Back to School

It was good to turn my brain back on this week. My classes seem like they are going to be excellent at Vesalius. The professors and atmosphere remind me a lot of the Academy. There are only 300 students and all the professors seem to take a vested interest in their student. Plus all of them have been so energetic to teach us and push us to do well. I’m going to be writing so much academically this semester! Every class has an extensive research term paper and a final exam. Plus, researching here is going to be different. The school library has a okay selection of English language books, but I’m also expected to search at the French University and at the Royal library. I’ve worked out my final schedule so I’m taking…..


Comparative States and Institutions – a pretty basic political science course, that SLU somehow skips over. It’s going to help me understand the European social and political systems much better.

Dilemmas of European Integration – This is a three hour night course, and I feel unprepared for it. EU politics are not very standard in SLU’s political science department. The same professor teaches both my politics classes. She seems pretty brilliant and EU integration is her specialty. Plus, she gave a brief introduction of herself and from what I can tell she totally came out of US intellectual counter culture in the 60s. She moved to Sweden and then Belgium. She also told us she worked on the McGovern campaign (which I need to interview her about when I get to know her better).

The Problem of Free Will – This is a wild card philosophy course, but I’m excited to be in a seminar with third years at V-Co. I was a little bit intimidated in class today and didn’t participate. It’s going to be incredibly thought provoking. I also have a feeling there is going to be a lot of comparison of social responsibility in the US vs. Europe.

History of Conflict since 1914 – A history class, but will use a lot of IR and political science. The professor is a New Yorker and I love his energy and accent. His lecture style reminds me a little of Joe Davis, which means we should all be on our toes. I’m still throwing around ideas for what my term paper should be about. He wants us to have ideas by next week. Any post- WWII conflict. It’s hard for me to brainstorm when there are so many.

Art History 108 – I have this class for the first time tomorrow. But, I’ve heard the prof is a curator at a Art Museum in Brussels.