Mes Etudes

So I have been doing a lot of very interesting school work lately and thought I would share that for a change:)

In my Muslim Presence in Europe class, we had a discussion/debate on the headscarf law in France. Similar to Turkey's, since 2004 France has outlawed the wearing of ostentatious religious symbols in public schools. France has a strong tradition of "laicité" (secularism) and also a history of conflicts between "la Republique" and integrating Muslims. I didn't necessarily take a side on the debate, but I do have an opinion on the law. It seems to me that the problems France has with integration and the racism Muslims experience won't be solved by making little girls take off their scarves. Obviously in some cases, these girls were pressured into wearing the scarves by authoritative male figures...but for the most part they chose to wear them themselves. As a sign of piety and modesty. Those in charge of creating the law, members of the Stasi Commission surprisingly never actually interviewed a Muslim schoolgirl.

I can understand the state's feeling that SOMETHING needed to be done. There was an increase in violence in the "cités" (poor urban towns surrounding big cities where most minorities live) and teachers felt their authority was being undermined by the girls (in gym class where they refused to participate). I also agree that France has major problems assimilating its minorities into French culture. There is an idea of what it means to be French and most times that includes being white. Colonialism has lead to big societal problems and all of these things should be addressed by the government. I read the book, "Why the French Don't Like Headscarves" and it explained that many women viewed the wearing of the "voile" or "foullard" as a hostile act. It also noted the girls explained their choice to wear the scarf as a result of being born and raised in France. They said la Republique provided them with institutions and freedom to learn Arabic more about Islam. Interesting also is the fact that most first-generation immigrant women do not wear the scarves, au contraire, their daughters and grand-daughters who were born in France and rose through the public school system do.

All in all, I find the subject very interesting and was really excited to learn so much about it.

In my Art-History class I gave a presentation on Gertrude and her brother Leo Stein and their contribution to the works and lives of Picasso and Matisse. It was cool because Gertrude and Leo after Picasso's first cubist masterpiece, "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," were so divided on their views of Cubism, separated their art collection and Leo moved out. Also, it was interesting to compare Gertrude's writing at the time she was so close to Picasso with his painting. They both had Cubist collage styles!

And in my French conversation class I read my first full French novel, "Bonjour Tristesse" by Francoise Sagan! I gave a 30 minute presentation (en francais!) over the novel and the author's life. Sagan failed out of the Sorbonne after her first year and that summer wrote the novel! She was only 18 and the English version made the New York Time's Bestseller list! The book was really good but sad (hence the title which translates into "Hello Sadness").