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Job Perspectives Arts and Culture

Contents

Job Perspectives

Job Perspectives

Doctoraal Arts and Sciences

Katja Weitering
Marieke Houben
Daan Nieber
Simone Melis
Marcia Luyten
Karlijn van der Graaf
Ariane Limburg
Marlies Hanifer

4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18

Master Arts and Sciences

Eva de Valk
Robert Buzink

20
22

Since the start of the Arts and Culture programme in 1991 at Maastricht University, about thousand
students have graduated. They have swarmed all over the world and work in all kinds of jobs. It turns out
that their job perspectives are extremely favourable.
Our alumni work among others in the art and culture sector, for the government, in trade and industry,
at non-governmental organisations, in the communication sector, in politics, in education and in
academics. In this brochure, we have collected several examples of jobs in which our alumni have wound
up. This collection gives a representative idea of the professional opportunities for Arts and Culture
students. The stories are told by alumni who earned their bachelors degree and/or masters degree here.*
They not only talk about the job they are doing, but also how they got there. It turns out, for example, that
an internship is very important, especially if it is in line with your specialisation and thesis. An internship
offers the work experience that employers demand and gives you the opportunity to find out what exactly
you want. More tips you will find in this brochure.
The opportunities are plenty, the choice is yours!

* The Arts and Culture programme started in 1991 as a doctoraal programme Arts and Sciences (AS). The doctoraal degree is comparable to the current masters

Master Arts and Heritage: Policy, Management and Education

Karina Kottov
24
Felix de Clerck
26

degree. The last doctoraal student graduated in 2007. With the implementation of the BaMa structure in 2002, the study programme changed into a three-year
bachelor programme in Arts and Culture. From 2005, five accredited master programmes were added, namely the MA Arts and Sciences, MA Arts and Heritage: Policy,
Management and Education, MA Media Culture, MA European Studies on Society, Science and Technology and the research master MPhil Cultures of Arts, Science and

Master Media Culture

Kartika Oktorina
Jan Smeets

Technology. Alumni of this two-year research master programme are not present in this brochure because the first cohort only recently graduated.

28
30

Master European Studies on Society, Science and Technology

Carlos Quiros Campos
32
Michael Nagler
34
Servicepage

35

Colophon
2010 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht | text, interviews and concept:
Marketing & Communications, Department Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) | text editing: Femke Kools,
www.femkools.nl | translation: Krijnen Communicatie, margot.krijnen@home.nl | Layout and production: Oc Business
Services, Maastricht | Although this brochure was made with the utmost care, no rights can be attained from it.

Katja Weitering
Age: 32
Nationality: Dutch
Doctoraal Arts and Sciences: graduated in 1999
Job: curator of the Cobra Museum for Modern Art in Amstelveen

Katjas career consists of a series of steps that ultimately

led her to what she likes best: working for a museum.
I am originally interested in art because my parents
often took me to exhibitions. Therefore, I initially wanted
to study history of art, but when a friend showed me the
brochure of Maastricht University and I read about the
Arts and Science programme (AS), I was completely sold.
The wide interdisciplinary approach, which embedded my
interest in art in a much broader context, was exactly
what I wanted.
Art critic
During her studies she decides to study abroad for one
year. AS had incited my passion for writing and
I wanted to gain more in-depth knowledge of art review.

I could follow a one-year masters programme in Art

Review at the City University of London. That perfectly
connected with what I had already learned at AS:
processing large quantities of information, learning to
think critically, having an eye for complexity and writing
different kinds of texts with a certain audience in your
head. Skills I still use every day. An additional advantage
was that I could graduate both at AS as in the masters
programme of Art Review with the same thesis. As it
happens, that thesis studied the way art critics wrote
about the destruction of the Cathedra painting of the
American artist Barnett Newman in 1997. I had often
seen this work in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam
and I found it beautiful.

Company collection
In 2000, even before the seven months at the
Bonnefantenmuseum were completed, Katja heard from
a former AS fellow-student that ING was looking for a
curator for the company collection. She was invited for a
job interview. The ING collection is one of the oldest and
largest company collections and it consists of twenty
thousand objects spread over all branches in the
Netherlands and abroad. The collection consists of
figurative art of mainly Dutch artists, starting with magic
realists such as Carel Willink and Pyke Koch. In 2000,
Katja also started a part-time study programme in Art
History at the University of Amsterdam. I felt the need
to specialise a bit more. I took courses such as visual
analysis and iconography. After eighteen months I
completed my propaedeutics and that was enough for
me.

Petra en Erik Hesmerg

AS was love at first sight

She applied at the Cobra Museum and she was hired.

My experience as a curator at ING definitely played
a role there, but also my background in AS. That academic
background translates in your work as curator when it
concerns research, text writing and thinking along about
the exhibition policy. All of that counts.

Heart
In 2004, after four years at ING, she actively started to
search for a job with a museum. My heart is in the
museum and not in the world of business. No matter
how great the ING collection is, it still remains a large
bank/insurance company where it is all about making
money. One of the things, for example, we did with
customers was taking them to large art fairs and advising
them regarding the establishment, management and
assurance of an art collection. I learned very much there,
but I prefer making beautiful exhibitions for a broad
public.

Petra en Erik Hesmerg

Henny van Beek

Doctoraal Arts and Sciences

VARA
Because her thesis was more or less completed when she
returned from London, Katja had some time left for an
internship. At the faculty she saw a notice from the
VARA; they were looking for someone that wanted to
make an inventory of their art collection. It was a
dynamic work place, where I was left entirely free. I made
a small catalogue for internal use. And after my graduation, this led to my first job. I was a member of the art
acquisition committee and I organised cultural activities
for VARA members.
After one and a half year at the VARA, it started to itch
because she preferred to work in the art world. A teacher
at AS drew her attention to a vacancy at the Bonnefantenmuseum. I could work there for seven months as
a freelance employee for an educational art project.
There, I developed a concept for a separate exhibition
room for children and young people.

telephone interview in English. Subsequently, I was

invited to four interviews in one day in Dublin, with
people from various organization levels. I passed those
interviews and then there was only the last test on the
internet, before I could start there on 1 March 2007.

Nermin Dizdarevic

UM also has a good reputation at Google

Leeftijd:
Nationaliteit: Nederlandse
Marieke
Houben
Bachelor European
Studies: Graduated in 2006
Baan: Medewerker pers en culturele zaken van de Nederlandse Ambassade
Age:
28
Standplaats:
Wenen
Nationality: Dutch
Doctoraal Arts and Sciences: graduated in 2005
Job: Adwords Account Associate and trainer with the Learning and Development Team of Google in Dublin

Marieke is very interested in sciences and technique.

Therefore, her choice to specialise in Technological
Culture during her studies of Arts and Sciences (AS)
was obvious. After earning her degree at Maastricht
University (UM) she completed a master in Science
Communication in Dublin in 2006.
I got a good basis from AS, but I wanted to go into
communications, preferably at a NGO or in museums.
After my master thesis about medical exhibitions,
I wanted to conduct research for exhibitions in science
and technique museums. But that is a very small world;
if there is ever a vacancy there, the competition is
enormous. When I received the umpteenth letter stating
that I was one of nine hundred applicants, I realised this
was going to be a step-by-step plan.

