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Political Science Major Awarded DAAD-EMGIP Bundestag Internship Scholarship

October 25, 2013

Political Science Major Awarded DAAD-EMGIP Bundestag Internship Scholarship

Political Science major, Erin McAuliffe was awarded the DAAD-EMGIP Bundestag Internship Scholarship where she was one of three interns working for the German Parliament for the 2013 summer. Having had lived in Germany before, Erin was well acquainted with Berlin and its thriving culture. She describes Berlin as, “A vibrant, young and developing city full of opportunity, culture and innovation. Anyone having spent significant time in Berlin would agree, Berlin is the melting pot of Western Europe. In the heart of the city between ‘Potsdamer Platz’, and the new ‘Hauptbahnhof’ one finds the many buildings that comprise the ‘Deutscher Bundestag’; the political nucleus of Germany.”

During her eight week internship, Erin worked for the Committee for Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid. Her role was to research new individuals being placed into the “Parliamentarians protect Parliamentarians” program, the Bundestags campaign for the protection of parliamentarians and activists experiencing pressure, abuse and/or unjustified imprisonment from their home country. In addition, she spent time researching current topics being discussed by the committee’s parliamentary session and writing up summaries for the topics for the head of the committee, Tom Koenigs. Her biggest accomplishment and most challenging task  was to listen to the recording of the 3.5 hour 80th session of the Committee for Human Rights, writing it out in the indicative form and finally formalizing it into “Konjunktiv” (subjunctive).

Erin describes her experience below:

“My favorite part of the entire summer was definitely being able to meet all of the guests invited to speak with our committee and being able to take part on other “closed to the public” discussions and lectures at the Institute for Human Rights in Berlin, the Bundesrat, and the “Auswärtiges Amt” (Federal Foreign Office). I got to meet delegations from Myanmar and Iran as well as meet with and listen to Ambassadors from India, Mali and Cuba. I was able to listen to lectures on women's rights in Muslim majority countries and the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe.

The experience was overwhelming and difficult at times, but phenomenally rewarding overall and I would recommend it to anyone who speaks German and is interested in international politics. Hoping to pursue a career in international human rights and development policy it was a great experience for me to not only reassure myself that I wanted to continue pursuing these goals, but also to learn how a variety of lawyers, politicians and policy makers handle difficult situations of economic growth in developing nations, ethnic and religious conflicts, the implementation of western democratic ideas in non-democratic countries, and what to do with internally and externally displaced persons. I learned not only a lot about what Germany and Europe are doing to combat human rights cross the world, but I also got an outsider's perspective to the policies on these issues of my own country.”

Erin’s love for Germany began when she did a year exchange program between finishing high school and starting college. Having never taken a German class, Erin embarked on a journey that would change her life. She embraced the experience and it heightened her desire to travel and pursue her passion for international relations. During her second year as an undergraduate, Erin studied abroad in Thailand where she took courses on the Burmese culture and conflict. 

Upon returning from Thailand, Erin began working on an undergraduate honors thesis with Professor Bill Liddle that focuses on the democratization of Burma. The piece concentrates on how and what the democratization means for neighboring countries and the Western World. In addition, she analyzes how Burma compares to Indonesia and Thailand and what the future looks like as Burma prepares to become the chair of the ASEAN in 2014.

Upon graduation (exp. Spring 2014), Erin has been selected for an internship position for the summer with AAPP, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) in Mae Sot, Thailand. There she will work with refuged political prisoners from Burma. She has also applied for a Fulbright in Thailand and someday hopes to pursue a graduate degree.  We look forward to following Erin’s journey and we wish her the best!