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Warren Bianchi, continued

courses included studies of EU foreign pol-icy, transitions of post-Soviet countries to market economies, EU relations with the Muslim world, and, of course, extensive German lessons. While many of my col-leagues abroad reveled in the ease of studying abroad, I was hard at work, never losing track of my academic commitments or devel-oping bad habits that would follow me back to the States. I am happy to say that I re-turned from my program with a deep under-standing of European political discourse and that what I learned abroad will forever sup-plement my academic endeavors.

I‟ve also returned with enduring friendships and memories. While abroad, one should never lose sight of the aspects of per-sonal development. In addition to becoming more proficient in German, I met many stu-dents from all over the country, and even the world, with whom I shared in the process of self-discovery. The students on my program were very bright and committed to the study of European politics. They offer a healthy diversity of perspectives and academic back-grounds as well confidants from a memora-ble, difficult, and rewarding semester.

S e e F o r Yo u r s e l f : Paris Fall Seminar ‘10 M i c h a e l K r a i n e s „ 1 2

I once thought that Study Abroad was just an excuse for college students to take a frivolous vacation to a foreign country. My semester in Paris taught me otherwise.

Professor Burns directed the pro-gram and taught two courses in political philosophy: one on the political thought of

Alexis de Tocqueville, and another on French Contemporary thinkers who, taking their bearings from Tocqueville and his friendly critique of liberal democracy, ad-dress the unique challenges posed to the modern nation-state by post-modernity. The courses were unlike any I had taken or could have taken at Skidmore. For our first paper we were asked to explain Toc-queville‟s argument on the effect of democ-racy on the fine arts. I read about how de-mocracy opens to the masses the market for art and transforms the artistic imagination of its citizens, how the constant restless activ-ity proper to democratic ages distracts from the pleasures of the imagination, and how democratic art no longer depicts “sentiments and ideas” but only “motions and sensations.” Walking through the hal-lowed hallways of the Louvre, we evaluated Tocqueville‟s arguments, and I experienced something of what Tocqueville must have felt when he studied art, the home de letters and student of the Enlightenment that he w a s . The Contemporary course pro-vided similarly unique opportunities. We met each of the authors whose books we read for the course, and were encouraged to Paris, continued page 10

G OVERNMENT MAJORS SHARE T HEIR STUDY

ABROAD EXPERIENCES

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