Alumni:

[Former students are encouraged to contact us with news on their careers and lives. Please note that we try to keep this page updated, but some information may no longer be valid]

Caroline Alvez (BA '21), voted Best New Talent at the 2021 Swiss Music Awards and the opening act for Coldplay in 2023, was back at Unine to play at the 2024 Dies Academicus. Check out her website listing all her albums.

Sera Pantillon (BA '18) obtained her MA in sustainable development at the University of Geneva, then served in Neuchâtel's Grand Conseil before travelling around the world then working as a parliamentary assistant in Bern. She is currrently a campaigner and thematic expert in the field of consumption at Greenpeace Switzerland.

Antoine Willemin (BA '14) is married and the proud father of Beatrix. A journalist, he lives with his family in Geneva, where he edits the internet content of Le Temps.

Fabienne Morand (BA '07) is featured in a "Vie après l'Unine" video in which she explains her career path from student to journalist to farmer.

Mirza Hajdarbasic (BA '09) was named director of the Cercle scolaire régional des Cerisiers, in Gorgier, where he starts in August 2024. He formerly taught English and German and was deputy director of the 2nd and 3rd cycle of teaching in Le Landeron.

Audrey Fleury (MA' 22) was recenty hired as an intern at the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration.

Lea Gloor obtained her BA degree in English, communication sciences, and sociology in 2012, then studied at the Unine Academy of Journalism and started working at Arcinfo, where she is currently assistant editor in chief, and is responsible for local news and digital media.

Chantal Sistek (BA '21) studied Pschology and English at Fribourg for an MA degree, and is currently a Trainee in Education at Swisscore in Brussels.

Luca Brunoni's second novel, Silenzi (Gabriele Capelli, 2019), which received the Leggimontagna Prize in 2020, was published in February 2023 in French translation as Les Silences (Ed. Finitudes) and has already received a lot of positive critical attention. In addition to teaching at the HE Arc, Luca is also working on a TV series for the TSI. You can follow his activities on his author website.

Soma Staempfli, who completed her MA HES-SO en interprétation musicale in Fribourg in October 2018, is pursuing a career as a soprano and has sung in a number of recitals.

The following institute alumni received their HEP degrees in November 2020: Jessica Beuchat, Jenna Capraro, Alison Cullen, Patricia Trigo, Sandra Joye, and Sophie Natale. Congratulations!

Vincent Robert-Nicoud, who received a D.Phil in Renaissance French Literature at Oxford University, published his thesis with Brill, and is now writing short fiction, including 'Terratology', recently selected for the popular 'Nocturnal Emissions' podcast.Céliane De Luca, who completed her English BA in Neuchâtel, recently published a poem in the MUSE Magazine at Lausanne University.

Kim Andrey, who finished her MA in English literature in 2015, currently works as a communication and administration associate at the FIBA, the world governing body for basketball.

Gabriele Merlo hosts his own cultural program, "On the Road", on Swiss Italian Radio (RSI). You can find his past episodes here.

Sven (Zvonimir) Gracin (class of 2005) works as a 'collaborateur spécialiste' at the Secrétariat for Migrations, Federal department of Justice and Police, Berne.

Before 2015

Fiona Moreno, who completed a minor in English in 2012, is a doctoral candidate in French Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, where she works on narratology.

Julienne Farine, class of 2008, is a journalist. Since 2013, she has been in charge of the entertainment section of 20 Minutes , the most widely read newspaper in Swiss Romande. Congratulations!

After pursuing her BA in English and history with a bilingual history MA, Marion Cattin (class of 2011) was hired as a brand heritage assistant at Longines, the prestigious St. Imier watchmaker. See her alumni feature here.

Jessica Morley, who completed her English MA in 2009, is a project and communications manager with the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation.

We were delighted to discover that Staca Bibic, who received her BA in English and Art History in 2009, and completed her MA in museology at Neuchâtel, has been working as scientific collaborator and 'responsable de scénographie' at the Bodmer Foundation in Geneva, where she is currently helping to prepare an exhibit on Frankenstein. 

