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Kathleen Brophy: Combining Media, History and Politics
By Keisha Ding
Kathleen's hometown: London, On.
Passionate about history, politics and philosophy, fourth-year MACS student Kathleen Brophy gained an interest in government relations and public policy after taking an elective course in political economy.
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Kathleen Brophy never imagined her parents’ careers in law and literature would quietly shape her path toward a career in government relations.
Kathleen’s mother is a lawyer who is actively involved in the legal profession. Her father, who studied English Literature, fostered her love for reading. Politics and current issues were always discussed in Kathleen’s home while growing up.
Now heading into her fourth year in the Media and Communication Studies (MACS) program at Western University, Kathleen initially entered the program thinking she would pursue a career in marketing and brand relations. However, after taking Professor Edward Comor’s “Global Political Economy of Communication” course in third year, her career goals began to shift, sparking her passion in public affairs. The course examined political power, wealth and global inequalities driven by uneven access to means of communication around the world.
“The course content was so cool to me…it’s a blend of media, political sciences and history,” says Kathleen.
Growing up in London, she was eager to leave her suburban hometown and explore other cities. But what drew her to Western was the MACS program’s unique upper-year electives that are unavailable in other media programs. Courses about memes, or why we participate in the consumption of mass media ignited curiosities she hadn’t thought of beforehand.
Fun Fact
Kathleen likes to thrift old National Geographic magazines and turn them into art collages.
While many of her peers prefer marketing and public relations courses, Kathleen is drawn to theory-based and thought-provoking coursework ahead of creative projects. “I’m not a big hands-on person…I’d rather read Marx or something about political economy,” she says.
Kathleen's curiosity for knowledge has led her to explore career paths aligned with her passion for meaningful public policy work that will have an impact on citizens. She hopes a career related to these things will bring her long-term fulfilment.
During the summer 2024 term, she completed an Undergraduate Summer Research Internship (USRI) offered through her home faculty, the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS). Under the guidance of Professor Sandra Smeltzer, Kathleen dived into a research project focused on international students and experiential learning in Canadian universities. During her research, she conducted literature reviews, analyzed data and wrote reports, giving her firsthand experience in how to conduct advanced academic research.
“It was really interesting. It ties in well with my interests in politics; a lot of what we were reading was news updates on the current state of international students in Canada. This was when the government was coming out with all of the new mandates on international student enrolment.”
Beyond academics, Kathleen has been actively involved in the FIMSSC - the FIMS Students’ Council - as a Careers and Academic Futures Representative. In this role, she helped organize the 2025 MACS Career Conference and the annual trip to Toronto that gives students the chance talk to media industry professionals and exposes them to a range of career possibilities.
After graduating, Kathleen hopes to work in a public relations agency specializing in government affairs. However, she is open to exploring other paths in her field. This could include doing a master’s degree in public policy or starting in the creative side of brand relations.
“MACS has sparked so many interests and I've never been aware of so many opportunities. Now I’m taking every chance to figure it out. I want my future career to align with my long-term interests to be more self-fulfilling.”
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Profiles in the Meet Our Students section are written by students in the Master of Media in Journalism & Communication program, who are enrolled in MMJC 9604 - Professional Writing.
