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Spring 2021 #8March 15, 2021
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Study
- Luxembourg City Field Trips: ART 188 and HST 296
Engage
- Spotlight on Student-Faculty Council, Part 3
- Aperitivo!
Travel
- Free Public Transport Makes Travel a Breeze
- Having Lived vs. Having Been Somewhere: A Reflection
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| Luxembourg City Field Trips: ART 188 and HST 296
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by Hannah Sroka, MUDEC student
Sprint course field trips continued last week with visits to museums and a youth hostel!
Professor Claudine Bechet-Metz’s ART188 class concluded their field trips with a visit to The Family of Man exhibition in Clervaux. The Family of Man is a series of photographs taken by Edward Steichen, a Luxembourgish photographer who immigrated to the United States at a young age. The exhibition is presented as a photo essay, with the viewer walking through the cycle of life.
However, the photos are not grouped chronologically; instead, they present common themes or feelings such as joy, change, or death. Professor Bechet-Metz said that she chose to take students to The Family of Man because it was an excellent alternative to a trip abroad, as students could see photographs depicting life in different times and cultures. She also thought that it would be interesting for students to see the work of an artist who was both Luxembourgish and American.
The Family of Man is held in Clervaux Castle, so after walking through the exhibit, students had a bit of time to explore parts of Clervaux before getting on the bus and heading to their second destination: The Grand Duke Museum of Modern Art, also known as MUDAM.
At MUDAM, students were given a guided tour and learned about contemporary artists like William Kentridge. A lot of the exhibits are difficult to understand, but Professor Bechet-Metz believes it’s just part of “the challenge of contemporary art.” She believes it is a must-see for students, so it has always been part of the ART188 curriculum. It was also a great predecessor to the class’s final unit on modern art movements and allowed students to see contemporary art in person, and not just on a PowerPoint or in a textbook.
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Left to right: Students looking at two exhibits; a fountain filled with ink; and a tree with a shadow they can stand on
Meanwhile, Professor Elena Jackson Albarrán’s HST296 class spent the weekend at a youth hostel in Schengen. Students have spent the past few weeks studying Europe’s open borders and how it affects the integration process. The class visited the town of Schengen, which is where the treaty creating the Schengen Zone in 1985 was signed. The Schengen Zone includes a vast majority of countries in western and central Europe; travelers are allowed to pass through these countries freely.
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After arriving in Schengen, students walked to both Germany and France, where they saw parts of the Berlin Wall and a miniature Eiffel Tower.
When they returned to the hostel, the students took a trip back in time, creating a 1980s-esque social scene—they gave up their phones, took pictures with Polaroids, and created a mixtape! Unfortunately, cassette tapes were nowhere to be found, but Spotify was a good backup.
The story continues...
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Spotlight on Student-Faculty Council, Part 3
by Hannah Sroka, MUDEC student
The Student-Faculty Council (SFC) is a group of committed students (and faculty) who work to make our time at MUDEC more enjoyable. They plan events like a Château-wide game of word assassins, a chess tournament, and a Family Feud-style game night. They also work with faculty and other students to resolve issues relating to things like laundry and lunchtime. This week we meet our final two members: Angel Schlotterback and Ana Davis.
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Angel Schlotterback (Project Coordinator) is a sophomore from Oswego, Illinois. She is a human capital management and leadership major with minors in global health and entrepreneurship. In Oxford, she’s involved in Women in Business, Miami Business Consulting, Skydiving Club, and the Wilks Leadership Institute. She’s also a tour guide!
Her favorite place she’s visited so far is Interlaken, Switzerland, and her dream destination is Budapest, Hungary.
A fun fact about Angel is that she’s been to over 20 countries! She’s looking forward to making friends with MUDEC students and people from Europe.
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Ana Davis (Communications Chair) is a sophomore Diplomacy and Global Politics and International Studies double major from Kamnik, Slovenia. Back in Oxford, she’s the communications director for Miami's Office of Institutional Relations. She’s also involved in Miami's Model United Nations.
