Evan de Riel

MPP Class of 2012

Evan shares his experience of the Hertie School of Governance and the Master of Public Policy.

How are your studies at the Hertie School enhancing your undergraduate studies and work experience; and equipping you to effectively engage with public policy questions?

My academic background is a little different from the typical Hertie School student, as I have a traditional liberal arts bachelor with a focus on philosophy and classics. This gives me not only a fresh approach to questions of law, economics, and political science, but also the skills to understand and analyse the core assumptions that go into policy questions, processes, and recommendations.

What kind of a career would you like to pursue and how are your studies at the Hertie School preparing you for this?

I’m currently torn between becoming a diplomat for the U.S. Department of State and international policy consulting; one offers security, the other independence and entrepreneurship, but in both cases the broad range of knowledge, skills, international experience and personal and professional networks that the MPP programme provides will be invaluable assets to my career.

How have you experienced the international character of the Hertie School?

One of the interesting ramifications of having such an international student body is that someone can always connect an example or case study to their own personal experiences; whether the topic is Stuttgart 21 in Germany, corruption in Latin America or inequality in India, there’s always a unique and personal perspective being shared.