Sciences Po vs. Trinity

It seems that I have been hiding away from this blog since it’s been awhile since I lasted posted. I promise you that I am doing well, having adventures and not hiding in my apartment for long extended hours. It’s just that my schoolwork wasn't due until these last two weeks and with my birthday last week and thanksgiving last Thursday; I just got slumped with a lot of work. In this post, I’ll talk about some of the differences between my classes at Trinity and those at Sciences Po.

One main difference between my classes has been the amount of work. In both places I have had to keep up with the readings so I can participate in the discussion. The importance of talking in class has remained the same. I have noticed though that here I am being evaluated on three or four things whereas in the US, I had more assignments that made up part of my final grade. In the both classes I am taking at Sciences Po, I did an exposé with one or two students and each student had to speak for 8 minutes. In my war and peace class, we argued whether or not China was the new world center in what is being called “the rise of the rest” by Fareed Zakaria. This one tested my capabilities in French as giving eight minute speeches on political things is not something I do very often. In the other presentation, we took a look at citizenship tests and what they say about immigrant integration in different countries. Overall, my grades are coming from the presentation, a mid-term exam and then a paper of some kind. The good news is that there’s more time to focus on each thing but it’s also bad news if you do terribly on an assignment.

Another difference worth mentioning is the fact that the professor will announce who got the highest grade in class on an assignment and give feedback on your work out loud. It may be the case that not all professors do this, but the first time it happened, it caught me by surprise. In the US, professors will announce the average grade and tell us what the highest or lowest scores are, but I have never had a professor begin to tell each student what they did or didn't do right. Usually they ask to speak with you in private if you didn't do well on an assignment. I am not sure what this says about the system here but it might be more motivation to do well in classes so you won’t be embarrassed when the professor gives you commentary on your work in front of the rest of your peers.