Strict selection
Back in the Netherlands, she started to work for a temp
agency, while she continued her search via all kinds of job
offer websites. That is how she found a vacancy at
Google in Dublin. From the technological culture
perspective, Google is a very interesting company,
because it launches so many new products and because
of the way that the users are already involved in that
during the development stage. It seemed exciting to
work there for a while and see how it functions.
What followed was an extensive and strict selection
procedure. I had to carry out a series of assignments,
such as design a publicity campaign, analyse a number of
websites and write a letter to an angry customer. Those
assignments I sent along with my CV, which led to a

Original
Marieke is certain that her studies of AS and the ProblemBased Learning system of Maastricht University have
definitely contributed to the success of her application.
In tutorial groups, you not only learn to cooperate, you
also learn to open your mouth. During my interviews,
they kept going on about your functioning in a team.
The examples I gave all came from my years at the
university. I told them, for example, about a research into
intelligent transportation systems we had conducted
with four persons and an example of a practical that
didnt work well and the way I solved that. Later, I heard
that they found my examples interesting and original.
It gave them a good picture about the way I work.
UM is simply a good university that also holds a good
reputation at Google. Many of the Dutchmen here are
UM alumni.

Interieur Google Dublin

Great employer
Marieke has been working for one year now in the
Adwords department that is responsible for the
sponsored links you see on the right-hand side of the
Google website. She designs campaigns for Dutch and
Belgian customers. Besides that she gives product
training to new staff members in the Adwords
department. I discovered that I did not want to become
an account manager. Fortunately, Google always offers
you the opportunity to do projects that interest you, next
to your main position. That is how I wound up in the
internal Learning and Development Team that provides
all kinds of courses, ranging from a presentation course
to time management courses. Now, the teaching and
development of the product training has become part of
my main task. I show the new employees of Adwords the
way in the publicity policy. Great to do.
Practice
She did not abandon her original plan to find a job in
science communication. I will definitely stay another
year at Google, because there is still so much to learn
here. If there is not enough challenge after that year, I will
start looking for something else. I hope that ultimately all
the experience I have gained from various employers will
come together in that one science communication job. In
any case, in a position in, for example, the cultural sector,

Google Dublin

I will be able to make good use of my experience here in

business, both in designing and giving training for all
kinds of groups and my knowledge of online advertising.

Singapore. The TWA is the research department of an

embassy. They conduct research commissioned by the
government service or Dutch trade and industry; they
keep up with developments in the field of technique and
science in the country of their residence and they
examine if these may have an added value for the
Netherlands. In Singapore, I conducted research into the
legislation that makes it possible to clone human
embryos for stem cell research. Singapore is almost the
only country in the world were this is possible. I wanted
to know how this law was established. Which arguments
were for example used for it? I also looked at the
economic and scientific appeal of such a law. Because of
this possibility there are currently scientists and
companies from all over the world in Singapore.
I spent three months there and it was great.

AS is a certain way of looking at the world

Daan Nieber
Age: 27
Nationality: Dutch
Doctoraal Arts and Sciences: graduated in 2005
Job: editor for IDTV in Amsterdam

After Daan had explored the studies Political Sciences

and Art History in Amsterdam, he chose Arts and
Sciences (AS) in Maastricht because that involved both
disciplines. It was exactly that mix of political sciences,
(art) history, philosophy and more that I liked so much.
I always say: Many people who dont know what they
want choose to read law; many people who do know
what they want, but dont want to make one single
choice, choose for AS.
He chose to specialise in Technological Culture because
he found that was a sound and well-organised
programme. It was a direction that was directly related
to day-to-day reality. Everyday artefacts were studied in a
non-everyday manner.

One of our teachers, for example, had written a fantastic

book about the bicycle.
Cloning
As an Erasmus student he went to the University of
Edinburgh for six months. There, I could follow courses
from the masters programme Science, Society and
Technology. I consciously chose this exchange because it
was a good addition to my specialisation. In Edinburgh,
there was more attention for the influence of economic
motives on technique and science.
While he was in Scotland, Daan succeeded in arranging
a research internship with the Attach for Science and
Technology (TWA) of the Netherlands Embassy in

Gas extraction
After his return from Singapore, he started to work on his
final thesis. I studied the political and scientific debate
regarding the gas extraction in the Wadden Sea.
Fascinating to study one single subject in depth, but
I worked too long on it. It took me over a year and 180
pages to finally complete my thesis. After his graduation,
Daan applied with several agencies for communication
advice. I thought that would be the best place for an AS
graduate. I could start with two agencies, and I chose
Het Portaal, a small agency that organises debates,
meetings and workshops on issues concerning urban
renewal, sustainable energy, nutrition and green areas.
What particularly appealed to me, were the multimedia
projects; workshops where a certain theme was
introduced by a film we had made in commission.

Added value
The important added value of AS is that you learn to
look at problems from various perspectives and to think
up unexpected angles. AS is a certain way of looking at
the world. You learn to make matters understandable
and to think along about many things. That was a great
benefit in my work as a communication advisor and now
in my work as a television editor. But AS not only
professionally has an added value, I also learned a lot
there personally.

Location IDTV Amsterdam

Television
Daan was always fascinated by film and television.
While I was writing my thesis, I already applied to
become a presenter at Het Klokhuis and I was picked as
one of the remaining six candidates. When the
audiovisual jobs at Het Portaal strongly dropped, it was
time for him to find another job, preferably in television.
In the summer of 2007, he decided to enter a summer
school at the Media Academy in Hilversum. There, he met
people from IDTV and he was invited for an interview.
In December, Daan started to work there as and editor of
the television programme De rijdende rechter. I also
worked on a pilot for an experimental talk show with
Raoul Heertje, for example. That is great fun to do,
because you truly participate in developing a programme.
I now work three days per week for IDTV and two days
per week I produce news items for the website of DAG,
a free newspaper.

Recently, we investigated by means of a survey the work

satisfaction of the employees of the National Health
Service. The report I wrote on that is now used by unions
in their negotiations with the authorities.

For
thegotime
being,
I stillbest
have a lot to learn
Never
for the
second

Dream for the future

Simone is very happy about her work situation. She can
take courses in project-management and there are many
opportunities for training on the job. The only
disadvantage is the lack of career opportunities because
the firm is too small for that. As a next step, she would
like to become team leader with a bigger company.
Secretly she dreams about a job with the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva.
That would be fantastic! The ILO is part of the United
Nations and they strive for the improvement of labour
conditions throughout the world, for example in China,
Russia and Myanmar. These are still only dreams for the
future. For the time being, I still have enough to learn
here. And when I walk to work in the morning and I pass
the Tower Bridge and St. Pauls Cathedral, I think Wow,
not bad for an AS graduate!

