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Tell me about yourself and how you came to study religion and theology at Bristol

I’m from a village in South Wales. I studied religion, ethics and philosophy all throughout secondary school including at A-level, and I loved it, it was my favourite subject. So, it was the only subject that I wanted to study for another 3/ 4 years. Initially I wasn’t going to choose Bristol because I didn’t want to study in a city, but then I attended the virtual open day and heard about how Bristol teach eastern religions and do a year abroad. As I studied Hinduism at A-level, this really appealed to me and these areas of expertise are unique to Bristol. Due to Covid I could only walk around the uni buildings but I could picture myself there and here I am!

You’re in your year abroad at Boston. Tell us how it is different to Bristol.

Apart from the differences in living situation, having a roommate, eating different food and higher expenses, the educational aspect is very different. In Bristol students go very in depth on a subject, such as reading dense texts and having certain mandatory modules. Whereas at Boston College I haven’t felt like I’ve gone into as much depth because you can pick classes at different levels. You could be a junior (3^rd year) in a freshman (1^st year) or senior (4^th year) class, or even in a graduate class! There are also a multitude of factors which constitute your grade here; attendance, class participation, smaller assignments and larger assignments. Whereas in Bristol you usually have one formative and one summative. You are also encouraged to take subjects from other departments, which would constitute your minor if you were a full time US student. So I am taking a class in journalism which I love because this is where I want my career to lie, and you can try new things!

Tell us how you got the idea for the films & what you were aiming for with them.

I have always enjoyed creating videos, and I present a radio show back home in which I get to interview music bands. I really enjoy the interview aspect of radio and I thought that it would be a privilege to talk about the subject I love, religion, with the experts i.e. my lecturers!  In addition, I remember scouting on YouTube when deciding which unis to apply to. A different university had a lot of videos from their theology department and my dad said you should go there because they look like an active department. Because of this I thought that it would be beneficial for Bristol to have some more current content to really show off how great it is, because I do believe it’s a great place to study religion and theology.

2 years to go - about plans so far & what you want to do after graduation.

I’m looking to pursue a masters in the broadcast journalism area after my degree in religion and theology, and my ultimate goal is to become a presenter, especially in the area of religious programmes. I think this comes from watching a lot of ‘Stacy Dooley Investigates’ as a child!

About Anastasia

Anastasia is currently in her third year MArts degree, studying abroad in Boston. 

See also Anastasia's YouTube channel

Her Instagram for media purposes is anastasia0reilly