Students and faculty have spent
much of the last week analyzing the presidential election and wondering about
the future. On Monday morning, Union students had a chance to hear what their
counterparts in France
thought, thanks to a trans-Atlantic teleconference dubbed the “French
Connection.”
“I thought it was a fascinating
experience, some of the most intellectual conversation I've had,” said Leigh
Ann Holterman '07, a double major in psychology and French who is planning to
study in Renne. “You don't often get a chance to hear another side of the world
view.”
The brainchild of Prof. Andy
Feffer, the 80-minute session connected a dozen Union students with 18 French
peers at the Universite de Haute Bretagne in Rennes, France.
Union's
students came mostly from Feffer's “History of the 60's” course and from Prof.
Michelle Chilcoat's French literature class. The French students were in
English and American studies programs. Most students on both sides were Kerry
supporters. The exchange, in English, covered other topics including the
economy, the war in Iraq,
energy consumption, religion and politics, and the balance of world power.
The session was introduced by
Keith Martin, a professor at Rennes
and a coordinator of the Union-Rennes exchange, who showed several headlines
from French tabloids lamenting the re-election of George W. Bush.
The French students began the conversation,
most expressing disappointment over the election results. “I don't understand
how you could have elected him for four more years,” one French student said.
Another French student asked whether the nation's support for Bush was
reflective of the youth vote.
It was not, a Union student
replied, adding “our generation did not turn out the vote for Kerry.” Another
Union student said, “The Republicans worked just as hard for support.”
Next, the conversation turned to
politics and religion, a French student asking, “How does Bush, being a
religious man, make him a good [political leader]?” A Union student responded
that being a religious person does not make Bush a leader, but he has succeeded
in making political issues into religious ones that appeal to a broad part of
the electorate.
On the economy, a French student
asked if Americans believe that political leaders affect the economy: “Did Bush
simply not have economic trends in his favor?” Some Union students answered
that presidents inherit economic conditions from their predecessors. Some
argued that market forces largely dictate the economy. One student said that
while a war can give a boost, Bush lost the opportunity to reinvigorate the
economy by giving contracts to only one company, Haliburton.
Students in France said
they felt the balance of power had tipped too far in one direction. “Be
afraid,” quipped a Union student. “Be very afraid.”
Students on both sides agreed
about the importance of involvement in the political process and said the
election and teleconference had heightened their awareness. “I'm more
interested in politics after this election and it makes me want to see if I can
change the system as a whole,” a Union student said.
A Union computer science major,
citing the problem of electronic voting fraud, said “Someday, I can have an
impact on that. I've been politicized in that way.”
“Previous to this year, I'd never been very interested in
politics,” said Katie Crosby '07. “However, I feel a new excitement and
eagerness to learn about it and contribute. I've written three times on weblog
and I've gotten [a French student's] email address to ask him some questions.”
One student said he was taken with
the impact the U.S.
election seemed to have on the French. “Some [French students] felt that they
had a large stake in this election, that it would influence them as much as the
average American,” said Charles George '05.
Feffer said the idea for the
teleconference was developed about four years ago with help from Doug Klein,
director of the Center for Converging Technology, and support from the Keck
Foundation. Other contributors to the project include Charles Batson, assistant
professor of French; Bob Balmer, dean of engineering; and Ann Longwell,
professor of English on the University
of Rennes Law Faculty.
Feffer sees the teleconference as
a way to connect students from different perspectives, and he is considering
using the teleconferences as part of a bigger project in Franco-American
studies. This kind of trans-Atlantic communication “happens a lot with
[professional] conferences, but not much with classes,” he said.
“This has a lot of potential,” Feffer said,
acknowledging the challenge of fitting it into teaching plans. “What we're
aiming for is to connect once a year an American studies class with French
students.”