Nermin Melis
Simone
Dizdarevic
Age: 28
Leeftijd:
Nationaliteit:Dutch
Nationality:
Nederlandse
Bachelor European
Doctoraal
Arts andStudies:
Sciences:
Graduated
graduated
inin
2006
2004
Baan:
Job:
senior
Medewerker
researcher-consultant
pers en culturele
with
zaken
Incomes
van de
Dates
Nederlandse
Services (IDS)
Ambassade
part of Thomson Reuters in London
Standplaats: Wenen

After getting my degree in Arts and Sciences (AS) at

Maastricht University and in European Studies at the
College of Europe in Warsaw, I wanted what many social
sciences graduates want: work with a political think
tank or in Foreign Affairs. I wrote dozens of applications,
but because I didnt have much work experience besides
my internship at Clingendael, I always got letters starting
Thank you, but we received 250 reactions and we are
looking for people with more work experience.
A friend and former fellow student drew my attention to
a vacancy with the Provincial Council of North-Holland.
They were looking for a policy adviser in European
Affairs and I perfectly fit the profile. I had graduated from
AS in Political Culture. In my third year, I conducted
research during my internship at Clingendael into the
impact of a certain European law on the Netherlands and
the way the Netherlands had lobbied for that. This
research again led to my thesis in the fifth year and on
top of that I also held a master in European Studies.

10

She got the job. It appeared a good place to gain work

experience, but also to find out that she actually wanted
something else. I am reasonably impatient and want to
see quick results, so public service wasnt really right for
me. Moreover, my boyfriend lived in London, so I decided
to look for a job there.
Work satisfaction
A friend sent me an advertisement from the English
newspaper The Guardian and that is the job I got.
I now work for IDS Contract Research, a commercial
British research institute in the field of labour and
employment.
For me, this feels as my true first job. I feel completely
happy here. I now know that research and consultancy
are really my thing. And I have found my subject: labour
and employment. I am interested in everything that has
to do with that, such as migration, unemployment and
economics. We work, for example, often for trade unions.

Tip

Simone before building IDS

AS is a great study programme and it offers you

a broad basis. You learn to think about social
problems and to form an opinion. You learn to
express yourself well orally and in writing.
I still benefit from that when I have to give a
presentation for a client or draw up a report. I
would recommend people to choose a clear
profile, for example by linking an internship to
your final project. That often has a catapult
effect to a first job. Just as in my case, that first
job doesnt necessarily have to be the ideal job.
But it gives you the opportunity to find out what
you like and dont like. I have now found the field
in which I want to continue working.
I found that by starting to work.

11

AS felt like Jack and Jill

Marcia Luyten
Age: 37
Nationality: Dutch
Doctoraal Arts and Sciences: graduated in 1996
Job: publicist/journalist

In high school, Marcia was extremely good at economics,

which was why she chose to study International
Management in Maastricht in 1989. The Economics
programme particularly disappointed her from the
intellectual viewpoint. I really didnt have to think there,
so when Arts and Sciences (AS) started in 1991, I immediately registered. AS was a tremendous discovery for
me; it felt as if Jill had found her Jack. I thought it might
be superficial, but that was definitely not the case. It was
multi- and interdisciplinary and at the same time very
substantive. We studied cultural history from several
perspectives, from classical antiquity to the present.
Problem-based learning worked particularly well for AS.
The tutor groups were led by a full professor, everyone
was enthusiastic and inspired; this was what I always
wanted.
Because she felt it would be a shame to quit Economics
after three years, she graduated in both programmes.
Intellectual baggage
During her AS studies, she still thought she wanted to
become a theatre director or work in the art business. But
she found out that she was actually more interested in
political-cultural and social subjects than in art philosophy. So, she chose to specialise in Political Culture and for
that programme she did an internship at the politicalcultural debate centre De Balie in Amsterdam.
Two things have been crucial for everything I now know
and can do: the AS programme and my internship with
De Balie. Almost all my background knowledge comes
from AS and via my network at De Balie I got my first
freelance jobs for various newspapers.

12

After her internship she wanted to become a political

reporter in The Hague, but unfortunately that didnt
work out. She could, however, do an internship at the art
editorial staff of Het Parool. Also very nice, but by then
I had completed my studies and had to work in bars in
the evening to earn some money. So, I felt it was time to
finally start earning real money instead of trying
everything I liked.
Paper work
When she read an advertisement for diplomatic training,
she decided to take a chance. As for the content, it
sounded great. Europe, NATO, Dutch politics and Dutch
foreign politics; those were all themes that very much
interest me. She easily got through the selection
procedure and was hired. I got a job with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs with the directorate of multilateral
development cooperation. There they dealt with the
World Bank and the IMF; all development cooperation
goes via that department. In principle they work on
fantastic dossiers, interesting issues, but the work at the
ministry wasnt really my thing. Mostly, massive
quantities of paper were pushed from one desk to
another: that made me thoroughly miserable. So, when a
former fellow student drew my attention to an
advertisement in which De Volkskrant asked for young
academics with journalist experience, I didnt need much
thinking.

Passion for writing

In 1999, Marcia was hired by the newspaper. Besides her
work for De Volkskrant, she led debates, established the
think tank Waterlandstichting and wrote for the e-zine
of the think tank: Waterstof. In 2001, she left with her
husband, who she met during diplomatic training, for
Rwanda. He worked in the Kigali embassy and she
worked as a correspondent for Het Parool and now and
then for the NOS, Radio 1, the Wereldomroep and
Elsevier.
In 2005, they returned to the Netherlands, but now she
lives in Africa again, this time in Uganda where her
husband works at the embassy in Kampala.
End of 2006, I moved to Kampala. Since then I have
mostly worked on my second book Ziende blind in de
sauna. It is a true AS book: it is about how the
Netherlands look more and more like Africa. Politics,
culture, economics: it contains all disciplines. Writing
such a book is really the greatest thing I can think of.

Children in Pabbo, biggest camp in North-Uganda

Charcoal in Kampala

13

besides my council membership. Politics can be volatile,

it is never sure that you can come back after four years,
so I didnt want to bet everything on that option.
Selling points
But she did come back. In 2006, she was elected member
of the Maastricht City Council. She did not take part in
the national elections. I seriously considered it. At the
time, I had a few good selling points: I was young, female,
had received much publicity and I had political experience. I decided not to do it, because I had become a
mother and my husband did not want to leave the area
because he had his own business here. I was, however,
a member of the nomination committee presided by
Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven and that was a very valuable
experience. Since October of last year, she also works for
the programme Culture Caf of L1. I noticed that I felt
the desire to go back to arts and culture, after having
done little in that area for a few years. Politics can also
be tough in a certain way: you always have to defend
yourself and try to keep your head above water. That is
super-interesting and I feel privileged to be a member of
a city or provincial council, but I missed the art and the
culture that have interested me since my adolescence.

