I must say that I probably could count the number of days when I watched TV in the past three years or so. I certainly watch some shows online from time to time but my interactions with the boxed mechanism itself are very limited. My apartment in France, however, has a TV and me and my roommate Erin watch French news channels from time to time, and every single time one or several of Sciences Po faculty give their commentary on pressing political issues. This makes me realise over and over again the importance of the institution as a whole for the contemporary French politics.
As for my Professor, I can’t even pick a favorite one of mine as each one of them is a true expert in their field. I must say, however, that I probably continue being fascinated by Maxime Audient, my professor who teaches a course titled Competing for Influence: a comparison of soft power and public diplomacy models in world politics. During our very first class he greeted me with Russian “Privet!” then followed by the explanation that he is currently writing his PhD on the topic of Russian Soft Power and has lived in Russia for a while. Coming from the United States, where the community of exports in Russian politics is very small, nearly non-existent, I was pleasantly surprised to meet my professor and some other students in the same class who are learning Russian and have a genuine interest in not only Russian politics but culture as well. It is in this class where I have learned that the way Americans and Europeans (French in particular) view Russia is radically different and was able to enrich my knowledge of contemporary issues of Russia. Yes, I am learning about my own country during a study abroad in a French institution, and that fact saddens me in the way as it makes me realize that while I gained a very reach and hard to match cultural experiences at Northeastern, I must work hard to match my knowledge of Russian politics with my friends who chose to attend university in my home country… Better? Worse? Yes, just different.
