As I reach the final week of classes here at Queen Mary University of London, I can’t help but feel like this chapter is coming to a close despite the fact that I still have another month and a half before I return to sunny California.  Speaking with my professors has increased that sense of finality.  I still have final papers due over the course of the next month but I will not see some of these amazing, inspiring people.  My professors here have truly been some of my favorite ever and I believe that each one has fundamentally changed the way that I view Media, Theater, and the world.  I could not be more excited to bring these new ways of thinking back to Claremont. 

But my end-of-term discussions with them has also inevitably turned to the fraught nature of this semester.  This term saw the largest academic industrial strike action the UK has ever seen.  Because of a significant cut to academics’ pensions, the University and College Union (UCU) called for an unprecedented strike action from its members.  Classes that unfortunately fell on strike days were canceled for three weeks.  Two of my classes were affected and I lost out on almost a month of instruction time.  While I cannot help but be sad, and a little bitter, that I missed out on time in classes I loved so much, I am also extremely grateful that they had the opportunity to strike.  I am extremely grateful that professors exercised their right to fight for themselves because you can’t do that in all parts of the world.  So while I have personally mixed feelings on the strike, I’m thankful that I live in a world where that right exists.  Its fascinating to think how much I have learned over the course of the semester, both inside and outside of the classroom.  Here’s to some more London adventures ahead!

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/tensions-mount-campus-uss-pensions-strike-looms

For more information on the UK Universities Strike, visit the following:

https://www.ucu.org.uk/strike-action

http://bright-green.org/2018/03/24/the-ucu-strike-a-tale-of-student-staff-solidarity/