If there’s one thing I miss about studying, it’s definitely that I felt infinitely smarter when I was in school compared to now. I felt continually challenged to view contemporary issues through evaluative lenses and was constantly learning new concepts while undertaking my Bachelor of Communication. I would love to share some of my favourite modules, which shaped me and helped me develop critical thinking skills, during my time at The University of Newcastle, Australia.

1. Public Affairs & Communication (now: Public Affairs)

In Public Affairs & Communication, we studied various structures of government; relationships and responsibilities between tiers of government and concepts related to ideology and values. I’ve always been an avid reader of the English Tudor period and I loved learning about England’s move from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy! More than that, this module allowed me to understand how certain structures and ideologies shaped a country.

Not only that, our lecturer, Mr Robert Conceicao, gave us complete freedom over choosing the topic of our assessments, and I ended up basing 2 of 3 of our main assessments on socialism in North Korea — a topic which intrigued me profoundly since I was 14. In my essay, I probed the possibility of Kim Jong Un calculated leader who premeditates his every move instead of a dictator who operated on his whims and fancies like the media portrays him to be.

To say it was the most thrilling assessment I’ve worked on would be an understatement, and I think this module embodies what learning should be — exciting and self-motivational. I truly enjoyed going to libraries to research so I could learn more on my own time despite my busy work schedule. If not for Public Affairs & Communication and Mr Robert’s guidance, I would not have been able to explore an entire essay that examines North Korea academically.

Beyond the classroom, this module instilled my interest in politics in Singapore, which is a useful knowledge to have as a journalism graduate, especially if we hope to cover major political events in the future.

2. Communication, Creativity and Cultural Production

Communication, Creativity and Cultural Production is a module in which we learnt about differing creative practices and enhancing creativity in cultural production.

While some might argue that a theoretically heavy module is not relevant to our jobs in the communication industry, I beg to differ. Communication, Creativity and Cultural Production taught me to look critically at the media and cultural production we consume and consider the methods undertaken to enhance creativity. When I’m tasked to create something, I now examine existing works so I may create something unique and inventive that brings value to the media sphere.

‘Mens en Dieren’ by Karel Appel on display in Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

For instance, ‘Mens en Dieren’ was painted by Karel Appel in 1949, during the Cobra Movement in post-war Europe. Using bright, childlike colours, the Cobra movement existed from a common goal of breaking away from existing art movements, which artists saw as sterile and authoritarian. The Cobra movement, though criticised during that period, eventually revolutionised Dutch modern art. This was an essential precept for me to remember and live by; when I felt dejected from facing rejections as a freelance graphic designer then, it was comforting to know that some of the greatest artists I admired have faced similar uphill battles before achieving success.

3. Communication & Discourse (now: Global Trends in Media & Communications)

This module aims to heighten our awareness that communication and discourses are everywhere around us. In this module, we learnt to analyse not only verbal communication, but also non-verbal cues and the context in which communication was set in to examine its conventions, cultural norms, behavioural contexts, and power relationships.

We were encouraged to link our assessments and learning from the module to contemporary media events that are relevant to our studies and work, like analysing communication at press conferences — whether the speakers’ words were aligned to their body language, and if the speakers were likely feeling tense or at ease. All the knowledge gained from this module helps me to reflect on how communication shapes the media we consume daily.

There were many other fascinating modules that I took during my time at The University of Newcastle, Australia. Overall, what I enjoyed was how my lecturers linked the theories we studied to real-world situations for us to better understand how we can apply the theories to our everyday lives.

If you’re interested in learning more about Bachelor of Communication from The University of Newcastle, Australia which I graduated from, PSB Academy will be holding an ANZ Fair online, on 4th July. I’ll be sharing my experiences as well as how I built an industry-ready portfolio too. You can register here.

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Brought to you by PSB Academy. However, all views and statements expressed are solely personal opinions.