John, thanks for these letters. Well written. Well expressed.
How insulated Americans are. How strange it is to me that the US with all its incredible resources and ability to gain information instantly on line...still isolates itself from the traditions, proven successes and assorted other good ideas from around the world.
What are human rights? Are they universal? If not...why not? Why wouldn't every US person (I'm saving the word "American" for all of the Americas) want to view health care and education...and housing and safe drinking water and food security as a human right?
What bizarre philosophy drives this nutty thinking? I can only assume that we are a very young, silly country. The US is like a crazed teenager experimenting with chaos and regurgitating the superstitious conspiracy driven drivel of their ignorant bigoted parents.
After all, it took Europe several centuries to arrive at this level of human rights recognition. And now that the US has abandoned her, Europe will, hopefully, pull together even more tightly. And as I recently wrote, perhaps the success of Spain with its intelligent handling of immigration will influence other nations positively. Germany could certainly learn from Spain. It will need some fresh thinking as its auto industry collapses.
Also,
Please convey to all your friends and associates in Ireland and France...anywhere in Europe... our embarrassment, our shame, our rage, our disgust and humiliation delivered by the traitor who pretends to be our president. He is not really our president. He is a puppet of Putin. He has been a Russian asset for decades. He was installed by Putin. He will dance for Putin. And people will suffer and die as a result.
I hope I live long enough to see this insanity end.
I read the commentary on Spain and immigration which I found very interesting. Germany has had quite a long history of importing "Gastarbeiter"; when I lived there these workers were primarily Turkish. Of course many middle eastern refugees entered during Merkel's time, through the social response was quite different from what is described in the article you refer to. I'm not in any position to speak to the dynamics of these situations. (I've thought about writing up an anecdote of once being accused of being "an illegal" when I was living in Arizona. But it's so outlandish that when I have told it, people seem to think I'm just inventing it, so I'll leave it there.)
I think most Europeans are sympathetic to Americans and do not necessarily identify them with the behaviour of the US government. There, to be sure, supporters of T in Europe; I'm aware of some here in Nice.
I share your wish to survive to see a return to democratic values in the US government.
As a former teacher in higher education, although not university education -- I taught in a private business school -- I'm very interested in this series. I hope you keep going on it.
I think as an Anglo country Ireland could be different, but the French university system, and even secondary education, remains quite traditional, partly due to the exam culture you mention in your article. I imagine you will be researching the French system at some point?
After living here for so long, I actually have mixed feelings about the "free" aspect of French higher education. I'll try to gather my thoughts on that for a future comment as your series continues.
I have been thinking of writing about my experience of American higher education as well, as I witnessed a significant change in approach to curriculum over the four decades I worked at Harvard (25 years) and then Arizona State University (5 years). It's a complex topic to try to address in a newsletter format.
As for the French university system, I'd not feel qualified. I'd like to recruit some collaborators to provide perspectives on key aspects of how students experience higher education in the EU countries US students seem to gravitate toward ...
That would be very interesting as well. I know a lot has changed since my university education from 1977-1981. You also have the contrasting experience of an elite private establishment and a public university.
As for France, living in Nice I’m sure you could find somebody to collaborate with.
Thanks for your thoughts, Betty. My most concrete European experience of higher education has been, of course in Ireland; at best my experience in Germany is tangental and rooted in the late 1970s (at that time people spoke of a problem of "alt-Semester" students--perpetual students taking advantage of how the system operated at the time.
Indeed, that is one of my issues with the French system. It’s too easy to just sign up, goof off and not show up to class, fail, and start again in a new subject the next year in a new subject. Despite “free” tuition, it’s actually an elite privilege for those whose parents can finance their life in a big city for endless years.
I do also think there needs to be some alternative to diving immediately into a major, especially for subjects like law, sociology, and psychology, which are all very popular and not studied a bit in lycée. Students don’t know what they’re getting into.
John, thanks for these letters. Well written. Well expressed.
