Graduate Profile: Katrina Fairhurst

MA Human Rights, Culture and Social Justice alumna Katrina Fairhurst graduated from Goldsmiths in 2018. She is now working as the Communications Officer at Shout Out UK.

Prior to her studies in London, she had completed a 4-year LLB (Bachelor of Laws) in International and European Law in the Netherlands. Studying in an international environment was important to Katrina when choosing her next course – she notes “part of what caught my attention with Goldsmiths was the school’s political awareness, the first day I came I saw a black lives matter sign and knew this was the place for me.”

“Coming to Goldsmiths allowed me to stay within an international environment whilst also allowing me to be involved in activism and multiculturalism both in and out of the classroom working and learning beside people from across the world.”

While studying at Goldsmiths, Katrina worked three part-time jobs – two of which were through the Goldsmiths Student Ambassador scheme. In her final months whilst finishing her MA dissertation she also worked full-time at Shout Out UK as the Communications Officer.

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We caught up with Katrina to hear about her career, experience at Goldsmiths and plans for the future.

Tell us about your career and your current role?

I started this role when finishing my MA dissertation, working a 40-hour week as the Communications Officer at Shout Out UK. My duties include running Shout Out UK’s social media channels, attending and covering events through social media as well as writing news articles. I found opportunities and stories for our young writers so they could write articles.

I did sales in the form of calling schools, youth groups and businesses to sell our Political Literacy course, workshops and events. Working closely with partner organisations in creating and delivering events, workshops and hackathons to find new and inventive ways to market our Political Literacy course, workshops and events.

Tell us about your time at Goldsmiths?

Whilst this year has been tough, I am proud of what I have achieved. My MA showed me that I am capable of achieving something even when times get tough. The knowledge I gained, the skills I developed and the friends I made along the way have helped me to develop not just my knowledge of human rights but also who I am as a person, my strengths, my weaknesses and what I want out of life.

Through the support of the lecturers, I was able to complete my degree and graduate as well as gain the confidence to apply for a dream job that I am now working at. By being able to take modules from multiple departments, I was able to develop new skills and also explore career options available to me through a human rights degree.

Although I was already interested in the subject before my MA, the MA did secure my passions and helped me decide that the human rights and political sectors were two areas that I wanted to work in. Through Shout Out UK, I have a job that allows me to apply this love of the subject whilst also allowing me to use my ability to talk to people in a way that is positive and beneficial to people’s lives as we work on getting political education into schools throughout the UK.

How did studying at Goldsmiths prepare you for the future?

My time at Goldsmiths was one of the best and hardest years of my life. It set me up for a career I love, friends for life and a new found confidence in my abilities that I didn’t have before. I also learnt about human rights in all its forms allowing me to develop a well-rounded understanding of the topic that an LLM (The Master of Laws) would not have afforded me.