This summer, 450 students from 50 countries came to the Sorbonne
When Sorbonne students, scholars and professors go on summer vacation, the usually bustling Latin Quarter empties out. But on these hot July days, the prestigious University of Paris is unusually crowded. 450 students from 50 countries have come to the French capital for knowledge.
As RFI notes, this type of tourism, popular in the UK, has only recently appeared in France. Every year, the number of people wanting to attend a week-long course at the Sorbonne increases. Tourists are offered lectures on various topics, for example, about the classics of French literature or French identity, as well as modernism and postmodernism.
One member of the group, 30-year-old auctioneer Stephanie from Amsterdam, told the newspaper Libération that she goes to a university somewhere in the world every year. "Last year I took art history courses at New York University," says the tourist, who has already attended similar courses at Oxford, Cambridge, and the Courtauld Institute of Art.
Sorbonne professor Catherine Elber says the French university created this program for foreign tourists, inspired by British summer schools. Across the Channel, these courses have become a good source of income for higher education institutions. 15 hours of courses lasting two weeks and accommodation in a single room on the Oxford campus costs 5,117 euros. At the Sorbonne, a week-long course without accommodation costs 450 euros. However, some students call the training excessively expensive and complain that the level of rigor is not very high. Cecilia, who came from Argentina to study French at the Sorbonne summer courses, told Libération about this in an interview.
65-year-old Hillary from Nottingham got the course at the French university for half price. This Englishwoman comes to Paris regularly and says she is simply in love with the Sorbonne, where she will definitely return again, despite the atmosphere in the French capital, which the retiree calls "revolutionary." At least, that was the impression she got back in December, when the British tourist found herself in Paris at the height of the "yellow vests" movement.
Although foreign students are drawn to the Sorbonne precisely by the protest spirit of May 1968, which, in their opinion, still lingers here. They also enjoy studying within the walls of an institution where Honoré de Balzac, Marie Curie, and other outstanding figures once gained knowledge. The French university says that the philosophy course is the most popular among foreigners. And for those who cannot afford to study at the Sorbonne, the university's professors advise turning to books, which can be read without sitting on the benches of the Parisian university.
When Catherine Elber asked the student-tourists who had read Marcel Proust's work "In Search of Lost Time," no one in the amphitheater raised a hand. The professor emphasizes that the great work of the French modernist is considered difficult to read, but it is worth overcoming all difficulties.