November 26, 2012, by Holly Jackson
Studying Culture, Film and Media
Eva Giraud, Lecturer in the School of Cultures, Languages and Area studies
Something important to remember is that choosing the right degree for you is not just about studying what you love, but going into a job that you love, and it’s been really rewarding to see some of our recent graduates embarking on careers that draw directly on their degrees: working in communications contexts ranging from Amnesty International in Mexico City, to the European Club Association that represents football clubs across Europe. I also feel lucky to count myself amongst our graduates, and have been enabled to pursue my own passion – lecturing in Culture, Film and Media – after completing my PhD here in 2011.
After venturing from deepest, darkest North Norfolk to begin my undergraduate degree at the University of Edinburgh, I soon realised I had made a mistake. I’d chosen a subject my school had encouraged me to do, rather than something I was passionate about, and soon lacked motivation to work to my potential. Luckily I was allowed to change degrees to something I loved – English Literature – which was a really significant turning point in my life.
Eva’s graduation
I became fascinated with examining the cultural values reflected in literary texts and soon wanted to draw on a wider range of social and political theories to examine culture more broadly. This led me to make one of the best decisions of my life: undertaking an MA and then a PhD in Critical Theory here at Nottingham. I’m now in my second year of teaching and feel incredibly lucky to be working within such an innovative department. As well as employability skills, our courses offer real intellectual rigour – providing students with analytical tools to understand the media and communications contexts that shape our everyday lives – and the importance of understanding such influential cultural phenomena is certainly what has driven me forward in my studies and my career.
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This is really inspiring and a great example of loving your studies and profession too. I guess it does play a great part in someone’s success, when they already love what they’re doing.
Sorry! I only just saw this message, thank you so much – I really do think loving what I study has been what’s driven me. It just never feels like a chore! What I like even more than studying communications, though, is teaching it! It’s great to be able to get my enthusiasm about it across to students: really rewarding!