Hello dear reader. My name is Daniel. I am 24-year-old student from Slovakia and currently am attending forth school since my graduation. The programme I am currently enrolled in is mostly concerned with International Relations and European Politics which is also the name of the programme.
The fact that this is not the first university I have experience with helps me put mentioned programme into different and also comparative perspective. I personally always wanted to study International Relations, but I could never find programme which would satisfy my educational needs. Those needs are not as needy as one would think. My main concern with studying IR was the fact that it always seemed kind of contradictory to study them with people from the same country. The biggest problem with that is mainly lack of different perspective. People from same country very often have similar experiences and therefore quite similar perspectives. This isn’t really shocking. Another important fact was the lack of English. I personally see it as global language and this attribute perfectly goes hand in hand with study of IR as interdisciplinary field of study. I also personally can think or write way more scientifically in English. Even though it’s not my first language, I feel way more comfortable using it than my native one.
Negatives mentioned above which are related to studying IR in my home country are non-existent in MUNI. First of all, degree is taught in English. This doesn’t just help me personally but also objectively it is the key for international understanding or communication of ideas between people of different cultures. And believe me, there are plenty of classmates from different countries or cultures. This fact lets me study International Relations more broadly but also more deeply. Seeing perspectives, I never even considered and takin them into account is the key for success in any scientific field. For example, having a classmate from Kazakhstan (which is technically governed by dictator) changed my perspective on authoritarian regimes and also on democracy and liberal approach towards social and political science. In the end, International Relations have it in their name as science. Therefore, flocking towards one general perspective which is shared by many seems counterintuitive to me. If IR was studied mainly in this way, it would be devaluated by its own students.
It seems that idea of “Unity of Diversity” has been forgotten these days as we are living in this globalist western system. It seems that there is only one right way to do things, to talk and to experience the world. But studying IR in MUNI has reminded me that nothing is wrong, and nothing is right. Evaluation comes from perspective and perspectives differ across the world.
If you therefore share similar view of IR or similar needs for studying mentioned field, I highly encourage you to become part of MUNI. Not only have my perspectives been broadened, but also my proficiency of English has risen quite a lot.