This is fucking ridiculous.
Let's backtrack, shall we?
There's a reason I've kept entries about my classes to a minimum. Mostly because the overwhelming majority of them have been a complete and utter waste of time. Unimaginative curriculums aside, strikes and demonstrations at the school began within a week of classes starting. I have to admit that I know embarassingly little about the rationale behind the strikes, but it has to do with educational reforms at the national level. Sarkozy is notoriously unpopular in the southwest of France, and teachers and students alike stopped showing up to class as a protest against his measures. The French word for strike is grève, and the first week or two we laughed it off as another French idiosyncracy. "The professors are grève-ing!" We'd joke in Franglais at this charming, unapologetically fulfilled stereotype. No school? Cancelled classes? It seemed like a sweet deal; all it meant was an extra night of staying out late.
Our amusement quickly subsided as the grèves began in earnest. There was no way of knowing if your professor was a gréviste, a striker, so we had to trek to school and find out through trial and error. We'd show up to our classes and find them empty (keep in mind that some of us have 45 minute commutes to campus). Professors would spend two hours discussing the protests instead of going through the course material. We'd step into our lecture halls, only to find them taken over by general assemblies voting on various measures. Few of us have any idea what kind of work we're supposed to be doing outside of class, when to turn it in, how we're being graded. We'd try to get into classrooms and buildings, only to find them blockaded by students waving banners.
Recently they have been voting on a blocage total, which would barricade all university buildings and effectively halt classes completely. Today, it passed.
Look, I can appreciate the French sentiment of political activism. It certainly can be a refreshing change from the apathy that's so ubiquitous in America. I know there are nuances in the organization of educational institutions in France that I don't fully understand, but somehow I find it hard to believe that PHYSICALLY BARRING students from their classes is the best solution to dissatisfaction with the government. One of the reasons these reforms are being implemented is because France is lagging internationally in higher level education. It seems a little ironic that the prevailing reaction is to halt it altogether.
On a personal level, I am starting to get really annoyed that I'm paying out-of-state tuition to sit on my ass. Sure, going out all the time is great, but even I have a limit - and my brain is reaching its rotting threshold. I have not once felt mentally stimulated since I've been here. I didn't come here looking for the same caliber of education as Cal, but this is just too much. I have to say I expected a little more from the country that gave us Descartes, Rousseau, Sartre, Montaigne (and Camus, for Jacob). Unfortunately, all I've been served is a healthy dose of waste-of-time.
--
Tiff's take on the subject here:
There is a reason why school is so expensive here.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I never got to experience anything this dramatic, so that's kind of cool in itself, right? I mean, the worst we had to deal with were bus/train worker strikes which are more of an annoyance than they are interesting, and the occasional street demonstration that I could never understand and simply meant that I would be walking 45 minutes home because the buses couldn't get through Via Cavour.
Also, don't forget Camus. Never forget Camus.
Well, as long as you've been stimulated otherwise.
ReplyDeleteShame to hear that. I concur, physical barricades sound a bit intense. Meanwhile, Berkeley kids like me are still crying to get a good grade.
ReplyDeleteBTW, too many lethal happenings in Berkeley right now. Channing Circle is like a strike-zone for creepers and stabbers.
On the flip side, does this mean we can Eurofabulously hangout? :O