I like to represent others

Karlijn van der Graaf
Age: 28
Nationality: Dutch
Doctoraal Arts and Sciences: graduated in 2004
Job: Member of the Maastricht City Council for the PvdA (Dutch Labour Party) and editor of the Culture Caf of
L1 radio (regional radio station)

When Karlijn studied Arts and Sciences (AS), she chose to

specialise in Cultural Theory and Art Practices, but given
her career it might as well have been Political Culture.
As an adolescent, she read a great lot and also occasionally wrote a poem. Because she did not want to become
a teacher, she decided not to study Dutch Language and
Literature, but Arts and Sciences. She graduated with a
thesis on the alleged fascist sympathies of the Limburg
poet Felix Rutten.
Her political career started in the third year of her studies.
The then alderman of Nuth, the place where she grew up,
said: I believe you are the right person for politics. I had
never really considered that, but it seemed quite

14

interesting, says Karlijn. I had always been the girl in

elementary school that mobilised the class to do
something nice for the teachers birthday and who
became class representative in high school. I often take
on that pioneering role. Apparently I enjoy representing
other people. That alderman was quite right about that.
In 2002, she participates in the city council elections in
Nuth for the PvdA. One year later, she puts herself up for
the Provincial Council and she is elected with ample
votes. Prior to the elections there was a mega-campaign,
that was great. I was 23 then, very young for a provincial
council membership. Because I was such a young woman,
who also had something to say, I received a lot of
publicity. I decided, however, to also continue my studies

Network
The next two years, Karlijn will remain in the city council.
She is not sure about the direction she will choose after
that. I would like to combine my knowledge of arts and
culture with my political network. I very well know the
alderman and provincial deputy for culture. They both
happen to be members of my party, but I also know them
because I participated in both committees. Maybe I can
help artists and people with good ideas to set up things,
facilitate them That may help realise them quicker.
Who knows, maybe I will start my own agency one day.
For now, I am still happy with my city council work and
Culture Caf.

Karlijn at the Markt in Maastricht

Karlijn in the City Hall of Maastricht

15

The
government
searches
for people that look
Never
go for the second
best
across borders
Nermin Dizdarevic
Leeftijd: Limburg
Ariane

Nationaliteit: Nederlandse
Age:
29 European Studies: Graduated in 2006
Bachelor
Nationality:
Dutch/French
Baan: Medewerker
pers en culturele zaken van de Nederlandse Ambassade
Doctoraal
and Sciences: graduated in 2001
Standplaats:Arts
Wenen
Job: Grant provider at the Provincie Noord-Holland in Haarlem

Ariane is only one step away from what she really wants,
namely becoming a policy advisor with the government.
At the moment, she still works at the Subsidies
department, but she soon hopes to switch to a policy
position. Now, I am mostly involved with the implementation of policy; the assessment of subsidy applications of cultural institutions. I would like to be at the
beginning of the process, be more involved with the
content. I have done a lot of different things to get there
and I think I am ready for it now. After all, I did not do an
academic study for nothing. If I dont succeed here, I will
try elsewhere, with a municipality or the State..
Experience
When Ariane graduated in 2001, she could choose
between two jobs: a gallery in Eindhoven or an
antiquarian bookshop in Houten. I chose the antiquarian

16

bookshop because I thought I could deepen my

knowledge of history and books there and because the
international aspect appealed to me. That antiquarian
bookshop conducted business at book fairs all over the
world. But in practice my work was very disappointing.
I was mostly behind the computer entering and
describing books along established lines. After three
months already, I knew I had made the wrong choice.
Seven months later, she exchanged this job for a position
with the inside sales staff for a company that produces
among others security gates. The labour market was
bad at that time, especially for someone without work
experience. I did simple work there, but it was a good
experience and I had nice colleagues. I learned to work
in a structured way and to meet deadlines.

Cultural sector
Indirectly she heard of that the then Limburg Centre for
Amateur Arts (the present Limburg House for the Arts)
in Roermond was looking for a staff member for the
Museum Inventory Project (MusIP). For this project, she
was willing to move back to Limburg, because it gave her
the opportunity to gain experience in the cultural sector.
It was a national project that was carried out per
province. The objective was to create a database that
would classify the sub-collections of all Dutch museums
with a view to improve among others the collection
mobility between museums. This database has since
been available on the Internet. When this project stopped
after one year, I could start to work as a general
consultant at the House. I mainly carried out projects in
the field of dance, festivals, music and literature.
In 2006, after having worked there gladly for two and
a half years, Ariane decided to apply for a vacancy at the
Provincie Noord-Holland; that was the job she still holds.
I wanted to go back to the Randstad and gain experience
with the government. Then, I already knew for a while
that I wanted to be a policy advisor for the government.
Realising projects is nice, but placing those projects inside
a bigger framework and thinking about the direction in
which you want to take them, thats even more fun.
Delay
For Ariane it is now just a matter of time before her wish
to be a policy advisor will come true. If I could do it all
again, I would choose an internship with the government
and not at ING Art affairs. During this internship I helped
with the preparations for the TEFAF. That was interesting
and valuable, but I also found out that the commercial
aspect of the art world is not my thing. As a result of that
internship, I wrote a graduation thesis on Realism in the
art of painting. I was very impressed with the realist art
collection of ING, but ultimately I didnt do much with it.
Knowing then what I know now, I would have realised
that an internship with the government would have been
better. Especially because the government finds it
important that you have that kind of work experience.
Maybe some of my choices have led to a delay, but I dont
think I could have done it differently. Only recently, I got
this feedback during a job interview: Do you realise at all
how much you have done? And that is true, of course. It
is a matter of continuing to take steps and the next step
is coming up now. I have gained the necessary experience
and I have studied the right academic programme,
because in government positions they want to have
people with a generalist education, who can look across
borders.

Map of North-Holland

Provinciehuis North-Holland

17

Kings College has a very good reputation, so Marlies

could have gotten a job in London as a country specialist
with Janes Defence. That is an institute that works in
the field of defence and weapon technology. That conflicted with my principles. I didnt want to contribute to a
military weapon lobby. At NGOs, such as the International Conflict Group, where I did want to work I couldnt
find a job because I lacked work experience and was
competing with the cream of the crop. There were fellow
students who spoke more than four languages fluently.

I am a generalist and that is what I want to stay.

Marlies Hanifer
Age: 26
Nationality: Dutch
Doctoraal Arts and Sciences: graduated in 2004
Job: Junior advisor at Schuttelaar & Partners in The Hague

Language and politics are the theme of Marlies studies.

At Arts and Sciences (AS), for example, one of my essays
was about the language of doctors in the communication
with patients. I made an analysis of that on the basis of a
series of language theories. In my final thesis I analysed
the rhetoric Bush uses in his speeches after 11 September. While she was writing her final thesis, she also
worked as a Social Studies teacher at a secondary school
in Maastricht. That job was a result of my internship.
I really enjoyed teaching, transferring knowledge.
And I earned money with it, which was nice because
I was financing my own studies.
Water metaphor
After her graduation she didnt want to stay in education
but she wanted to specialise further. She won a VSB
scholarship and studied International Conflict Studies at

the War Studies Department of Kings College in London.

I hoped to receive an education there that would be well
attuned to practice, because I very much wanted to work
at a ministry or NGO. When the programme turned out
to be very theoretical, I still enjoyed it very much. I graduated on the differences in rhetoric between the Dutch
and the French when it concerns migrants, sense of
security and the expression of own identity. Striking is for
example that politicians in the Netherlands, whether
they are for or against immigration, use the water
metaphor. Wilders and Verdonk speak for example of the
fact that the Netherlands is flooded by foreigners, but
also Groen Links uses descriptions that fall within this
metaphor. Water is apparently something that connects
the Dutch with each other. The French use the invasion
metaphor. They speak of foreigners who occupy their
country.

