Two Weeks In

So here we are, two weeks into our program.
Registration for l'Ecole de Management is over, most classes have begun. Registration at the Science Politique ends tomorrow and classes started this week. I thought I'd give a rundown of some of the differences from GSU to the University of Strasbourg.

1. You go to class before you register. Different yes, interesting though because for some classes you can actually hear the teacher, see the size of the class and the style of teaching and then decide if you want to add or drop the class. it can be quite confusing though.

Registration isn't the open process we were used to at GSU. First you have to lookup your courses in several places. One place with a particular login shows you the list of classes in English that you can choose from, another site with a different login will show you the classes and when those classes meet, and yet another site with a login is where you register for classes. Think Paws/Ulearn/Panthermail but all with different logins and no links to each other from their pages...I will never complain about GSU's online computer system again!

Anyway, after we all looked at our schedules and figured out which classes didn't overlap, who wanted to take what classes at l'Ecole de Management, we all traveled with Sven (our coordinator) to school and parked ourselves in a computer lab about 11:45am. Registration opened at 12 and it's first-come-first-served meaning if a class has 20 slots for students, that's all there is. So it was kind of crazy, you have to login and find your class, click the registration check and submit quickly. A difference of a few seconds could mean you didn't get the class you wanted and would have to appeal to be let in. Oy vey.

It was exciting, and for the most part, everyone got the classes they wanted.

2. Classrooms are very fluid in France. You don't always meet in the same room or even every week. For instance our French I (debutants complet I) class for beginners is on Wednesdays and Fridays from 1-3pm, but the rooms change each day, so you have to printout your room schedule and keep it posted to remember where to go. I guess it makes class slightly more interesting being that you're not always in the same space. Classes also don't meet every week. You might have Economics of the EU every Tuesday from January through February but only once in March and April.

3. Most classes are lecture only. The french language classes are slightly different, meaning there's interaction with the professor - he/she will have you repeat phrases and words back and with other students. Our other classes at l'Ecole are very lecture-based with only a final, so take good notes!

4. We get both a Winter and Spring break. The first week of March is Winter Break. We'll be traveling with Sven to Brussels for an excursion to several institutions, but then the remainder of the week is our break (yay!). Spring break is in April, the last two weeks, and is the break in between the end of classes and final exams.

5. The colleges of the University are not all on the same schedule- Science Politique classes begin this week, l'Ecole de Management's was last week. REgistration also was a week apart, though the colleges share the same Winter and Spring Break schedule this year.

6. The interaction on a personal level with the professors at the school is very limited, you generally don't have personal interaction with the professors. The exception for us has been our two classes we have here at the Chateau - European Integration History & Culture, and our French Conversational Class. We have a lot of interaction with both professors in those classes and I actually find them very enjoyable and personal.

I'll write more next time on cultural differences, which may be a longer post! Thanks

Tim Cairl
Grad Student in Public Policy
Andrew Young School
Georgia State University