Oxford summer adventure awaits Media and Communications student
The University of Oxford is providing a GCU student with the opportunity to develop their political knowledge this summer.
Third year Media and Communications student Lewis Mackinlay will take part in the prestigious International Politics Summer School where he will attend lectures and seminars focusing on the political landscape in the Middle East and North Africa.
Lewis said: “I had applied for an internship at Sky News and didn’t get in so I was thinking about what I was going to do with my summer. I’ve got a part-time job lined up, but I wanted some experience that related to my degree. I started researching different options, and that was when I learned about the summer school at Oxford.”
With aspirations of becoming a political broadcast journalist, Lewis knew he had do everything he could to secure a place on the programme, which will be held at St Anthony’s College between the 30th of July and 12th of August.
“In my application, I spoke about the fact I’ve been fascinated by politics from a young age and read a lot of books,” said Lewis
“It was important for me to get across my interest, but also my appetite to further develop my knowledge of political issues.”
“Anyone can be sat in a job interview and say, ‘I know lots about politics, I watch the news’, but I think it would be incredibly valuable if you can actually prove you’ve made an effort to do something when your normal classes stop for the year.”
The two-week summer school will give Lewis that opportunity, while also allowing him to form new friendships away from Glasgow.
He explained: “I think creating connections is particularly valuable in the media industry. The summer school is more than just actually studying and attending lectures, there’s lots of great opportunities to meet new people through different social events on offer.
“I’ll also be staying in the Halls of Residence, so I’m sure that will also help me hopefully form friendships with people from all over the world.”
Back in the classroom, Lewis will have the chance to gain an insight into the Middle East and North Africa, a topic he has recently became interested in.
“There was the opportunity to focus on anywhere around the globe, but I wanted to do something a bit different.
“Part of my reason for picking the Middle East and North Africa was that it was recently the 20th Anniversary of the Iraq War. I was literally only a couple of months old when it started, so I wanted to know more about it.
“I watched a six-part documentary series on BBC iPlayer around the different lessons that could be learned from it – I just found the whole thing absolutely fascinating. When I saw it was an option at Oxford, I knew I had to go for it.”
Lewis added: “As a future journalist, I think it’s very important to have a niche area of expertise and this will be the ideal opportunity to develop that.”
With a new academic year at GCU just around the corner, Lewis is already planning his next steps beyond his Undergraduate degree.
“I’m obviously going into fourth year, so I’m at the point where I’ve got to decide if I’m going to go on and do a Masters after my Undergraduate. I’m not too sure if I would want to do journalism or politics, so I hope the summer school will help me realise where my future lies.
“For now, I’m just going to make sure I go and enjoy the experience at the University of Oxford. It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to see and I never thought I would get there, so it’s a real honour.”
By Ross Clark
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