Luca Brunoni, who received his MA in English in 2013 and also holds a law degree from Unil, is a scientific collaborator in the Institut de lutte contre la criminalité at the HE-Arc in Neuchâtel, where he teaches courses on English and American common law and is researching a project on representations of white-collar crime in popular culture.

Stefano Anelli, who received his licence in English and history in 2009, was recently featured on the University alumni site. He works as the archivist at the University hospital in Fribourg.

The Institute would like to congratulate the following former English Master degree students who graduated from the HEP on 23 October 2014: Olivia Arpel; Danijela Beslin; Jeanne-Christine Dayer; Céline Dornbierer; Coralie Frésard; Orianne Schaller; Tiziana Laetitia Tuzzolino; Fabian Aellig; and Cédric Baechler. We wish you much success and happiness in your teaching careers!

We're proud to announce that David Correia Saavedra has received the Prix de la Faculté from the University of Lausanne for his MA memoire entitled "Lexical blending in English. From splinters to combining forms," directed by Dorota Smyk-Bhattacharjee and Aris Xanthos.

Dr. Markus Iseli's doctoral thesis,The New Romantic Unconscious: Thomas de Quincey and Cognitive Science, was just awarded the the Henry-E.-Sigerist-Prize by the Swiss Society for the History of Medicine and Science. Palgrave Macmillan has also accepted to publish it in 2015. Congratulations, Markus!

Lisandro Durney (licence 2006, and who appears in the Institute picture gallery grilling sausages): "Well now I'm a teacher in an école de commerce here in Geneva, I teach German and English and I'm also maître adjoint de la direction. So I've my own office etc... I Got tons to do, but still enjoy every day. Exams start as of tomorrow, hope my students will do their best."

Laure-Anne Pessina is a journalist who covers the Neuchâtel-Jura region for Le Matin.

Congratulations to the following graduates of the English Institute who received their teaching degrees from the HEP Bejune on 12 November: Stéphanie Kaelin, Sherife Kir, Liza Loubry, Gwennaëlle Mateille, Valérie Michelet, Auréliane Montfort, Clint Gasser, Mathieu Maillefer, and Ludovic Spori.  

Christel Stadelman (class of 2009) writes: "After my internship at Market.ch, I was hired for another internship at Weber Shandwick, a global PR company. Apparently they've been happy with my work because I was hired as of September 1^st as Account Executive (yay I'm no intern anymore!!). The job is really interesting and varies a lot with clients contact, media relations, some travelling and other office work. People here are English speakers only and it is really stimulating. But to be honest, I kinda miss university of Neuchâtel sometimes, especially the English Institute. I realize how lucky I was to have had such passionate and interesting teachers. Please pass on my best regards to the other English teachers (especially the ones who had to put up with me!.

Julienne Farine, who finished her licence in 2008, is working as a journalist intern for Télé Top Matin. She has interviewed lots of "people".

Stefano Anelli, who finished his licence in 2009, is working as an intern at the Département des Affaires Etrangères in Bern, helping to prepare the Congress on Francophonie. He sees Micheline in the corridors on a regular basis.

Anne Jobin, who received her licence in English in 2008, has been accepted in the PhD program at the University of Geneva to work on a thesis on native American literature.

Robert Vincent Nicoud, who finished his BA in English and French in 2007 and taught a year in England through the LAP, received a Fulbright scholarship to pursue graduate research in literature and mathematics in the United States. 

Christel Stadelmann, who is finishing her BA this autumn, is working as an intern for the magazine Market.ch and loves it.

Ana Cardoso (English licence 2008) works as a journalist on the "Littoral et vallées" desk of L' Express.

Arnaud Rubin writes from the UK: "Since my graduation last year in September, I spent some time working as a part-time French teacher in a school of languages here in Switzerland and then I decided to move to England. First I found a job as a waiter in London and now I am working in a company called Direct Wines in the customer service in Reading. I like it a lot but my main objective remains to become a qualified teacher in the UK as soon as possible."