Emanuele Pirozzi BSc Politics and International Relations, 2016
MSc Global Politics at the London School of Economics
there is a very strong international student community in Southampton, and someone from outside the social sciences just cannot understand how important that is. Inside the social sciences, each international student has a different academic background, this means that each student can contribute differently to conversation, to debate, and to your own personal development
Why did you choose to study at Southampton?
I decided to come to Southampton because I knew that there was a big international community of students, especially Italian students, and I also knew some of the lecturers before coming, so I was attracted by this.
What have you enjoyed about this course?
The discipline of International Relations is studied mostly qualitatively, whereas in this university we have more of a quantitative approach. This made things very interesting for me because I take a very positivist perspective on my studies in general.
Were there any modules or aspects of the course that you particularly enjoyed?
As I said, I enjoyed the quantitative approach. I mostly enjoyed the modules about international security or related to security, and I have to mention the modules on political theory because they have been extremely interesting. All the lecturers have been extremely passionate about their subject and teaching the subject and I think this is amazing and something very rare.
Did you take part in any extracurricular activities during your time here?
I was part of the Italian Society as well as the Southampton Muay Thai Society. It was great, every student was very engaged and we had fun. In both societies we created a community, and I met friends and they are likely to stay friends for the rest of my life.
How have you found the support here at the University?
Every time I needed something from the student services or from anywhere in general, I always found someone willing to help me. It makes you feel very at home and they are always happy to help you, which makes everything easier.
What are your career ambitions?
I would like to work for international organizations such as the FAO, fighting world hunger. I really believe that the University of Southampton has made me prepared to undertake such an ambitious task.
What was the topic of your dissertation?
I did my dissertation on economic sanctions. It was a statistical analysis of the effectiveness of economic sanctions. Although there was no one in the department who necessarily specialised in economic sanctions, but each of my lecturers was willing to help somehow and give me insight, it was just great. It wasn’t that I could count on one single member of the faculty, but a whole team of lectures, who were very informed and extremely nice to me.
What advice would you give to students about to start their degree at Southampton?
As I said, there is a very strong international student community in Southampton, and someone from outside the social sciences just cannot understand how important that is. Inside the social sciences, each international student has a different academic background, this means that each student can contribute differently to conversation, to debate, and to your own personal development, which makes it extremely interesting.