On a sunny Friday morning, 60 new GMD students from all over the world gathered at Wijkpaleis to participate in the GMD Master Welcome Day.
GMD masters coordinator Dr. Maria Schiller, together with GMD project manager Alex Huang, introduced the GMD Masters, the student board, and the GMD centre to the new cohort. In addition, GMD track coordinators and teachers introduced themselves and the five different GMD tracks. Notably, this year was the first year we welcomed students to the newly established GMD law (LLM) track. We are excited to blend the legal perspective into our education and look forward to an (even more) interdisciplinary GMD Master's. We wrapped up the introduction session with ice-breaking games, during which students and professors/teachers mingled and networked over a delicious Syrian lunch prepared at the community-led cooperative Wijkpaleis.
As a tradition, we proceeded the introduction day with a migration and diversity walking tour and visited some of Rotterdam's most essential landmarks. While historians Prof. Marlou Schrover and Dr. Rebekka Grossmann introduced the complex history of migration interlinked with ethnicity and religion and showed us sites such as Waalse Kerk and New York Hotela, Dr. Andrew Shield introduced the LGBTQIA+ history of Rotterdam. While GMD sociology track lecturer Dr. Laura Cleton introduced and showed the Pauluskerk, which plays a crucial role in providing undocumented migrants basic needs, the coordinator of the Public Administration track, Dr. Maria Schiller, explained Rotterdam's urban planning gentrification and walked us through different neighbourhoods that were planned with the vision of social mixing historically, such as Middelland and Nieuwe Westen.
We are thrilled to see new GMD students' enthusiasm and to witness new friendships forming, and we are excited to co-create a fruitful year.
A warm welcome to the GMD family for the 2024-25 cohort!
