My name is Rob de Witte and I come from The Netherlands. Being a native Dutch speaker, I enrolled in the Master’s programma Cultural Sociology after having completed the Bachelor’s programme of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam in order to be able to improve my academic English skills and to prepare myself to work in an increasingly internationally oriented academic field.

I love Amsterdam, and the University of Amsterdam equally. The knowledge and teaching capabilities of the teaching staff Cultural Sociology keep the programme challenging. The contact with other students as well as the teachers themselves is informal and pleasant, while, equally important, serious and academic.

'Students are relatively free to choose a topic for their Master’s thesis, as long as it is related to the chosen track'

Students are relatively free to choose a topic for their Master’s thesis, as long as it is related to the chosen track. There are lots of researchers with different interests at the faculty, so I do not think that anyone should worry about finding a capable supervisor. If you do not succeed in finding a supervisor, your academic adviser may know someone.

'My supervisors were enthusiastic, and more than capable to help me through the insecure phases of the writing process'

Being interested in cultural practices, I wrote about the increasing visibility of tattooing in our society and what this could say about equality, but more importantly, changing – multi-dimensional – expressions of inequality between groups of people. As for anyone else, the process of writing down my ideas was difficult enough for me to give me a hard time, but my supervisors were enthusiastic, and more than capable to help me through the insecure phases of the writing process. Students are given a lot of freedom in writing their thesis, a freedom that I personally enjoyed.

'Enjoy the informal and personal atmosphere at this university'

If I would have to give one advice to future students at this faculty, I would tell them to enjoy the informal and personal atmosphere at this university. There are many opportunities to get in touch with professors and fellow students, and find out their interests. Maybe you will be inspired, or, even better, inspire them to start a great research. You cannot do it on your own, so use this unique opportunity to work together.