Her favorite place she’s visited so far is Strasbourg, France, and her dream destination is the Andalucia region in Spain.
A fun fact about Ana is that she loves to cook and try new foods. She’s excited to be able to sit down in a cafe in the springtime if things open up!
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by Megan Smith, MUDEC student
This year MUDEC students have quite the challenge with the current COVID-19 pandemic. With last minute flight cancellations, restaurant closures, and everything unexpected, they’ve handled the situation with creativity.
The Luxembourg lockdown has been extended until April 2, meaning all cafes, bars and restaurants will continue to offer only take away. Students are unfazed, as this has been the case since they arrived and because they’ve been making their own fun at home with after curfew aperitivo!
Respecting the COVID restrictions, of course, many have been gathering local foods from their travels and making meals, picnics, or even charcuterie boards. Now that the weather is warming up here at the Château we hope to see more of this, maybe even on the grounds. Grabbing different food and drinks from local restaurants has been a great alternative to indoor dining, and keeps MUDEC healthy.
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| Free Public Transport Makes Travel a Breeze
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by Megan Fogarty, MUDEC student
Spring 2021 MUDEC students are one of the first cohorts to experience Luxembourg’s free public transportation system, which has proved especially helpful during COVID.
Luxembourg became the first country in the world to offer nationwide free public transport for everyone on March 1st, 2020 (mobilite.lu). Luxembourg offers free buses, trains and trams. The only time citizens have to pay is when they are crossing country borders.;
“Luxembourg’s public transport is flexible and feels very safe” said Kenzie Trout, an IDS student currently interning in Luxembourg City, “It being free is such a relief”.
MUDEC and IDS students rely on public transit as many have to commute to school or their internship. IDS students live in university-owned apartments in Differdange but many have to commute into their city daily. MUDEC students live in varying close towns and cities and use the bus system to get to the Château.
“Even during COVID, the trains and buses have felt safe,” said Trout, “You can just hop on at your spot and not worry about buying tickets and interacting with more people.”
Students use the free Mobilite.lu app on their phones or computers to find public transit routes. Students can easily plug in their starting address and final destination to find a route. Students can use public transportation for much more than just their commute to school or internship.
“I can’t imagine not having free transportation,” said Trout, “This is so much less stressful. The app makes it easy as there is not language barrier or worry about purchasing tickets.”
Public transport is country-wide so many students have taken advantage of this to plan weekend trips into the city or even Clervaux, a popular destination in Northern Luxembourg. Not only can students use this system to get around Luxembourg, but they can use the free train to get into the city and then transfer to trains that will take them outside country borders for longer weekend trips.
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Having Lived vs. Having Been Somewhere: A Reflection
Note from Professor Elena Albarrán: This semester, students of HST 296 World History since 1945, have reflected on their own European travel in historical context, as they come to see themselves as agents of our own historical moment in 2021. Last week, students were asked to think about the multiple meanings of human mobility by pondering the differences between Being, Staying, Visiting, and Living in a place.
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by Katie Johnston, MUDEC Student
It feels kind of unreal that we've been in Luxembourg for just over a month now. In that month I have become comfortable with the everyday things that felt a little overwhelming at the beginning, like navigating Luxembourgish transportation where everything is in French, going to Auchan (one of the local grocery stores), and going to the post office.
I think that the longer I stay here, the more I have to look for "foreign" things, but the more rewarding they are when I find them. The cobblestoned streets no longer classify as the "reward;" they are simply a part of the landscape. Instead, it's the stumbling stones that I notice for the first time, even though I've walked over them a million times; and finally learning why the bus stops, the names of which I always took at face value, are named what they are, that gives me a little jolt and reminds me that I'm in a foreign country. All of that to say that I think to have really lived somewhere, you need to have found a routine and allow small details to be the ones that make you change your thinking or see something differently.
The story continues...
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Saturday, Sunday: Open variable hours; students, please check Canvas
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