Experience in the Institute of Political Studies of Paris, France by Beatrix

How is the Institute of Political Studies of Paris in general?

It is, in my opinion, the institution of higher education that, in France, has opened up to a new social reality and hasn't hesitated either to open itself to the world. This openness makes it, in my opinion, a place that fosters thinking, even if the subjects that are taught there are sometimes a bit arid. I still keep in contact with the students who chose this establishment although I myself finished my studies there.... forty years ago.

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How are the classrooms?

It is an immense privilege to be able to study in the heart of Paris in a context that retains an architecture, perhaps a little narrow now, but which is relaxing and I will even say reassuring.

And the professors?

High quality, with an openness that does them honor.

Is it easy to succeed at the Institute of Political Studies of Paris?

In general, we succeed if we truly find and choose our path. I think that students who don't succeed are simply out of place. But it's not really bad if you realize it in time, there are now many opportunities for students who have passed the competition without knowing where they set their foot!

Does the University organize activities? If so, how are they?

It isn't possible for me to answer this question, I am too far from the University now to be really concerned by this aspect of the studies.

Do you think the classes are good?

Always!

Do you have anecdotes that you want to tell?

A meeting with Hélène Carrère d'Encausse, that I didn't know, in order to attend a seminar on the USSR. I was petrified, I returned from a 36-month stay in the land of the soviets and I was completely disconnected from Western reality. I was expecting to be received by an old teacher, rude and malicious (I was in jeans and dust cover).

I was greeted by a woman of great femininity, with a look of an intelligence that wasn't formidable and that, in a few sentences, suddenly seemed "younger" than me. I felt that she had a great mastery of the subject and that she didn't recruit trained monkeys. We soon laughed together!