Im the one you need when something has to be done

quickly and there are deadlines; then I am at my best.
I can switch very fast and pick up a lot of information in
a short time. I know how to quickly set up a structure for
writing a piece, whether that is a web text, a communication plan or an offer. All that, the quick switching, writing
and analysing, I learned at AS and that is something I still
benefit from every day.

Communication
Then Marlies got a phone call from a friend she knew
from AS. She was working with Schuttelaar & Partners,
a communications advice agency for innovations in the
field of nutrition, health and sustainability. Did I know
someone who wanted to do an internship in the department of Civic Consultation, a department that is occupied with the communication between government and
citizens. I didnt immediately think about myself, but
after I put the phone down, I thought why not? Its
about communication and it is a good place to gain work
experience. I wrote a letter, was invited for an interview
with the director and I was hired. We just hit it off. There
were already two AS graduates working there, so they
knew what kind of generalists they were hiring and they
really need those. AS has a good reputation!
NOS news
Marlies has been working at Schuttelaar & Partners for
three years now. At first I was thrown in at the deep end;
just do it was the motto. I learned a lot from that; from
organising meetings and writing communication plans to
conducting qualitative research. Now, for example, I am
working on an information plan for municipalities about
asbestos and on a project about sustainable purchasing.
The project I am most proud of is organising awards for
innovation and sustainability. For that project I contacted
the press. Great, because we didnt only get a lot of publicity in the newspapers, but we also made the NOS news!
My speciality is that I dont have one. I am a generalist
and that is what I want to stay, but it has to be about
something I find worth wile. Innovation and sustainability in society, those are important themes to me. The
relationship between government and citizens is essential in that respect.

The Hague

18

19

Freedom
After earning her bachelor degree, she wanted to continue in that philosophical direction. Therefore, she chose
to enter in the continuing masters programme in Arts
and Sciences. This master offers you a lot of freedom
and it gave me the opportunity to organise the programme the way I wanted it. My thesis, for example,
described the influence of Walter Benjamin on the historical works of Hannah Arendt. An interdisciplinary subject
with both a historical and philosophical component;
no better place to study that than in Maastricht. In that
same period, I also wrote columns for the Observant, and
I very much enjoyed that.
She did an internship at the Art Directorate of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. I found this internship via an Arts and Culture alumna. I worked on the
information programme for the Action Plan Culture
Range 2004-2007. I had to select a series of projects that
were successful thanks to government subsidies and
subsequently write a report on those projects. I also
organised work visits to several of those projects for
Medy van der Laan, the State Secretary of Culture at the
time. An enjoyable and valuable internship, although
there I discovered that my character does not fit in with
an official environment with a strong emphasis on diplomacy.

Master Arts and Sciences

Good writing I learned in Maastricht

Eva de Valk
Age: 24
Nationality: Dutch
Bachelor Arts and Culture: graduated in 2005
Master Arts and Sciences: graduated in 2006
Job: PhD researcher at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam

Philosophy and writing are two of Evas passions. In the

fifth semester of her bachelor programme, she went on
exchange to Berlin, where she studied both Kulturwissenschaft and philosophy. There I found out that I particularly liked this abstract approach of philosophy. I would
never have guessed that in high school. For my bachelor
dossier in Berlin, I wrote a piece about Hannah Arendt.

20

I received high grades for that, because they found

I wrote well and had an original approach. I learned that
in Maastricht. There, I learned to write and think critically.
I found that the students in Berlin were much more
accepting of everything they read. Contrary to what
I had learned: keep asking questions.

Books
For her internship with the Ministry of Education, Culture
and Science, she passed over an internship with the Historical Publishing House in Groningen. When I telephoned to ask if I could still do an internship with them,
I could start immediately. This meant that I collected my
degree certificate on Thursday, and started to work in
Groningen the Monday after.
After a couple of months, the internship was changed
into a permanent job. I did editorial work and the sales
of titles to foreign countries. The publishing house
employs four persons and they publish about eight titles
per year. When I worked there, Douwe Draaisma was the
biggest success. The translation rights of these books
have been sold to about twenty countries; I did a lot of
work for that. I edited his latest book De heimweefabriek, of which fifty thousand copies were sold. It so
happened that I had already read Draaisma at Arts and
Culture as an example of how you can write good academic texts that are accessible at the same time.
Berlin
On 1 May 2008, she started as a PhD candidate at the
Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. After having worked for
about two years at the publishing house, she missed the

writing and the research. She applied for one of the seven
research positions at the faculty of literature and was
hired to her great surprise. My research is about the
acceptance of the GDR history in the unified Germany on
the basis of debates about cultural heritage from the
GDR period. Should buildings from that period be demolished or should they be given a different function? What
about street names; Rosa Luxemburgplatz, can you still
call it that? I want to analyse the discussion about that by
means of discourse analysis.
The idea for her research subject originated during her
stay in Berlin. I saw that those buildings were torn down
and I read about it in the papers. My time in Berlin has
been very important for my studies. I look forward to

'Westertoren' in Amsterdam

returning to Berlin for my research now. That is also an

advantage of Maastricht University, the fact that they
give you all opportunities and active support to do
internships and go abroad. At other universities, a stay
abroad often means a study delay, but at UM that is not
the case. One of the reasons why her research proposal
was accepted is that the VU is setting up an interdisciplinary research institute into cultural values. My research
fits in very well with that. The future of academics lies in
interdisciplinary research and Maastricht is the forerunner in that area.

21

I always have an opinion about everything

Robert Buzink
Age: 28
Nationality: Dutch
Bachelor Arts and Culture: graduated in 2005
Master Arts and Sciences: graduated in 2007
Job: owner of web communication agency Broot in Maastricht

After many wanderings Robert now really knows what he

wants to become: a journalist. On 1 September he will
give up his successful company in web communication in
exchange for a dual masters programme in Journalism
and Media at the University of Amsterdam. In total
I have studied 10 years. Via Medicine and Psychology
I wound up at Arts and Culture (AC). There, I finally felt at
home. I could discuss subjects that truly interested me
with teachers and students, such as post-modernism in
literature and new media developments, for example
open source. I wouldnt want to have missed that broad
education of AC. Because of that I now know in which
subject I want to specialise: newspaper journalism.
I would love to write for the scientific supplement of NRC
Handelsblad. That is also what AC is about: thinking
about science and critically examining it.

22

Own opinion
Already in high school, Robert reads and writes a lot. He
is in the editorial staff of the school paper and when he
goes to university he looks for editorial work again.
When I studied Psychology I was a member of the
editorial staff of the faculty paper; at AC I participated in
the editorial staff of Idee, the faculty paper and in
Mosaek. I also maintained the website for Orakel. I have
always been good with computers, so I was increasingly
asked to develop websites. Besides that I also always was
involved in student politics. I was a member of the
faculty board, of the student consultative body (STOV)
and of the educational committee. I find that very
important; I want to be actively involved in the things
that concern me. I always have an opinion about
everything and try to do something with that.

