The summer holidays that are just about to get started aren’t going to be like any holidays that have previously happened. Many of the sports camps, language schools, activities, and travel that you might have been hoping for have all “vanished into air, into thin air” (to quote from The Tempest). So one thing I’ll be trying to do over the summer is to keep a relatively steady stream of resources to engage with via the website. I’m going to try and post once every 10 days or fortnight, as much to keep myself sane and focused as trying to help the students, I suspect!

So, here is a list of a few possible activities that you can be getting along with under your own steam that would be an excellent starting point:

1. https://ucdsummerschool.ie/ 2-6 June. They’ll have sample lectures on all the different disciplines from across the university. Obviously, I’d want you to pay particular attention to the Politics/International Relations and Sociology/Social Policy lectures that are happening next week, but as I mentioned in the class, I do think you should use the opportunity to dip into some of the other subject areas that you may never have looked at before.
2. If you haven’t already done so, make sure that your subscribe to my website at www.polsocpodcast.com (click ‘follow’ on the home page) to make sure you get email alerts for the new materials (podcasts, screencasts, readings, exercises, etc) that will be going up at fairly regular intervals during the summer.
3. Follow along on Twitter with @khpolsoc (https://twitter.com/khpolsoc?lang=en) to see other relevant materials that I’ll be circulating through the twitter feed.
4. Try and take ONE news event each week to take a deep dive into. Look at it from different perspectives and see how a single event is covered from different media outlets. (You could start by keeping track of the Trump ‘vs’ Twitter confrontation that is about to kick off…) Use the TLDR handout template from the website (https://polsocpodcast.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/tldr-recording-your-pol-soc-reading-upload-version.pdf) to keep a track of your reading and to make sure that you’re in a position to use those materials when it comes to your essays next year.,
5. Start a log of movies, documentaries, and YouTube videos that you’ve watched that you think might be able to draw on for your work next year. Share those video resources with your classmates, and maybe even start up a movie/documentary discussion group where you all watch similar shows and might even discuss them afterward.
6. If you haven’t already done so, you could start with the Covid-19 Key Thinker reading list that I posted previously. (https://polsocpodcast.com/2020/05/07/pol-soc-and-covid-19-a-provisional-reading-list/)

Take it upon yourself to read one article a day. That’s eminently doable!!! It’ll be a good way to keep up to date, while also reinforcing your key thinkers.

Above all, remember to keep safe, follow the guidelines, be kind to your parents (it is very stressful for them, you know), and try to get a bit of valuable rest of the summer.

The class of 2020 has moved on now, but there’s still a big hill ahead for the class of 2021. We’ll do our best to help you along that journey.

Best,

Jerome