Lauren Mason (United Kingdom/France)
Lauren Mason comes from Wiltshire, United Kingdom and read Modern and Medieval Languages at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge. She specialised in French and German, particularly in 20th century German history. During her undergraduate studies, she also spent a year abroad at the University of Bonn in Germany, which opened her eyes to life beyond the English Channel. Keen to return to the Continent, she spent a year gaining professional experience in a cultural institute in Berlin, as a translator and as a blue book trainee at the European Commission. A member of the 2015-2017 Euroculture cohort, Lauren spent her first semester in Göttingen and her second and fourth in Strasbourg. Unable to leave this beautiful Franco-German-European city, she spent her third semester interning at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and is currently still there working on a project promoting democratic leadership in southern and eastern Europe.
I was mostly attracted to the Euroculture programme as it seemed to give a holistic view of modern Europe and Europeanness, combining cultural and identity-based aspects with more political and legal aspects. The programme has great flexibility allowing you to pursue your own interests, especially when it comes to writing the Master thesis. Doing an Erasmus Mundus degree is also a rare chance to get to know several different national academic systems and styles (and ways of thinking!), which is invaluable for anyone who hopes to pursue a career in an international environment. A highlight of the Euroculture Masters for me was the IP week, which proved to be incredibly stimulating, both academically and socially. I’m sure that the breadth of young, motivated and like-minded people that one meets during an Erasmus Mundus are just as golden as the academic challenges that you experience together – if not more so.