My first Byline, from Paris

If enrollment in the Paris Field Study and Internship Program is any indication, future journalists are also training as global citizens. IFE’s response to this trend: while perfecting French and figuring out France, why not also work in one’s future field? Le Monde, Reuters TV News, Marie-Claire Magazine, the media center of the Ministry of the Interior, these are some of the organizations US journalism students have used not only to hone their trade but also to expand their view of the world. Leona, at the time a student at the renowned Medill School of Journalism, went to work two years ago at Reuters TV where she was able to "go out regularly in the field to film and write stories" and in the process "learned tons!". After returning to finish her degree she came back to France to work first for BusinessWeek and then as a stringer for France 24 TV and TéléLibre.fr, an internet-based network of (ferociously) independent TV journalists. Upholding IFE’s reputation more than honorably, Leona’s fine work (see it here) has opened the door for another student – by chance also from Medill – who will be an intern with TéléLibre.fr this Fall.

In one of the clearest examples of global-mindedness, Mirabelle, a student of languages and media, will this Fall take her zeal for cross-cultural breadth to Reporters Without Borders, where she will participate in the work of this journalists’ NGO in favor of international press freedom. Also this Fall, Maki, previously a journalism intern in Washington and Manilla, will represent IFE at Reuters, where she will surely "learn tons".

A City’s Footprint

Environmental Studies majors who lack French skills must surely be green – this time with envy – at what their French-speaking classmates are able to get into in France, through IFE’s Field Study and Internship programs. As the collective sense of urgency on ecological questions grows, from Obama’s election or France’s General Assizes on the Environment to the Copenhagen summit, it is reflected in the concerns of IFE’s students. Increasing numbers of ecologists and sustainable developers come to Paris or Strasbourg to work on these important questions.

If an earlier form of environmental mindedness in France was the shocked realization that while plants are green, agriculture is most often not (with IFE ecologists involved in agri-pollution issues), current preoccupations include sustainable living through urban alternatives, and IFE students are present on this front as well. Tabitha joined the strategic planning office for energy and climate of the French Ministry for Ecology, where she contributed to a study of renewable energy in urban areas. Obviously a hot topic; Cathy, working at the Paris Studio for Urban Planning and Change, put her economics and urban studies to work analyzing the cost-benefit of fiscal and other public incentives to increase the energy performance of Paris dwellings, using a unique base of detailed thermographic data for all of Paris, street-by-street. (In a follow-up experience, she worked on renewing neglected urban areas using sustainable principles for a project sponsored by the Ministry of Ecology’s office for urban and regional planning.)

Ariel took a different, more literal approach to the greening of cities by working with an Inter-disciplinary collective for urban development and social architecture ("Atelier d’Architecture Autogérée) who specialize in developing "eco-responsible" neighborhoods often structured around shared vegetable gardens, cooperative greenspaces and the like, one of Ariel’s passionate interests. Her work focused on a community garden in east Paris which received special recognition under the prestigious "European Prize for Urban Public Space".

A sure sign of greener times, Laura was asked by the Commercial Services department of the US Embassy to produce market studies for green industries in France, in order to meet new and increasing demand for this information by foreign direct investors. France, recently commended in two international reports for its EU-leading performance in greenhouse gas reduction, is a thriving place for environmental policy students of all shades, with possible placements – besides government ministries – in think tanks, not-for-profits, urban planning outfits, NGO’s, or public agencies such as the newly created national Agency for the Environment and Energy Conservation.

Update from Lima: Street-level media with High-Schoolers

In a previous issue of this letter, we reported on the post-IFE projects of "Frances K" (Frances Kvietok, IFE Spring 09, Swarthmore College ’10), focused on minority education in Peru. With her BA in hand, she is back at it, this time in the Lima metropolitan area, working with a group of which she is one of the founders: Documenta.pe!, "a group of young people interested in expanding the use of media within communities that have not had acces to this right". This summer, "guided by a belief in the democratization of media as a medium of expression and social justice", the group spent June and July working with secondary school students from the Juan Valer Sandoval public school of Villa Maria del Triunfo, in the outskirts of Lima.

The group ran workshops involving the creation of stories, film production and editing. "We also ran workshops for teachers interested in creatively incorporating media production into their classrooms." Interested readers of this letter can follow the workshops and view the films and documentaries produced in the group’s blog: http://documentape.blogspot.com/.

Begun by Peruvian, Ecuadorian and American students in the United States, documenta.pe!, which now includes university students from Lima as well, has launched an appeal for volunteers: "The school where we work is now equipped with cameras and editing software. Currently we are looking for volunteers to continue the second workshop in Juan Valer Sandoval, as well as summer workshops." Those interested need not have film background, but some experience with urban youth wouldn’t hurt. (Contact: documenta.pe@gmail.com).

An American on Board (IFE’S Board)

IFE is proud and pleased to announce that Lisa Gasbarrone, Professor of French at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, as well as Director of International Studies at F&M, has agreed to serve as member of IFE’s Conseil d’Administration or Board of Directors. As a not-for-profit association under French law, IFE is required to operate with a board of directors and has chosen to make an asset of this necessity by constituting a college of professors and practitioners who are committed to IFE’s core mission. Current board chair is Stéphane Courtois, well-known contemporary historian (senior scientist at CNRS), and members include Pascal Delisle, economics professor and cultural attaché to the French Embassy in WDC; Isabelle Denise, Director of Legal Services at the Human Rights League (LDH); Gilles Ferragu, professor of history at the University of Paris Nanterre; Lucie Fougeron, member of the think tank La Fondation pour l’Innovation Politique; Rachel Lauthelier-Mourrier, professor of literature at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris; Stanislas Maillard, journalist at the Ministry of Education; Jessica Monsell, legal translator and former student of IFE’s MA program; and Lindsay Turlan, also an IFE MA graduate and Commissioner at the French-American Foundation.

Professor Gasbarrone is the first American academic to join the board, and brings to IFE not only a thorough knowledge of its programs but more importantly a wealth of experience in international education. Lisa is serving her second stint as F&M’s director of international studies, designing and leading seminars in this field, and has long been a fervent advocate of study abroad. Her own academic background includes a year of study at Paris’ prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure between an MA and PhD from Princeton University. She brings valuable breadth as well, with research interests in narrative, folktales and fairy tales in French literature, French literature more generally with a special focus on Victor Hugo, the history and literature of Quebec, and the expression of sacred space in both French and Quebeçois literature. Lisa has also served as chair of the Women’s Studies Department at Franklin & Marshall. IFE warmly welcomes Lisa on board!