Student Couch

Ivan is doing his Master’s in European Policy at the Faculty of Humanities where he finished his Bachelors in European Studies. His main passion is in the process of incorporating sustainability into the current economic models. Last year, he was the vice-chair in the Central Student Council where he was in charge of sustainability and finance portfolios.  At the UvA Green Office, he is the leader of the Campus team which tries to implement sustainable solutions at the buildings of the UvA.

Gabrielle is a New Media and Digital Culture research student at the Faculty of Humanities. Her academic interests center on the impact of our digital carbon footprints, digital activism, and sustainable technology. At the UvA Green Office, Gabrielle leads a Research and Education team that promotes interdisciplinary collaboration, building educational material, and overseeing sustainability-related research projects. She is new to Amsterdam and excited to help make impactful changes on campus and beyond.

Merel is a third year psychology student who, together with Elin Swaan, founded the All Ears project. All Ears is an initiative for UvA students, by UvA's psychology students. You can call All Ears when you are in need of a listening ear, or if you just want to have a nice chat with a fellow student. They are literally;  all ears. Together wit about 40 volunteers Merel and Elin make sure that every working day between 10 and 18 o'clcok you can call to +31 20 808 85 38 with anything on your mind!!

Check out their website for more info or to click the button and make a call: https://allearsamsterdam.com/

Zafran is currently a third year Communication Science student at the UvA from Malaysia. Aside from focusing on his studies, Zafran puts great value on his hobbies such as videomaking and music, believing that prioritizing personal passion projects is what keeps his creative spirit going. With physical classes back in session, he acknowledges the difficulties of finding the balance between his responsibilities and hobbies. 

Zaf's Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/zafranrarang

Zaf's Instagram page @zafranrarang 

Song in the cover: “Children of the 90s” by Steel Train

Mark O'Neill is a comsci alumnus who now teaches at the UvA. Last year, while Mark was writing their master's thesis on how queer employees come out at work, they founded the Queer Communication Library. Originally a student-run, grassroots project, Mark and their team curated a reading list of communication (science) literature that focuses on LGBT+ topics, samples, and methods. Now, Mark is working on promoting inclusive education within the department by promoting the library as a useful tool for students and researchers. [https://bit.ly/queer-cs] 

To learn more about the library you can check out Margarete's article, https://mediummagazine.nl/the-queer-communication-library/

To find the rest of our episodes, check out our IG page @mediummagazine.nl

Hi, I am Navin Suneej, a third-year Communication Science bachelor's student, and am currently also teaching the Persuasive Communication tutorial classes as a student assistant. In my free time, I like working on my bike and hanging out with my friends. I hope to give y'all some insights on life as a student at the UvA, but also the perspective of a teacher. Tune in to find out more about what I do and get tips on how to survive your semester back on campus!

To find the rest of our episodes, check out our IG page @mediummagazine.nl

Nihal Bellary is back again for a second round! He’s now representing AIESEC as the University Relations Manager. AIESEC is an international organization that aims to develop youth leadership by sending people abroad on internship and volunteering opportunities. The organization has offices in 114 countries around the world.

Nihal will discuss his experience as a member of AIESEC as well as opportunities available for our listeners! To learn more about AIESEC and their opportunities for Communication Science check out this link with more information: https://bit.ly/3EVj6Af 

To find the rest of our episodes, check out our IG page @mediummagazine.nl

Hey everyone! I’m Thomas. I’m 21 years old and originally from Salzburg a small city in Austria. I’m a second-year PPLE student majoring in politics and a candidate of @020.nl for the upcoming student council elections. In June I am running as a candidate because I want to represent us students and our interests and together with my amazing team at @020.nl work for a more diverse, sustainable and supportive environment at the UvA!

Hola. My name is Joselyn Moran and I am (technically) a second-year psychology student. I am running to represent you in the FMG student council. During my first year of being at the UvA I saw so many frustrated students and I thought "there must be something we can do." I found out about the student council during the second semester of my first year and I have been part of the student council as a council assistant during this year. In my role this year, I have gained so much experience and I am ready to use this knowledge to get students involved,  fight for a less euro-centric curriculum, and increase student well-being and mental health.

My name is Titus van der Valk and I study education sciences at UvA. I'm running for UvAsociaal for FSR FMG and the CSR. I want to help make the UvA a more inclusive learning environment through promoting more flexibility and autonomy for students and teachers. Good education for me means motivating students to give attention to the subject matter. Also I think the system of giving feedback to teachers can be improved.

I am Sofia and I’m a 1st year communication science student currently running for UvASociaal for the FSR and CSR. I am running since I believe I have the drive and experience to bring students ideas to fruition and be an active spokesperson for the student body. My main goals include introducing a sexual assault contact person for students who can guide them in the possible steps they can take after becoming victims of sexual harassment, misconduct, r*pe, or assault. Secondly, I plan on introduce more open access to sexual assault help resources on the UVA website since I think this is not addressed openly enough even though r*pe culture is so prevalent in universities. I also plan on keeping the ball rolling with the integration of student psychologists specialized in anxiety and depression and continuing the promotion of student-run mental health initiatives post-pandemic.