is also extremely interesting. You meet people from all over the world and get to know more about different cultures, which is exactly what I needed after spending 20 years in the same town. During your studies, you learn about the world and how it is constructed. You will start to feel closer to this world, which at first seems so unreachable.

In my opinion, one of IRIO biggest strengths is the variety of assignments. You will have to choose your own topics to write your essays, but you will also have to shoot videos, prepare presentations, and write papers in groups.

Are you at secondary school and want to know what studying at university is like? The International Relations and International Organization (IRIO) programme is offering a web class! This online course from the University of Groningen is specially designed for secondary school students. Try out what it takes to study IRIO by participating in this 4-week long course filled with various academic materials and completing assignments about the main topics of this bachelor programme.

The course takes about 10 hours in total and you can receive a certificate upon the completion of the online course.

If you are interested in an IRIO web class, register here.

What did you do after you graduated from the BA IRIO programme?

After I graduated from my BA programme, I went on to study the Master’s programme Sustainable Development (with a focus on Earth System Governance) at Utrecht University. After studying IRIO—and thereby understanding how the world can be perceived—it made sense to me to study how the world could or should be.

Having said that, I could have gone many other directions with my BA. As IRIO offers an interdisciplinary programme, you can truly forge your own path. I have friends who went on to study law, political economy, crisis management and even one who ended up studying marketing.

Where do you work and how did you end up there?

Currently I work as a sustainability advisor at Rijkswaterstaat (an executive organization of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management), with a focus on climate adaptation and riverine litter. After finishing my Master’s, I started with the traineeship of Rijkswaterstaat and ended up staying in my current position. It was actually my sister who suggested the organization might be a good fit for me.

What skills have you developed during your BA that you use in your current job?

I think one of the main benefits of studying IRIO is that you learn to assess the world around you from different perspectives, due to IRIO’s interdisciplinary courses. Other skills that you develop during IRIO are analytical thinking and writing, which I both apply daily. The ability to write comprehensively is key in a governmental organization, where being able to type up a good briefing can make the difference in leveraging your goals.

Another benefit of my BA is that I understand the broader policy context which I now work in. As an executive organization of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, we execute both Dutch and European policies. It’s really interesting to see how this broader policy context interacts with the work we do at Rijkswaterstaat on a daily basis, and that it’s not just a one way street but the interaction goes both ways.

Do you have any tips or tricks for current students?

Be open to different experiences during your BA, in order to figure out the direction you want to take after your BA (but also for the sake of fun :)). I think most students only start to think about their future after their BA as they reach their final year, but you should really use the years leading up to that to attend activities and try out different types of experiences. There’s exchanges, internships, extra courses or something as simple as attending activities by IRIO’s Study Association Clio.

During my BA I took extra courses, went on an exchange to Queen’s University in Canada—which was a very formative experience—and was very active at the Study Association Clio and participated in many of their activities. I knew I wanted to continue studying in the direction of sustainability after I attended one of the alumni talks organized by Clio. Sometimes opening yourself up to those types of activities can provide new insights.

Therefore, my advice would be: do not only focus on your study books, but go out and experience IR in practice!

Watch an interview with IRIO alumnus Christiaan Triebert. Christiaan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations in 2015. As an investigative journalist, he is currently working for The New York Times. In collaboration with his team, he earned the esteemed Pulitzer Prize in 2020 for their groundbreaking work exposing Russia's involvement in civilian deaths in Syria.

Clio is the study association of International Relations and International Organization at the University of Groningen.

It has around 1000 members and is one of the largest study associations in Groningen and the largest study association at a Dutch Faculty of Arts. Clio organizes numerous events including parties, workshops, excursions and offers services like high-quality summaries, the internship database and various discounts around Groningen.

https://www.clio.nl/home