Alumni on ECLA
Florian Hoffman, Germany
Attended: Academy Year 02/03 & Project Year 03/04
Currently: MPhil, Politics and International Relations, St Antony's College, University of Oxford
My time at ECLA from 2002 to 2004 stands for one of the most exciting parts of my university education. First of all, I made friendships for life. Living in a highly diverse, but very closely knit and thus intense community of students and scholars, we all shared the motivation to think and learn about some of the 'great questions' in philosophy, literature, history, politics and the arts. I benefited greatly from these interactions and learned from both professors and fellow students from all over the world. The eagerness of all members of this community to get engaged sincerely and explore their convictions rigorously made ECLA such an intense experience.
Secondly, ECLA's interdisciplinary approach to major themes and problems in intellectual history exposed me to a variety of different intellectual traditions and methodologies. Learning about a variety of fields and hence ways of conceptualizing problems was helpful for both my studies as well as other parts of my life. Also, the curriculum raised some of the questions which were crucial for determining my current graduate studies. Thirdly, the weekly papers and often intense tutorials enhanced my capability to shape arguments but also to learn how to be creative with intellectual thoughts.
My time at ECLA influenced my thinking in that I keep trying to reflect upon canonical answers from alternative, diverse and interdisciplinary perspectives. It gave me the chance to explore my different interests in politics and philosophy on the one hand as well as literature and the arts on the other. I realized that having diverse interests and passions is not a hindrance but a chance for creating one's own distinct view. My time at ECLA and the individuals I met helped me a lot to get one step further towards developing such a distinctly personal perspective.