What can you expect from your MA studies? In my case, the Global History program gave me a lot of freedom to follow and develop my own interests. When I started the MA in 2013, I found myself in a very international and inspiring environment. It was extremely refreshing to meet professors and students from such diverse backgrounds.

This dynamic, almost start-up like atmosphere, was the perfect breeding ground for a couple of student initiatives. We started in 2015 by organizing our own student conference, which was so successful that we decided to also publish our own journal. Apart from these rather traditional academic endeavors, we were looking for new approaches to communicate historical research to a broader audience. So we founded the YouTube-based video project History on Tape. Finally, it was this hands-on mentality that encouraged me to go even further into film-making and turn my MA thesis into a documentary movie.

Today I’m working for an e-learning company, where we produce video-based language courses. In a way, however, I’m still connected to Global History. Teaming up with two other graduates of the program, we are currently launching the #FilmYourThesis initiative—still driven by the idea of gaining new audiences for historical research.