Lina Lockean

Lina came from Sweden and graduated from the MSc programme in 2019. She currently works as a Communication Officer at the Faculty of Engineering (LTH) at Lund University. Choosing the programme Lina reflects on her background, saying "I studied my BA in Art History and Visual Studies at Lund University while at the same time working with external communication at a local media bureau. I did this from the perspective of a curious amateur who got to learn on the job. After graduation, I saw that my next step was to build my professional decisions in the workplace not only on experience and gut feeling, but also academic knowledge. That’s how I found the MSc in Media and Communication and expanded my communications tool box." The programme "challenged me to become a better researcher and critical thinker" Lina remembers how she felt when she started the programme. She explains that "the learning curve was steep and challenged me to become a better researcher and critical thinker." She goes on: "It gave me insights into the field of Media and Communication nationally and internationally as well as the everyday ‘doings’ of research. As I now work for Lund University, this understanding of the academic world helps me in my day to day work, in understanding the politics of research."  Lina’s advice: keeping an eye on the future It’s important to remember your future plans throughout your studies. As Lina expresses it, "Depending on what plans you have for life after graduation, I’d recommend keeping an eye out for creative opportunities to gain relevant experience."  There are lots of connections between the programme and the ‘outside world’ and Lina made sure to actively look for this along the way. One way in which she did this was taking advantage of the opportunity to niche herself within her area of interest, by spending one quarter of the programme at another university in Sweden: "I did my specialisations courses at SLU [Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences] in Uppsala, to specialise in Environmental Communications." She then began writing her thesis, "analysing an exhibition at Moderna Museet in Stockholm" while she kept working for Lund University, which she says "opened doors for me after graduation."  Lina makes the point that since the programme is so distinctly theory-oriented – it has a strong academic profile – but that might require career-oriented students to keep their eyes open for opportunities: "since I was keen on maintaining a relationship with the professional sector this is something I’d advise a student in a similar situation to take into account." Other ways of doing this while in the programme are taking part in some of the career advice services at LU, and/or using the specialisation semester for an internship.  Lina’s thesis project An important ethos of the programme is that students are encouraged to choose a thesis topic that really engages them. As the project makes up another quarter of the entire programme, there is a lot of time for advanced level student research. Lina explains how she wanted to "combine my background in cultural studies with my specialisation in environmental communication." Her empirical focus was a participatory art exhibition on climate change and the focus of the study was as she puts it "potential democratising and empowering effects on its participants." Lina’s thesis was one of the best in her graduating class, which meant she was chosen to be published in our Excellent Dissertation book series; an opportunity given to top students with strong research outcomes.