Era Journal: President

Hi! My name is Rosie and I’m a second year Anthropology student. Being interested in art, film, music and writing, I’ve naturally gravitated towards Era Journal during my time at UCL. This year, I was able to get more involved by being co-curator. I organised, curated, and helped devise the theme for the forthcoming Era Journal exhibition at The Crypt Gallery, Bedrock. I’m passionate about the journal’s potential to be a great creative outlet for students. Curating the exhibition, which sourced work from UCL students, made me even more excited and inspired me to run for President.

My main goal as president of Era Journal would be to cultivate a strong community within the society. Having both the experience of being a regular member and a committee member, I felt a divide between these aspects of the journal. In order to attempt to deal with this, I would like to set up journal-wide meetings once a term and bi-termly sub-section meetings. In doing so, I hope to encourage more involvement from members, give a face to the committee members and help members meet people with similar interests. Through these meetings, members can share and discuss their ideas for the magazine and what articles they are planning on/currently writing with the editors.

I’d also love to diversify Era’s content by branching out into more visual mediums. This might be video versions of content the magazine already produces, such as interviews or video essays. It also might be less text-heavy coverage of cultural events members might be

I'm standing for President next year to give Era a new creative thrust. I want UCL students to have a place to find creative opportunities, as well as share their artistic and cultural experiences of London.

First and foremost, I want the route to publishing an article, a piece of art, or even ideas and recommendations to be clear for both contributors and editors. I hope to have a regular and quick flow of work that means anyone can feel that they are taking part in a lively arts scene.

In the same vein, I want to have more frequent casual pub meets, at least one larger social event a term, such as print edition launch parties, or art showcases. Keeping up to date with each other and building the community we already have is really important to me.

Lastly, I think it's really important to have a dedicated marketing and communications manager, to help the journal engage with the UCL community actively, as well as increasing engagement with the Slade, which feels unfortunately separate from our publications at the moment.

My experience as Contributor in 21/22 and Section Editor in 22/23 has made me familiar with all stages of the Journalism process, and has given me the insight as well as drive to make the Journal a sociable and engaging space for anyone who wants to be up to date or involved with Arts and Culture at UCL.