Gesamtkunstwerk
Roberts master thesis is about open source. During my
bachelor programme, I wrote a lot about the danger of
relativism originating from post-modernism and what
you could do about that. I approached this problem then
from the perspective of literature, on the basis of authors
such as Herman Hesse. My master thesis also dealt with
post-modernism. There, I state that modernism and
post-modernism will be followed by the liberation. I did
not study this liberation from the literature perspective,
but from the angle of software development. Via my
hobby, creating websites, I wound up in the world of
open source. Open source consists of global
collaborations of volunteers, semi-professionals and
professionals, who make their own software. In an
operating system such as Windows, you cant change
anything as a user, because the source code is not
available. Microsoft will not give up its secret, because
after all, money has to be made. Linex, for example, is an
example of open source software as an alternative for
Windows. The source code is available and can be
adapted and changed by everyone. You may do with it
what you like. One of the findings in my thesis is that
open source is an art form. I see a programme such as
Linex as a Gesamtkunstwerk.

already have a job before you actually graduate. I had to

send in my CV along with a letter of motivation and a
few essays. I submitted the essays I wrote at Arts and
Culture, which were almost all about new media. Then
I was invited for an interview. Partly thanks to my Arts
and Culture studies (where you are trained to think about
questions like how have the media changed? and what
discussions currently take place in this field?) I was able
to prepare well for this interview. And I was selected!

Websites
After his graduation, he establishes the company
Wakawe Webworks with a fellow-student.
I was particularly interested in programming and my
business partner in design. So, that seemed a good
combination. The company also was very successful, but
after six months we had such big differences of opinion
that we decided to split up. Then, end of 2007, I set up my
own agency Broot. Besides building websites I now also
provide the content. My clients are among others
research schools of UM, for example GROW and CARIM,
but also foundations and local entrepreneurs. And I make
many websites for visual artists. I can excellently live
from my business activities.
Quarter life crisis
But its time to change course. Robert cannot not imagine
himself sitting constantly behind a computer for the next
ten years. Maybe Im in the middle of a quarter life crisis.
I see that happening a lot among my contemporaries.
You are in your first job and you think: Is this it?. Then
I registered for the masters programme Journalism and
Media.
Hundred and fifty persons applied for 16 places. Robert is
lucky. This masters programme is so popular because
you also get to do a six-month internship. Often you

23

Master Arts and Heritage: Policy, Management

and Education

In Maastricht I pushed out my frontiers

Workshops for children

After her graduation Karina wrote a number of (unsolicited) applications to museums in Europe. The Kampa
Museum in Prague invited her for an interview. Her
educational plans were well received, but the museum
was really looking for someone to staff the museum
store and the information desk. I took that job under the
condition that I would be given the opportunity to
develop educational programmes, because they didnt
have those yet. I started with workshops for children.
After three months they offered me a fulltime job as
head of the Education department. Now I work there
with a couple students on internships from the Charles
University in Prague. One of these students will also go to
Maastricht in the framework of her exchange
programme. Karina runs the department alone. Nobody
tells me what I have to do and I love that freedom. I write
the subsidy applications myself, arrange the publicity and
set up the programmes. Now I have really learned to
appreciate the subjects marketing management and
artistic venues from my masters programme, because
I now make optimal use of them. And of course of the
know-how I acquired during my intern.
Pioneer spirit
The Kampa Museum is a source of inspiration for Karina.
In addition to her job, she has started a PhD research in
Brno, three hours by train from Prague. Her thesis will

focus on the democratisation of art, especially Czech art

in the European context. Several of the artists she
studies come from the Kampa Museum collection.
Kupka. The Kampa
My favourite artist is Frantisek
Museum has a large collection of his paintings. He is one
of the best-known Czech artists and one of the founders
of abstract art. He created his major piece of art around
1910. I very much appreciate artists who made something
of which they knew it would not be accepted in their
time. I esteem that pioneer spirit. He is not very well
known outside the Czech Republic and I want to change
that.
New York
To gain experience, Karina wants to continue working in
the museum for a minimum of two years. She will also
work at least three years on her PhD, one of which she
hopes to spend abroad. Preferably, she would like to go to
New York, because that city has museums with good
educational programmes.
What I particularly learned in Maastricht is to push out
my frontiers. That there are possibilities and opportunities I would never have thought of before. I think in a
more international way and I have experienced that
certain things I want are actually possible, even though
I dont have much money or experience. If you truly want
it and work hard for it, then lots of things are possible.

Karina Kottov
Age: 24
Nationality: Czech
Master Arts and Heritage: Policy, Management and Education: graduated in 2007
Job: Head of the Education Department of the Kampa Museum in Prague

I always found museums incredibly boring and I wanted

nothing to do with them. But when I was studying in my
minor programme I found out that a museum is not
boring at all. On the contrary, it can be a place where you
can try out new ideas. You can really try to change
something from there.
Karina did this minor in Maastricht. During her bachelor
studies in Arts and Philosophy in Prague, she participated
in the Erasmus exchange programme. She chose a minor

24

in Arts and Heritage in Maastricht. She liked that first

introduction so much that she decided to also enter into
the masters programme in Arts and Heritage. For her
master internship she chose a museum: the Bonnefanten
Museum in Maastricht. Together with a few fellow
students and the curator I made an educational
programme for the National Museum Weekend.
That programme was about the various ways you can
look at art.

Museum Kampa, Praag

Workshop: accompanying the exhibition of Andy Warhol

25

I also know about the economic aspects. Here, it is not

only about my artistic view, but I also take care of the
bookkeeping, draw up the estimate and applications for
subsidies. Activities that were also studied in the masters
programme.
Authoritarian
Via a cousin who studied psychology in Maastricht he
wound up at UM. I absolutely did not want to study in
Belgium because the system is archaic and authoritarian.
You are still addressed from the lectern. I very much
preferred the education in Maastricht: you write many
essays, you work in groups. It is very flexible; you can
follow your own line.
In Maastricht he also, as he says, learned the
assertiveness for which the Dutch are known in Belgium.
I dare to speak up now. For example, in my current job
I have no difficulty telephoning the director of a museum
and saying: Hallo, here I am, what are we going to do
together.

Interns from Maastricht are more than welcome

Felix de Clerck
Age: 24
Nationality: Belgian
Bachelor Arts and Culture: graduated in 2005
Master Arts and Heritage: Policy, Management and Education: graduated in 2007
Job: Coordinator at Artists in Residence (AIR) in Antwerp

Since February 2008, Felix has been host of the five

artists who work and live in the house of Artists in
Residence (AIR) in the port of Antwerp. His search for jobs
took seven months, but now he has found his dream job.
Artist in Residence offers international artists housing
and an accommodation to work. The ambition is to be a
breeding place for contemporary art. The artists live
here between three and six months. I am truly at source
here. I see how they live and work; I see how their work
comes into being. The contact is very personal and where
possible we advise them and bring them into contact
with people from our network, such as gallery owners
and curators.

