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Carmical Sports Media Institute students were among 18 UGA students to spend their summer in Oxford learning from Dr. Welch Suggs.

Suggs was selected to teach in UGA’s Oxford program for summer 2021. The course was rescheduled to summer 2022 due to the pandemic.

The class was a laboratory about how organizations and media outlets use frames to tell their stories.

In class, Suggs compared the evolution of women’s football (soccer) coverage, which was timely because the European championships were being held in England while the UGA group was there. Other topics included cricket through the lens of colonialism and adaptive sports in the context of the Commonwealth Games, which includes a schedule of able-bodied and adaptive sports in the same schedule.

The class attended the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, taking in sessions on athletics (what Americans call track and field) and para powerlifting. The students even learned to play cricket from two Oxford University students.

Beyond the classroom, the UGA at Oxford program helped the class set up some extraordinary excursions including the National Football Museum in Manchester. There, the class saw a special exhibit on Great Britain’s ban on women playing football, which lasted from 1921 to 1971.

Students heard from professionals in the field to talk about their experiences in sports media. Caroline Oatway, the equivalent of an associate communications director at Manchester City FC, met the class at the National Football Museum to discuss City’s women’s team and the Euros. Stefanie Reid, a world record holder in the para long jump, was covering the Commonwealth Games for the BBC. She made time to meet with the class.

The Carmical Sports Media Institute is planning more international experiences for students. Programming is currently being planned for selected students to cover the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia for the Associated Press. Students will also be in Paris in 2024 for the Summer Paralympic Games.