Ley Edmonston-Douse

Ley Edmonston-Douse, 2nd year Politics and Sociology with East European Studies

“I am Ley and I am a second year Politics and Sociology student. I chose to study at SSEES because I had an interest in the western Balkan region and wanted to develop this academically. SSEES was the perfect choice for me as they offer the option to learn Serbo-Croatian and study events in this region at one of the leading universities in the world.

I had not previously studied sociology but greatly enjoyed the introductory modules to this discipline - they were both accessible and thought-provoking, which has sparked a new interest for me. Additionally, introductory politics modules gave me the chance to explore concepts I had previously studied further, in a way that interested me.

For example, despite lectures using examples of events in Russia or Poland, I could apply these to Bosnia or Croatia when researching and writing my own essays. While I am not entirely sure what I would like to do in the future, my time at SSEES so far has led me to start looking into careers in political analysis, journalism and academia.