26

Network
The artists come from all over the world. The international aspect is very appealing. That is also what I found
so fascinating about the master in Arts and Heritage;
studying in colourful and international company. I am
still in touch with my fellow students. One of them now
works in a museum in Prague. We have accommodations,
she works a lot with Czech artists; maybe something
interesting can develop from that. And another fellow
student does our English translations. Networks, thats
what its all about in the art sector. The board of AIR
indirectly heard that Felix was looking for a job. He was
invited for an interview and one week later the contract
was made. I had the right profile because

Commerce
Felix has resolved to stay here at least two to three years.
The work is varied and I learn incredibly much. Besides
the bookkeeping, for example, I also organise the annual
Open AIR festival, a summer festival where an external
curator composes a programme of music, word and
visual arts. It is an excellent opportunity to present AIR to
the public. I have found the direction in which I want to
continue: close to the artist and far away from the
commercial art market. As far as Im concerned, I will
remain in the non-profit sector. And who knows, maybe
one day I can translate all these experiences into policy at
a museum or in a research job such as the IBK (Initiative
Visual Arts).
Internship
Doing voluntary work or an internship is very important
for your career, thinks Felix. The art sector is a small
world and you never know how things turn out. I did
voluntary work in Kortrijk at the Artists residence,
comparable to AIR but then for the performing arts and
much bigger. I also worked as a volunteer at the Cement
Festival in Maastricht. Those were valuable experiences.
That is why I want to offer students in Arts and Culture
the opportunity to do an internship here. They are more
than welcome.

27

Before she graduated she could do an internship with the

Radio Netherlands World Service in Hilversum. I worked
for a womens programme called Suara Perempuan
(A womans voice) that is produced in the Netherlands
and broadcasted in Indonesia. I knew it from Indonesia;
I conducted research into the influence of this programme on women in Indonesia. Because in Indonesia
the radio is regulated by the government, it is much more
difficult for women to express themselves freely. The
World Service enables Indonesian women living in the
Netherlands to speak out freely about all kinds of subjects. That is very important; they are role models for the
women in Indonesia.

Master Media Culture

Via the radio I try to give Indonesian women

more self-confidence
Kartika Oktorina
Age: 24
Nationality: Indonesian
Master Media Culture: graduated in 2007
Job: presenter and programme director at Radio Sky FM in Bandung

In addition to her studies in International Politics at the

Parahyangan University in Bandung, Kartika worked
part-time as a presenter for Radio Sky FM. Therefore,
after earning her bachelor degree she wanted to enter a
master programme that had something to do with
media. Via Nuffic I received a scholarship to study in the
Netherlands. That is how I wound up in the Media Culture programme in Maastricht. Particularly the attention
for new media appealed to me.

28

Role model
Maastricht was Kartikas first experience with Europe.
Initially, it was tough; I did not have much time to adjust,
I immediately had to start studying. I realised that I was
quite behind with my theoretical and philosophical
knowledge of media. So, that meant hard work. I had
never written essays in English before either. You can
imagine that this too didnt go well in the beginning;
I got a lot of criticism on my texts, and that was hard.
But I learned very much from it. I found everyone incredibly helpful and Maastricht is a beautiful town with a lot
of culture.

Discipline
When she returned to Indonesia after one year, it was not
easy. She was very much aware of the huge differences
between Indonesia and the Netherlands. I was disappointed in my country after I had seen how it could also
be. The Netherlands is prosperous, beautiful, well organised and people treat each other respectfully. Why
couldnt Indonesia be a bit like that? There, they can for
example learn a lot from the Netherlands with regard to
discipline. And then I thought: if I have so much criticism,
I have to do something about it. Now, I am for example
trying to make the new media art in Indonesia more
widely known and gain more attention for it. You see,
there is new media art here, but almost no one knows
about it. I have brought together artist who are involved
with this and our dream is to establish a museum for new
media art. Moreover, together with a friend I am going to
open a small school and library in August. This school is
intended for children from the poor neighbourhoods of
Bandung, who will have to work for their parents otherwise or beg in the streets. Now, we have room for thirty
children between six and twelve years old, but maybe in
the future we can expand with help from the government. I have been lucky, because I come from a wealthy
family and I enjoyed good education.

I will start to work part-time with the radio, because I will

teach radio journalism two days per week at Pelita Harapan, University in Jakarta. I hope that the people in Indonesia will some day experience a bit of what I experienced in Maastricht.

Kartika with colleagues of Radio Sky FM

Bandung

The difference
The effect one year of studying in Maastricht had on
Kartika, is enormous. I have set up these projects and
made a promotion at the radio station; I am now not only
presenter but also programme director. Radio Sky FM is a
small commercial broadcasting station, aimed at women
between 20 and 40 years old. With my programmes I try
to contribute to greater self-confidence among those
women. I am also responsible for acquisition at companies to generate income from advertising. From August,

29

world. It didnt damp my love for music, but the way

music is dealt with.
After Jan had seen during his internship how difficult it is
to produce a record and earn money with it, he
investigated in Media Culture what role the Internet
could play there. Via open source you can simply put
your records online, so that they can be downloaded free
of charge. By now, that has become an entirely new way
of marketing in the music world. As a band we also offer
our songs this way now.

Themes
Culture
Never goof
forArts
theand
second
bestpresented lightly
Jan Smeets
Age: 28
Nationality: Dutch
Bachelor Arts and Culture: graduated in 2005
Master Media Culture: graduated in 2006
Job: musician and text writer in Maastricht

After a year of Economics and an excursion to Psychology,

Jan chose for Arts and Culture (AC). Economics was too
much about figures and money. AC was a relief, because
it was not directly focused on one single discipline. You
are given the freedom to work with your interests.
First and foremost Jan loves music. At AC, I met Maikel,
my musical brother-in-arms. There was a piano in one of
the instruction rooms and we often went there to jam.
On that piano, we created the first songs of our band
De Paradogmas. By now, we have played at the Mecc,
the Theater aan het Vrijthof and various other locations
in Maastricht, so I now dare say that we are reasonably
successful here. I rap and play the trumpet. Maikel writes
and sings cabaret-like texts that treat themes of arts and
culture in a light-hearted way.
Turntable
During his bachelor programme, Jan chose the
specialisation Technological Culture. The SCOTS theory

30

(the Social Construction Of Technology and Science)

offered me a new outlook on reality and the role of
technology therein. Look for example at the turntable;
once conceived by Edison to reproduce music, but now
mainly used as an instrument, think for example of
scratching. Technology is never only what the producer
meant it to be, but it always enters into interaction with
the user. The choice for the masters programme Media
Culture was obvious for Jan because he wanted to
expand his interest in music and new media.
Open source
He did a six-month internship with a record label in
Amsterdam: the dance label Storm Records. There I got
an inside view of the tough world of music. Nobody
thought about the social Construction of Science, it just
happened there. What counted were sales figures and
who you knew. How to sell something became more
important than quality. I didnt feel at home in that

Sound hunter
For his final project he participated in the Sound Souvenirs project. It was all about the sound hunter from the
sixties. That was someone who travelled everywhere
with his tape recorder to record sounds of for example a
fun fair or playing children to compose a sound diary.
I conducted research into the modern sound hunter.
These are for example musicians from hip-hop who use
samples from the seventies. They are mainly interested
in the production manner of the seventies. The recording
was base, with a microphone hanging above the drum
set, which created a certain nostalgic sound. Hip-hoppers
take that sound, lope it and make a new song from it.
During my masters programme I also taught a workshop
in sampling. Those workshops are now part of my work.
Cultural
After earning his masters degree, he could start as an
intern with Urban Myths in Maastricht, a platform for
new media artists in the Euregion. That platform ceased
to exist after a year, but through that internship I did
wind up with the Kunsttour. I write texts for their
bulletin and help with the organisation of the Kunsttour
night. Besides that, I also work as a text writer for the
Kompas Foundation. They aim at artist with a physical
disability that I interview for the website and the
newsletter. That is great work. The next step for Jan is
starting his own business. Next to acquiring text writing
jobs for cultural Maastricht I want to offer artistic and
musical workshops together with my girlfriend Ilse, who
is an artist. Its a start: I do what I am good at and I am
happy with that.

