faculty of arts
ERASMUS+
Study Report
This form needs to be completed by every student who has completed an Erasmus+ mobility.
Signature Participant
……… Date: 17/03/2021
Last name*As shown in your passport Schrader
First name*As shown in your passport Irène
RUG student number S 3582132
Please enclose a 2-page report on your experiences abroad, using the following headings:
1. Your study programme 2. Language
3. Finance and other conditions
4. Preparation and contacts with the faculty before, during and after your stay
5. Housing 6. Culture 7. Free time 8. Travelling
9. Your host and home institution’s response to Covid-19, and the extent to which the virus (countermeasures) affected your mobility 10. Other
I hereby give permission to the International Office to publish my report on the Faculty of Arts Repository to inform future students
Yes No Future students may contact me for additional
information Yes No
University of Groningen, NL Groning01 Erasmus+ KA1 Mobility
My study program: My study program took place in Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne,
in the faculty of Histoire de l’art et archéologie (Art History and Archeology). The courses I took were all first-year courses and specifically were: Archéologie Médiévale (Medieval
Archeology), Histoire de l’Art Contemporain (Contemporary Art History), Histoire Moderne (Modern History), Histoire de la Photographie (History of Photography), Philosophie Générale: les Passions (General Philosophy: Passions), Allemand N1 (German Level 1).
Generally, all of the classes added complementary knowledge to my study program in Groningen (Arts, Culture & Media) except for the archeology class which felt confusing because the lectures and seminars felt like they didn’t relate to each other at all. As someone who didn’t know anything about archeology, I often didn’t know what was expected of me in the courses. However, it was nice to learn a little more about the field itself. The professors were generally very approachable and good lecturers, and I generally didn’t have any issues understanding the lessons.
Language: I would advise anyone considering studying in France to have a native level of
French. This is because much of the administration doesn’t necessarily speak good English, and communicating with them even as a native speaker could be challenging, due to them not always being responsive via email, calls, or even in person. Moreover, a good grasp of French grammar in writing is vital in French universities. I would even go so far to argue that the linguistic standards in French universities are higher than the ones in English-speaking/ international universities. Professors here, no matter the course, give much more importance to correct language.
Finance and other conditions: If you are fluent in English, you will easily find a part-time
job in Paris. I personally had no issues finding babysitting and language-teaching jobs that paid decently. I would advise finding a language agency that will connect you with families looking for a teacher/babysitter. As the coronavirus closed down all restaurants, cafés, bars and other facilities from the service industry, I was extremely lucky to be able to get a salary from teaching. The budget for grocery shopping is about the same as in Groningen. I would advise students to buy their staples at Leader Price, a supermarket comparable to Lidl in Groningen.
Preparation and contacts with the faculty before, during and after my stay: My biggest
stress throughout my exchange pertained to the faculty in Paris 1. There had been an
abundance of administrative miscommunications and errors during my stay in Paris (which is why I really emphasised the importance of grasping French earlier). To be more specific, these were some of the problems I encountered:
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I stayed signed into the wrong faculty even after having gone to the offices personally to fix this problem. I had to email the secretary repeatedly and go at least three times to their offices to get the problem fixed. I would stand in line for at least half an hour every time, only to be told that “there was nothing they could do” and go home. There was so much miscommunication between the faculties and I that it took much insisting on my part to get in contact with one of the supervising administrators to step in and finally change my information himself.-
My schedule was incomplete and had errors in it. I also had to personally ask professors for a spot in their classes.-
I was signed into the wrong year and semester’s exams. The administration didn’t answer me when I told them, and I had to contact my professors personally for them to contact the admins to get issue fixed.-
Two of my exams took place at the same time. The administration didn’t answer me when I asked them for help. I had again to contact my professors personally in order for them to contact the administration to give me another time slot.-
The administration forgot to send me one of the exams, even after I had asked about them a month prior. This resulted me getting a “0” when the grades came out. I had to prove I had never gotten an answer to my previous inquiries, in order to get a passing grade.Thankfully, once my stay ended, I had gotten quick replies from the secretariat when I sent them over Erasmus-related documents to sign.
Housing: Housing in Paris is especially hard to find, in comparison to other big cities. I
would advise the students to definitely search in advance, as rent in terms of size and price ratio is known to be expensive. I personally was lucky enough to have personal connections in Paris which allowed me to not worry about finding a home upon coming here. I unfortunately do not have much specific advice to give, as the coronavirus situation in France affected the rent market (e.g. some landlords lowered their prices, while others put them up for sale etc…).
Culture: It goes without saying that the cultural scene in Paris was heavily impacted by the
coronavirus. While I could enjoy museums and cinemas for a little while when I first arrived, France had a lockdown and closed down all cultural facilities by November. Thankfully, Paris is a beautiful city to walk around in, and there are some free independent galleries that are still able to thrive despite the pandemic.
Free time: Since most of my semester was spent online, I did not get to really know my
peers. With the pandemic, social events were highly limited. Thus, I spent most of my free time alone working on personal projects.
Travelling: Paris has a great commuting system that is very dependable. I would advise
students to get a Navigo pass, so as to avoid paying for tickets every time.
Host and home institution’s response to Covid-19, and the extent to which the virus (countermeasures) affected your mobility: RUG decided to withhold grants from students
who had gone into countries that had a negative travel advice before they’d gone on mobility. Although this wasn’t the case for me, my Erasmus grant was withheld from me for the duration of the semester due to a misunderstanding. Other Erasmus students and I wrote a collective letter to the offices in Groningen to clarify and discuss the decisions made by RUG regarding the grants. Thankfully, this issue was resolved and I have received my grant after the end of the semester. However this caused much stress on my side as I had planned my budget thinking I would have extra financial help. Paris 1’s initial response to Covid-19 was first to divide the classes into A and B groups to have online classes in weekly alternances in order to have less people present at a time at the university. However, as the pandemic worsened, all classes went online. I would argue that this had more positive than negative impacts: I felt much safer knowing I didn’t have to sit in closed spaces with hundreds of other students and take the subway as much. However, some professors recorded longer lectures
than usual because the absence of time restraints allowed them to. This felt frustrating at times, because it often meant sitting in front of a laptop for much longer than anticipated.
Other: I owe much of my successful semester to an online group chat with students in my
class. Everyone was super friendly and answered each other’s questions whenever needed. If it weren’t for them, I would probably have felt even more confused about classes and
administrative problems.
