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Living the European idea: Bergische Uni invites you to France Days
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Whether you have a general interest in France or Franco-German relations, want to discuss current European topics or are wondering whether studying French is the right thing for you - the French Days from 6 to 8 May at the University of Wuppertal are the place to go! Here you will find everything you need to know about what the university itself has to offer in relation to France and French, as well as the opportunity to talk about current social and political topics relating to France and Europe in many different formats.
Compact: The French Days at the BUW
The programme flyer (pdf download, in German) provides an overview of all the events on offer.
Information, programme and contacts are also available on the French Days website.
During the French Days, the Studierendenwerk Wuppertal offers French dishes in the cafeteria and the university pub.
EU and French flags will help with orientation: For all those who are not yet familiar with the campus, the meeting point is always 15 minutes before the start of each programme item at the flagpoles on Gaußstraße next to the main entrance (at the stairs towards the central library).
No language skills are required to take part in the programmes; translation into German will be provided where necessary.
Excerpts from the programme (for all information see "Compact")
Tuesday, 6 May
- It starts on Tuesday at 10.15 am with the opportunity to get a taste of studying French at the University of Wuppertal. The exact location and all other taster programmes during the week are listed on the event website.
- On the same day, from 4 to 5.30 pm, the online series "What moves France" celebrates an anniversary: the 20th episode features Dr Elise Julien from the University of Lille, a former guest lecturer at the BUW. Together with renowned guests from the Franco-German university cosmos, she will take a look at the higher education system and higher education policy in France. Anyone wishing to attend can register via the website of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, which supports the event series as a cooperation partner.
- On Tuesday evening , students of the binational degree programme Applied Cultural and Economic Studies (AKWi) invite you to the opening of a photo exhibition followed by a French get-together in the university pub from 6 pm. Under the title "From the Wupper to the Doubs: German-French views of Besançon", they will be presenting impressions they captured during their recent stay in France in the university pub.
Wednesday, 7 May
- Wednesday gets off to a creative start: Micaël is one of the most sought-after French press illustrators and will be a guest at the university pub from 10 am to 12 noon. He works for newspapers and magazines such as Le Monde and La Croix L'hebdo. He regularly publishes his graphic novels about everyday life in France in well-known series. Together with Micaël, participants will create their own drawings on Franco-German relations, current political issues and the European vision. A basic knowledge of French is an advantage, but not necessary; translation is possible.
- The creative and political programme continues in the afternoon from 3 to 5 pm with photographer Rémi Dupont in the university library. He is one of the up-and-coming talents on the Parisian cultural scene. In his work, he contrasts dreamy views of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the artists' neighbourhood of Montmartre with socially critical views of problems in the French capital such as the housing shortage, the risk of poverty and police violence. After a guided tour of the exhibition "Paris. Entre rêve et réalité" (Paris: Between Dream and Reality), Rémi Dupont will discuss his visual exploration of social challenges with Dr Kolja Lindner (Paris/Wuppertal, Maurice Halbwachs Visiting Professor) and PD Dr Nikola Tietze (Paris/Berlin).
- In the evening, 6 to 8 pm, those responsible for the Franco-German degree programmes "Applied Cultural and Economic Studies" (AKWi, Bachelor) and "Applied Franco-German Studies: Culture, Economy and Sustainability" (AKWiNa, Master) invite you to a ceremony in the premises of the Kirche an der Uni (Gaußstraße 4, Wuppertal), during which the alumni network "AKWiLumni" will be ceremoniously opened.
Thursday, 8 May
- At the Market of Opportunities on Thursday - 11 am to 3 pm in the library courtyard - the whole range of Franco-German activities at the BUW will be on display at various information stands. The Franco-German Kindergarten from Wuppertal will also be a guest. Interested parties can borrow French-language media from the Bibliobus, which will be on site with a crêpes trolley; UniSport invites you to join in with a "Tour de France" and other games and sports activities.
- From 4 to 5 pm, staff from the music education department will be playing a chamber music concert in the music hall (Building M, Level 09, Room 01) with pieces by the French composer Gabriel Fauré.
- This will be followed by a film evening on the premises of the Kirche an der Uni (Gaußstraße 4, Wuppertal) from 6 pm to 8 pm about the Franco-German broadcaster ARTE: How does ARTE combine knowledge, art and society? What influence does the channel have on the perception and categorisation of current political events in France, Germany and Europe? And how does this public broadcaster position itself in times of streaming and fake news?
Episodes of the most successful ARTE short formats such as "ARTE Journal" and "Karambolage" will be shown. Jeanette Süß (Comité d'études des relations franco-allemandes, Paris), Prof Erica von Moeller (Audiovisual Media Design, University of Wuppertal), Anja Waltereit (ARTE, Strasbourg) and Wuppertal students will then discuss the importance of this multilingual and cosmopolitan channel at the cutting edge. Anyone interested is invited to watch and join in the discussion. - The evening and the French Days will end with a concert by the band "Talmates" . They will be playing in the university pub from 8.30 pm .
Background: Daring more Europe
As part of its internationalisation strategy, the University of Wuppertal has steadily expanded its focus on France through Franco-German degree courses, visiting professorships and transnational projects. The France Days take place during the nationwide Europe Weeks in May. They strengthen the Franco-German idea of Europe under the motto "Daring more Europe". And they invite all interested parties to come together to discuss Franco-German relations as well as Europe.
The France Days are supported by the state initiative Europa-Schecks of the Minister for Federal, European, International Affairs and Media and Head of the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia and are organised in cooperation with numerous partners.