How insulated Americans are. How strange it is to me that the US with all its incredible resources and ability to gain information instantly on line...still isolates itself from the traditions, proven successes and assorted other good ideas from around the world.
What are human rights? Are they universal? If not...why not? Why wouldn't every US person (I'm saving the word "American" for all of the Americas) want to view health care and education...and housing and safe drinking water and food security as a human right?
What bizarre philosophy drives this nutty thinking? I can only assume that we are a very young, silly country. The US is like a crazed teenager experimenting with chaos and regurgitating the superstitious conspiracy driven drivel of their ignorant bigoted parents.
After all, it took Europe several centuries to arrive at this level of human rights recognition. And now that the US has abandoned her, Europe will, hopefully, pull together even more tightly. And as I recently wrote, perhaps the success of Spain with its intelligent handling of immigration will influence other nations positively. Germany could certainly learn from Spain. It will need some fresh thinking as its auto industry collapses.
Also,
Please convey to all your friends and associates in Ireland and France...anywhere in Europe... our embarrassment, our shame, our rage, our disgust and humiliation delivered by the traitor who pretends to be our president. He is not really our president. He is a puppet of Putin. He has been a Russian asset for decades. He was installed by Putin. He will dance for Putin. And people will suffer and die as a result.
I hope I live long enough to see this insanity end.
Hi Bill,
Thanks for your ever kind remarks.
I read the commentary on Spain and immigration which I found very interesting. Germany has had quite a long history of importing "Gastarbeiter"; when I lived there these workers were primarily Turkish. Of course many middle eastern refugees entered during Merkel's time, through the social response was quite different from what is described in the article you refer to. I'm not in any position to speak to the dynamics of these situations. (I've thought about writing up an anecdote of once being accused of being "an illegal" when I was living in Arizona. But it's so outlandish that when I have told it, people seem to think I'm just inventing it, so I'll leave it there.)
I think most Europeans are sympathetic to Americans and do not necessarily identify them with the behaviour of the US government. There, to be sure, supporters of T in Europe; I'm aware of some here in Nice.
I share your wish to survive to see a return to democratic values in the US government.
As a former teacher in higher education, although not university education -- I taught in a private business school -- I'm very interested in this series. I hope you keep going on it.
I think as an Anglo country Ireland could be different, but the French university system, and even secondary education, remains quite traditional, partly due to the exam culture you mention in your article. I imagine you will be researching the French system at some point?
After living here for so long, I actually have mixed feelings about the "free" aspect of French higher education. I'll try to gather my thoughts on that for a future comment as your series continues.
I have been thinking of writing about my experience of American higher education as well, as I witnessed a significant change in approach to curriculum over the four decades I worked at Harvard (25 years) and then Arizona State University (5 years). It's a complex topic to try to address in a newsletter format.
As for the French university system, I'd not feel qualified. I'd like to recruit some collaborators to provide perspectives on key aspects of how students experience higher education in the EU countries US students seem to gravitate toward ...
That would be very interesting as well. I know a lot has changed since my university education from 1977-1981. You also have the contrasting experience of an elite private establishment and a public university.
As for France, living in Nice I’m sure you could find somebody to collaborate with.
Bon weekend!
Thanks for your thoughts, Betty. My most concrete European experience of higher education has been, of course in Ireland; at best my experience in Germany is tangental and rooted in the late 1970s (at that time people spoke of a problem of "alt-Semester" students--perpetual students taking advantage of how the system operated at the time.
Indeed, that is one of my issues with the French system. It’s too easy to just sign up, goof off and not show up to class, fail, and start again in a new subject the next year in a new subject. Despite “free” tuition, it’s actually an elite privilege for those whose parents can finance their life in a big city for endless years.
I do also think there needs to be some alternative to diving immediately into a major, especially for subjects like law, sociology, and psychology, which are all very popular and not studied a bit in lycée. Students don’t know what they’re getting into.