www.kunstvanhetkijken.nl

www.myspace.com/paradogmas

Maastricht

31

Master European Studies on Society, Science

and Technology

Bicycle
Maastricht was his first introduction to Europe. I lived in
Lanaken and cycled each day to Maastricht. That was
great! I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the country and
I liked not living in a big city for a while.
The ESST programme offered him the opportunity to get
out of the technical work perspective. Thank goodness!
I wanted to concentrate more on the sociological aspects
of science and technology. My fellow students all came
from a different background, ranging from
biotechnology to philosophy. It was such a valuable
experience to see how everyone looked at science and
technology in a totally different way. I especially learned
to see technology in a wider perspective and that has
very much broadened my professional opportunities.
Second chance
When Carlos completed the master's programme, he
became very interesting again for the ILRI, his former
employee. Now, he works there again, in a completely
different position. My work here now is to do research
on dissemination strategies for livestock related science
and technology. Our institute develops, for example,
vaccines for cattle. It is my job to study how we can best
introduce these to the farmers. So, it is no longer just a
matter of developing a certain technology, but also of
implementing it. Just like I did in the ESST master
programme, I am now engaged in the fields of science,
technology and society.

I now see technology in a wider perspective

Carlos Quiros Campos
Age: 30
Nationality: Costa Rican
Master European Studies on Society, Science and Technology: graduated in 2007
Job: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Targeting and Innovation Theme in Nairobi

After completing the bachelor programme in computer

sciences in Costa Rica, Carlos left for Nairobi in 2003.
There, he could start to work for the ILRI, a NGO which
works at the crossroads of livestock and poverty, bringing
high-quality science and capacity-building to bear on
poverty reduction and sustainable development. He
developed software programmes for the institute. With
my technical background all I did was write computer

32

programmes. In fact, I had a very limited concept of

technology and I also worked in a small niche; so small
that my position was discontinued in 2006. Time to
broaden my perspective! Then, a colleague drew my
attention to the master's programme in European
Studies on Society, Science and Technology (ESST) at
Maastricht University.

Future
Carlos would like to earn a PhD, elaborating on what he
learned in the ESST programme. Preferably in Europe;
Edinburgh or one of the Scandinavian countries. And he
applied for a job with the United Nations. I get further
and further away from the technical field and closer to
the sociological side of science and technology. I have
applied for a position as project manager in the field of
information technology. And all that thanks to ESST.
Where before I was only concerned with computer
programmes, I am now more interested in how people
relate to technology and how technology can better be
attuned to the needs of the users. Therefore, I can
warmly recommend ESST to students with a technical
background, who wish to broaden their knowledge and
opportunities.

ILRI Campus

Nairobi

33

ESST showed me other

cultures and other ways of
thinking
Michael Nagler
Age: 30
Nationality: German
Master European Studies on Science, Society and
Technology: graduated in 2004
Job: Product manager for Xbox 360 Accessories/Games for
Windows, Microsoft Germany in Munich

As long as Michael can remember he has been involved in

computer technology. For his bachelor in Multimedia Arts
he studied in Cologne, Zurich and London. I am not a
hardcore IT guy, but I am interested in technology, in
things like new web technology and trends, software as
well as hardware or gadgets. My bachelor was about the
creation of multimedia related content, media economics
and marketing.
The masters programme European Studies on Science,
Society and Technology (ESST) in Maastricht appeared a
logical continuation. It was particularly the combination
of technology with a social perspective that appealed to
me. The programme is very open, you can decide yourself
which direction you want to take; that was perfect for
me. Ultimately I still graduated with a more IT related
subject: open source software. I investigated the
advantages and disadvantages of open source software
for public institutions. You see, an important advantage
is that you are not too dependent on one single company,
for example Microsoft, which makes you more flexible in
developing the ideal software for your organisation.
International
After his graduation he more or less developed into a
specialist in the field of open source software. As a
researcher at MERIT, a research institute of Maastricht
University, I wrote a series of case studies about open
source software for the European Commission. After
having worked for eighteen months at MERIT, I decided
to apply for a traineeship at Microsoft. After all, they are

34

the absolute leader in many IT projects.

He was not the only one who wanted to work at
Microsoft. Of the thousand candidates that applied, only
seven passed the selection, one of whom was Michael.
For Microsoft international experience and social skills
were the most important aspects and of course a master
degree. Fortunately, I had plenty of that international
experience: I studied in several places abroad and lived in
Ecuador for a while. And the master programme ESST
was truly international. My fellow-students came from all
over the world: Japan, America, Australia, Canada, the
Netherlands, Poland, you name it It made me more
open and flexible. It gave me more understanding of how
people from other cultures think and which problems
they face. With most of them I am still in touch.

and Devices Group at Microsoft and I coordinate

marketing activities with responsibility for the German
market. I indicate how many pieces have to be produced
of each product, which I subsequently must try to sell
with the support of created marketing activities and
campaigns.
Due to the international character of Microsoft, I am
working closely together with colleagues from all over
the world aiming to identify and to discuss market
opportunities.
Racing
Michael likes to play games himself, particularly Racing.
But I dont see myself as a big gamer, who plays for
hours every day. Apparently there are big differences
between the game markets of different countries. In
some countries, like America for example, action games
are very popular, whereas in Germany games in which
you can play together, such as family games (e.g. Guitar
Hero) or strategy games (e.g. Civilization), are more in
demand. I cant imagine a life without the Internet or
computer, even if it is only to stay in contact with my
friends from the master ESST.

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goal of this collaboration is to increase opportunities
for UM students in the national and international
labour markets.
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Phone: + 31 43 3883616

Games
In 2006, Michael could start in a traineeship at the
department of Partner Support, a kind of helpdesk for
companies. The traineeship consisted of twenty weeks
throughout the world; four weeks in Paris, four weeks in
America The first part of the training focused more on
software and technique and the second part more on
leadership and teambuilding.
After I finished the trainee programme, I applied end of
2006 for a role as Marketing Product Manager for Xbox
360 accessories and Games for Windows. Because of my
interests, my media-related background and my wish to
work in the consumer business, this position was perfect
for me. Since March 2007, I work in the Entertainment

35

Contact Information
Maastricht University
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Marketing & Communications Department
P.O. Box 616
6200 MD Maastricht
Phone: +31 43 388 3388
E-mail: bachelor-fasos@maastrichtuniversity.nl

Based in Europe, focused on the world. Maastricht University is

a stimulating environment. Where research and teaching are
complementary. Where innovation is our focus. Where talent
can ourish. A truly student oriented research university.

www.maastrichtuniversity.nl