Lea Dörflinger is an exchange student in the Master of Arts in Global Governance program at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. She started her Master’s degree in Political and Administrative Science at the University of Konstanz in October 2022, with a focus on International Politics and European Integration.
Lea holds a Bachelor’s degree in European Studies from the University of Passau, Germany, where she specialised in Political Science and French Literature and Cultural Studies. In her Bachelor’s thesis entitled “French Gender Equality Policy in the aftermath of the #MeToo Movement”, Lea used feminist public sphere theory to analyse the impact of the 2017 #MeToo movement on French gender equality policy.
As part of her Bachelor’s programme, Lea spent two semesters studying abroad in France, at Sciences Po in Toulouse, to deepen her political, cultural and linguistic interest in France. During her stay, she obtained the Certificat d’Études Politiques (CEP), a multidisciplinary degree exclusively available to students who spend a full academic year at a French university.
During her bachelor’s studies in Germany and France, Lea had the chance to explore several disciplines including political science, linguistics, cultural studies, history, sociology, and journalism.
Her political science research interests encompass European integration, European politics, security and extremism, health, and social policy.
In 2020, Lea had the opportunity to intern at the Franco-German cultural channel ARTE G.E.I.E in Strasbourg. In addition to delivering a complete range of programming in both German and French, ARTE provides TV features and online programmes that are subtitled in English, Spanish, Polish and Italian. This approach is co-financed by the EU and promotes the multilingual distribution of audiovisual content. During her first year of Master’s studies at the University of Konstanz, Lea worked as a student assistant in the university’s relationship management department.
During her time at the BSIA, Lea aims to explore the challenges of problem-solving in a globalised world, gain a non-European insight into world politics, and acquire a practical approach through the Fellowship.