A new student bursary, provided by the Financial Times to an MA Arts and Lifestyle Journalism student, has been awarded to Corinne MacDonald, who progressed to the course following a BA (Hons) Fine Art at Central Saint Martins.
The bursary is worth £4,000 and provides part-payment of tuition fees to a Home/EU student. Applications were initially assessed and shortlisted by the Student Funding Service. Shortlisted applicants were then submitted to a panel of LCC academic staff, who selected the student they believed would benefit most from the award.
We asked Corinne to tell us a bit more about the scholarship, her experience studying at UAL so far and her plans for the future.
Can you tell us a bit about why you decided to make that transition from fine art to journalism?
In the final year of my BA (Hons) Fine Art my practice became quite journalistic in style – I began writing a lot, using investigative techniques and making films. I wrote my dissertation of the use of image in warfare and examined the press and how they mediate events. When I found out about the MA in Arts and Lifestyle Journalism it seemed the perfect marriage of my interests.
How do you find the difference in teaching/learning? Have there been any particular surprises for you so far?
The teaching is a lot more hands-on, which isn’t a criticism of CSM, but the nature of Fine Art is very self-directed as everyone’s practice is very different. It was great in that it taught me how to self-motivate and find things out for myself, but I am really enjoying the more structured teaching of the journalism course. It’s a nice combination of practical skills and theoretical learning which suits me well.
What do you hope to do after graduating from this MA?
I really enjoy both writing and filmmaking so I would love to work in some capacity in multimedia journalism. I think the two work well together to tell stories in an interesting and engaging way. I also adore reading long-form journalism so I would love to work in the Features section of a newspaper.
What does it mean to you to win the FT scholarship?
Winning the FT scholarship is amazing, their arts section has really interesting pieces that I have read more and more this year. I am still working alongside my studies so that I can use the scholarship primarily for journalism-related projects like my final major project, which is really exciting.
The annual UAL Benefactors’ Reception at LCC in December 2015, bringing together the University’s supporters and its bursary/scholarship recipients.
Lucia Vodanovic, Course Leader for MA Arts and Lifestyle Journalism at LCC, said:
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with the Financial Times, which is one of the UK’s great news providers and has a fantastic arts and culture section; every weekend feels like a treat to read it if you are interested in this sector of journalism.
“Corinne was chosen because she is a very intelligent and dedicated student, with a bright career ahead. She is able to bring original perspectives to any subject she approaches, and is a wonderfully independent thinker and writer."