Compress the following paragraph to 500 words: English documentary production is globally leading, with the most comprehensive cultural research teams, professional business documentary models, and processes. London is the “hub” of global documentary production, providing excellent documentary works for the 8 billion people worldwide.

As a member of China’s top documentary production team, I hope to learn more about British society’s attitude towards documentary dissemination, and cultural comparisons in different living environments.

In the UK, I plan to apply for a Master's degree in Cultural Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Goldsmiths University of London, and City University of London.

Taking the School of Oriental and African Studies as an example, the cultural studies course covers various topics like class, race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion, researching cross-cultural backgrounds. It offers courses including Comparative Literature, Culture and Society of Taiwan, Gender and Society in Contemporary Japan, and World Literature. Although some of these literary contents I have studied during my undergraduate time, gaining a new understanding of Asia literature and culture from an English cultural perspective in the UK will be a completely new experience. Additionally, the course also covers literature, politics, and society in different regions like South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, and Palestine, providing a totally different perspective for my future work.

Goldsmiths’ culture studies course focuses more on the critique of capitalism and introduces the intertwinement of capitalism and culture in various contexts. This perspective on capitalism is also a new learning experience for me.

The Culture, Policy, and Management program at City University of London will help me develop core and transferable skills. In my future documentary work, I anticipate being able to evaluate and integrate the theories and practices of culture, policy, and management, as learning how to “manage” in documentary production is also an important professional skill.

The three universities I have applied to are all located in London, which benefits my personal learning and exchange. I yearn to focus more on cultural activities such as the British Museum, the British Library, and urban communities during my graduate studies, thus developing a better understanding of British culture from both the campus and the society.

During my graduate studies, I yearn to explore specific cultural events, such as the changes in Chinese (or Asian) cuisine in the London area over the past 30 years, and the impact of British colonial culture on dietary habits in various Asian countries. These will require more field investigations and on-site research based on theoretical learning on campus.

I will also seek to understand how Westerners view the cuisine, life, and culture of many Asian countries, and find the most suitable topics for Western audiences to observe and engage with in Chinese documentaries. Conversely, Easterners also need different expressions to have a dialogue with the world. I am thus thrilled about the Cultural Studies program, which will provide me with a richer and more open theoretical experience for my work. Pursuing my graduate studies in the UK can open up new doors in life, inspiring my own thoughts on the differences between Eastern and Western documentary work, ultimately finding a path of global collaboration and “seeking common ground while preserving differences.”

These exciting and anticipated aspects are not only goals but challenges.