Eloise Golding

I would like to join the Education Board of Archaeology because of my passion for improving the education of students and making their voices and opinions heard. I have worked for 4 years at my high school in the student government association, which amplified student voices, discussing their concerns and wishes for the community and their education. I am a confident speaker and communicate clearly with others by ensuring that the problem and its solution are understood by all parties involved. As a first year, I see ways in which my peers and I would like to be supported and want to ensure that these concerns are addressed. Through reflection, I highlight the strong and weaker points in the education of students and am able to identify which areas students experience troubles with more frequently. It is this empathy with my fellow students that pushes my desire to help.

Alexia Kaperoni

Hey everyone, I am Alexia, a BA3 student of World archeology and an active member in our faculty. Starting off, some might know me by my actions last year within the LAS Terra study association in which we supported and organized events (within or outside of the faculty). Additionally, as a student I have tried to actively seek out and engage with many aspects of our educational programs, by being a member of the Honors Archeology and Society track, as well as their assessor for the past year. 

It is important to keep an active communication and investigation with the faculty into how our educational programs look like and what they can offer us. I wish to represent our body of (BA) students so that changes that we as students find important can take place. Thank you for your support

Gijs Thissen

Hello, my name is Gijs and I’m a fourth year Archaeology student interested in prehistoric Europe. Previously I acted as the student ambassador for our programme, and thus, I have a passion for archaeology, as well as a love for the programme. Throughout my (many) years at Leiden University, I have gotten to know the faculty as a diverse and welcoming place. It is therefore that I hope to be able to improve the faculty education-wise. Having previously studied at Tilburg University, the Technical University Eindhoven, and ultimately Leiden University, I have had plenty of experience following university courses in various (archaeological) disciplines. Therefore, I think I am a suitable candidate to reflect on the strengths and shortcomings of the Bachelor programme. The current biggest issue is one of streamlining. In its current form, the Bachelor World Archaeology lacks a coherent course on academic writing, and instead, it has been divided among a variety of courses (Early Cities, Designing Archaeological Research, and Past & Future). My goal would be to ultimately guide the programme towards a more logical structure, allowing for less academic bureaucracy and more archaeology!

Lisa Anderson

My name is Lisa Anderson, and I was a bachelor’s student here at Leiden and am now in my first year of the research masters (RMA). I have very much enjoyed my time within the university but feel I can help improve the quality of education and would love to learn and be a part of the inner workings of the university. I loved being able to enhance the social aspect of the student experience through my involvement in the study association L.A.S. Terra and want to shift these responsibilities to the other side of student life, their academic pursuits.  

Roos Dik

Hello, my name is Roos and I am an MSc student. I started the Master’s program last year. Pretty quickly, it became clear that a lot of the students had some complaints and frustrations about the current Master’s programs – complaints and frustrations that I too shared with them. These must be discussed and should be given a voice within the Education Committee. I believe to be suited to be this voice, as I am direct, solution oriented, and have many ideas to improve the experience of all MA and MSc Archaeology students at Leiden University. While the program will likely not ever be perfect, there is room for improvement, and I would like to help Leiden University with improving this program for all of you and future students at Leiden University.

Sofía Paz Espinoza Gutiérrez

Hello everyone! My name is Sofía and I am currently a first-year international MSc student, originally from Chile. I also finished my bachelor's at Leiden University in 2023. I applied for the education committee because I believe that students should always have a voice when it comes to their education and their opinions should always be taken into account in any changes in our education. I believe it is very important that anything students believe to be an issue should be discussed with the faculty to later improve it! 

During my bachelor years, I was part of the board of our association L.A.S. Terra, which gave me insight into the different students that come to our faculty and their needs in terms of education and what they wish they could improve. I am also the newest member of the diversity committee, and I want to use my experience within these two committees to improve our curriculum, listen to the students and their opinions, and improve the atmosphere within our faculty for the better.

Anouk Mommen

I’m currently doing an MSc in Computational Archaeology - with a BA in History and Anthropology from Switzerland, and a premaster in Archaeology here at Leiden. I‘m studying archaeology for the same reason many of you are: “it was my childhood dream”, and I‘m looking forward to fulfilling that dream during the next year. On that account, I’m determined and highly motivated to listen to the student body and bring on changes where needed.

I have previous experience as a student council member - including with this faculty - having spoken for both bachelors, pre-masters, and neurodivergents (I have autism myself) on several occasions already. On top of that I have been both a student and a teacher in the past. Therefore, I feel like I have the ideal experience needed to constructively voice faculty-related problems with the university. One of main goals is bringing on positive change for all students; embracing academic progression, re-evaluating faculty potential, and inclusivity.

Lucas Pascarelli

I am Lucas Pascarelli (he/him), and I am an international master’s student who completed the Bachelor in World Archaeology here in Leiden. After the last 3 years I have been able to see what works well and where improvements can be made in various courses, which I think is essential experience for someone on the Education Committee.

I have also been on the L.A.S. Terra board for 2 years and am currently a Student Mentor, which means I have been constantly communicating between students and staff at the faculty, as well as trying to help sort out study related issues. Joining the Education Committee would let me make changes through the feedback and course suggestions that I have been hearing throughout this time, especially since now as a Student Mentor I can see how much the courses have changed since I was a first year, and that type of insight is something that I think is important for this position.

I am excited to join the Education Committee and to help improve the quality of our courses for current and future students!

Anouk Roggema

Hi! My name is Anouk, I am a first-year RMSc student. I am applying for the Education Committee, because I would love to give input into our faculty’s programmes on behalf of all students. I always have lots of ideas on how the curriculum might be improved! I just graduated from the Bachelor’s here, and am currently the BA Student Ambassador. This gives me insight into all our programmes, and allows me a unique perspective. Additionally, my experience at other universities in The Netherlands and abroad gives me unique points of comparison.

I have also worked as part of the study association L.A.S. Terra, through which I continually get to know students from different year groups and their thoughts on the curriculum. I hope to be able to give a voice to these diverse opinions through a position on the Education Committee.

As a research master’s student sharing courses with MSc and MA students, I hope I can represent the voices of all master’s students. I am passionate about the quality of our education, and I would love to constructively bring mine and other students’ ideas to the table to make our programmes the best they can be!

Wei Ping Young

The work of transforming the university environment to be a more inclusive and empowering space is a never-ending journey. I am a current MSc student rejoining the academic environment after a period of work in Singapore, with previous experience as a student committee member in the Institute of Archaeology in UCL. In this previous role, I contributed to improving accessibility in fieldwork and based on departmental data, strategised how better gender equality could be achieved for both students and staff. This spirt of proactive change is one I challenge myself to carry in any institution I am in, and which drives me to run as a candidate for Education Committee for the Faculty of Archaeology.

Some big questions for me are: How can we create more meaningful learning environments for staff and students alike in some courses?  How do we better facilitate academic journeys of those with interests less represented in the current faculty (e.g. regions or materials with little expertise in the faculty), or with underprivileged backgrounds? Whose voices are being heard (and not heard) in feedback mechanisms?

If any of these broad questions resonate with you, I hope to represent them in the Education Committee!