Lora Lukova: My experience studying at the Institute of Sociological Studies (ISS)
Read the testimonial by Lora Lukova, a student of Master’s program Society, Communication, and Media (SCM).
Hi, everybody! My name is Lora and I am in my second year of the Master’s program Society, Communication, and Media. After finishing high school in Bulgaria a few years ago, I decided to pursue a BA degree in Journalism and Media in Prague. At the time, my decision was influenced mainly by the university program I had found, but once I set foot in Prague, I realised that the city is indeed student-friendly and that it offers numerous opportunities for people from different backgrounds.
After concluding my BA studies, I was faced with the usual dilemma of most graduating students: So, what’s next? Since I had liked Prague a lot, I wanted to remain in the city and started looking for MA programs here. I knew I wanted to study something related to media and communications, but not necessarily journalism again. This time, I was striving for programs with a more theoretical approach to practical problems because during my Bachelor’s studies I was taught all sorts of writing and other practical skills such as reporting, radio production, and photojournalism, but I was lacking the more theoretical knowledge that would allow me to start understanding the world and society more effectively. This was what inspired me to choose a program precisely at Charles University’s Institute of Sociological Studies.
What surprised me most was how much research methodology and sociology can help journalism and how closely related they are. With the right research tools one begins grasping media and social processes even better. Additionally, this has been incredibly helpful for my job as a journalist at the Spanish Department of Czech Radio as it has been guiding me on how to convey efficiently and comprehensively the Czech reality to non-Czech listeners and readers.
Last but not least, one of my favourite features of this program is its flexibility. What I am learning now is still in the scope of my expertise, but at the same time, it provides me with new perspectives which I have not had the opportunity to explore before. Meanwhile, with the wide variety of mandatory elective courses, one can determine whether they want their ultimate specialisation to be inclined more towards sociology or towards media studies without fully excluding the one or the other. For my diploma thesis, for instance, I have chosen to compare the media systems of Bulgaria and Czechia by analysing their media legislation, exploring each country’s handling of the lustration process in the 1990s, and delving into their ownership dynamics, but through the lens of sociological theories.
I can say confidently that my current studies have overall made me more conscious, understanding, and empathetic in my personal life and even more observing, detail-oriented, and skilled in my professional endeavours. I recommend this program to everybody who has an insatiable curiosity to understand society, politics, media, and human nature better, as well as everyone who is eager to discover the tools with which they can make a difference.
