A Master’s graduate from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) enjoyed his course so much he is now teaching the subjects he was studying just a few years ago.
Scott Leatham said he originally intended to start a career in the military but was inspired to become a lecturer while completing his BA (Hons) in International Relations and History.
He went on to take an MA in International Relations and will graduate with Distinction in January 2016, receiving the Leicester Business School Prize for Best Student Performance on his course.
The 23-year-old said: “I chose my undergraduate degree because, initially, I was looking at a career in the military. That changed within a year because of what I learned and I found myself on a different political path.”
After realising academia appealed, Scott started his master’s. He said: “I chose to stay at DMU as I’d enjoyed my three years immensely and got on well with staff and students. The course was focused on my areas of interest and allowed me to pursue environmental politics and critical theory politics. DMU also offered an Alumni Scholarship, which sealed the deal.
“Alasdair Blair, Head of Department of Politics and Public Policy, encouraged us to attend events and I joined DMU’s internship scheme as a Frontrunner for the new Jean Monnet research centre in 2013, which inspired me to take my studies even further.”
A funded PhD came up in the right area – Greening China’s Political Economy – and Scott started his research into ecological politics in conjunction with Liaoning University, China, in October 2015.
Scott said: “I hope to find out how we can move away from the approach to environmental governance that reflects current vested interests.”
He is particularly interested in how theoretical/ideological assumptions manifest in negotiations between the EU and China, and ecological politics more generally. In addition, he is looking at reformation versus transformation attempts to reconcile political economy and environmental crises, and how these are communicated.
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Scott will spend three months a year in China with DMU’s partner Sunwah International Business School at Liaoning University, where he will undertake the majority of his fieldwork.
He said: “I will be taking a more critical perspective on it all. Are there political reasons we’re reaching certain decisions and is this beneficial, or is it to do with who has the loudest voice?”
Scott is balancing his research with his lecturing commitments – teaching International Relations at DMU and US Domestic Politics at the University of Leicester – and is relishing the challenge.
He said: “Students have competing and different interests on what is happening in the world, which is fascinating.”
Scott would encourage any prospective students to approach their time at university with an open mind. He said: “DMU offers excellent opportunities to broaden your horizons. You experience difference cultures on courses with a diverse range of people.
“My highlight was going to the House of Lords with the Policy Commission, who came up with ‘100 Ideas to Change Britain’.”
Students, aided by academics, spent six months coming up with policy ideas that they would like political parties to adopt – a first for any UK university – and handed over their document to influential party members.
Posted on Wednesday 20 January 2016