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European Summer University in Lille |
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By Sebastian Hirsch
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Saturday, 02 October 2004 |
The Sciences Po Lille, situated in Northern France, offered a European Summer University Program last July. With interesting professors and a great bunch of fellow students, it was very well worth the trip.
I can't even remember how I came across the website of the Institute d'Etudes Politique de Lille, but after reading through their program, it didn't take me long to decide I would be involving myself in more academic related pursuits during summer. They were offering different courses on European issues, such as 'Politics and Policies in the EU' and 'Strategic Questions in Europe', all to be taught in English. As I have a keen interest in international relations, I went for the latter.
 This proved to be an excellent decision. While the Sciences Po Lille did not live up to IUB standards with regard to resources, the professors were just brilliant. The instructors teaching my course came from the British House of Lords, Sorbonne and Yale University. Within just three weeks they managed to provide us with a good overview of the field of international relations and law. 'Us" being a group of students almost as international as the student body here at IUB.
My classmates came from Aberdeen, Constance, London, Istanbul, Prague, Tallinn, Vancouver, Vienna and many other places. With such a mixed group of people we enjoyed a thriving college life in the Résidence Bachelard. Czech dinner, the Kaiserschmarrn evening, football matches and common room parties were only some of the highlights. On the weekends we usually left Lille to visit the surrounding cities such as Dunkirk, Bruges and Brussels. Others even managed to see Ghent and the military parade on Bastille Day in Paris. And, of course, the Tour de France could not pass through Lille without being noticed by us.
The summer school program also included two excursions, one taking us to the European Commission in Brussels, and the other to the Historial de la Grande Guerre in Péronne. In addition, we heard a few guest lecturers including Jamie Shea from NATO.
My main criticism would be that the organisation was not at all good. There was a clear lack of information flow to and from the person in charge. It led us to wonder, during our stay in Lille, whether we should recommend this summer university to others.
However, when I look back now I can say that it really was worthwhile. Meeting cool people and visiting France and Belgium was a fantastic experience. But more importantly, the program gave me a genuine insight into the field of international relations. Going to a summer university allowed me to go deeper into a specific topic than usually possible within the ISS curriculum. Thus, despite the flawed organisation, I am quite happy about having done this program. And when we eventually receive our certificates from Lille, I will be even happier.
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. Yeah Internet access was one big thing, but I also referred to the library of the institute. Looking forward to your article about Oxford. Steffen is going to write his report from the Sciences Po Bordeaux soon. 