Course Spotlight - IR245: International Journalism and Society: The Role of the Media in the Modern World

We sat down with Qixin, who took IR245: International Journalism and Society: The Role of the Media in the Modern World in 2023, to hear about her experience of the course, the teaching and meeting fellow students. 

 

Why did you decide to attend LSE Summer School?

I decided to apply to LSE Summer School because I am interested in applying to a postgraduate programme at LSE, and I hoped to experience school life at LSE in advance to get a general idea of the academic environment. Another reason I applied is that I found my course IR245: International Journalism and Society: The Role of the Media in the Modern World to be unique among all other summer schools and I was strongly interested in the content of this course.

Why did you choose IR245?

My major is International Relations, and I’m interested in journalism and wanted to deepen my knowledge in this field. IR245 just perfectly fit with what I wanted to learn. Looking through the course page, I found this course interesting because it covered topics like journalism in the global context, AI and the future of journalism. I believed that this course would give me an overview of the changing world of journalism combined with politics and international relations, which would help me in my future career choices.

Tell us about an average day as a student on IR245.

Every day we had one lecture and one seminar, so the days were quite intense. I got up at 8 am and had breakfast in my student accommodation. I went to the lecture at 10 am, during which our lecturer would discuss the key topic for 1.5 hours. Then we had guest speakers, who are professionals in different fields, who gave a daily interview/talk about certain topics. Then I went with my classmates to have lunch. At 2 pm my seminar started and lasted for 1.5 hours. After the seminar, I went to the library to finish my readings and assessments. I went home for dinner in the evening.

What was your favourite part of IR245?

My favourite part is of IR245 was the topic of AI and journalism. In this day and age, where AI and technology are dominating our lives, many wonder if journalism is moving toward decline. After taking this course, I gained new perspectives for considering the future of journalism and found the relevance of learning journalism in the current era.

What advice would you give to students considering IR245?

You should go through the course outline beforehand. The course outline gives a very detailed explanation of the topics you will learn in this course as well as the course core readings.

What are your short-term professional goals, and how does IR245 contribute to these goals?

As I’m now a second-year undergraduate, I decided to take internships related to journalism. IR245 helped me to think more deeply about what kind of internships I am interested in. Through IR245, I also got an idea of my future research direction and focus for the third year of my degree.

Was meeting and talking to other students on your course easy?

Yes! In our seminars, we had a lot of group discussions and group projects. We always had a relaxed atmosphere at our table. Everyone could feel free to speak and everyone showed respect when listening to fellows’ opinions.

How did you find the course and teaching experience at LSE?

I found the academic experience fantastic! I really admired that learning and teaching at LSE are interactive. We could interview the professors during the daily lecture, and we also interviewed our fellow Summer School students during the seminar! I believe that all the knowledge we learned will be put into practice. Besides, we also had a lot of group work, and I think that I could gain different perspectives from students of different backgrounds, making the course more inclusive.

What was your favourite part of studying at LSE?

It’s really hard to say because I have so many precious memories of LSE. One of my favourite parts was the activities and atmosphere in seminars. I loved discussing topics with other students from different countries to learn about journalism in the global context. I also found that the presentations and the peer interviews were interesting and impressive in our seminars.

How will the course contribute to your longer-term goals?

In this course I learned a lot about international relations and journalism and how these 2 subjects are connected. As my main degree is International Relations and I’m interested in journalism, this course can help me get an understanding of what journalism will be like in the future, and I can better prepare for my future postgraduate application and my preliminary career plan as a journalist in international organisations.