“Skills I learned at the Warburg Institute were vital for my new project”

Hanne Berendse graduated from the Warburg Institute in 2024, having studied a master’s degree in Cultural, Intellectual and Visual History. Here, she shares some reflections on her choice of programme and what made it so special. 

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Why go with the Warburg Institute? 

I decided to study this programme at the School of Advanced Study because I always struggled to decide what I wanted to major in, because there’re so many different fields that appeal to me. Looking at the curriculum of the Warburg, you've got cosmological images but also political thought. I realised that my broad interests would be really nurtured here and and seen as an asset rather than a sign of indecisiveness.  

I realised that that my broad interests would be really nurtured here. 

Also, the curriculum is broadened by research skill courses such as English Palaeography and Neo-Latin. The Latin, for me, was really a reason to pick this programme out of all the offers I received. 

Practical skills and theoretical knowledge 

The most surprising thing I learned during my degree was actually when we went to the St Bride Foundation as part of the World in a Book course, because then we got to handle actual hand-drawn printing presses. For me, it really transformed the way that I understood the objects that were in front of me and the books we were working with. 

Because Senate House has got really good special collections, we were able to work with some absolute gems. But to really get inside, in the creation process of typesetting, how much ink you should use, how the pages were put together, it really deepened my understanding of the objects I was working with. 

Close-knit academic community 

My favourite thing about the programme was really the people that I met here. The quality of the education was really high, and it was thanks to the dedicated and enthusiastic teaching and research staff at the Warburg Institute.  

Because it's such a small-scale institution, there was also a lot of one-on-one supervision which really helped me with my work.  

Outside of that, I also met wonderful peers and friends at the Institute. There was a bit of healthy competition, but also just a lot of mutual interest in each other's works. We’d proof it for each other, we had fruitful discussions, and I really enjoyed that. 

Career after the Warburg Institute 

Right after the degree ended in October, I moved to Innsbruck in Austria to pursue my PhD. There, I'm working as part of a project team funded by the Austrian Science Fund, where we're researching the Neo-Latin dissertations given by the Academia Taxiana. Now, Academia Taxiana is a research society from the Enlightenment age that was active in Tyrol. For that project, it was vital that I had my Neo-Latin and Palaeography skills that I learned at the Warburg. 

Advice for prospective students 

The advice I would give to prospective students is to, aside from meeting your deadlines, being on time, those basic things, just really get engaged. Speak up during your lectures, ask your professors questions, ask them for help if you're stuck, and just cultivate your curiosity and enjoy the place where you're at. Make the most of it. You're at this really wonderful university. 

Find out more about the MA Cultural, Intellectual and Visual History or explore the range of degrees offered by the School of Advanced Study.