Rapport Hebdomadaire- Weeks 7 & 8

Keeping a weekly update has been more challenging than I expected. When you live somewhere for a certain period of time, especially a place as comfortable as Paris, it is easy to begin to set into a busy routine. You find yourself easily filling your days with new friends, challenging professional problems and mundane chores like laundry (note: chores don't go away just because you are living in a foreign country!)

I also am questioning what the best format is to record all these memories. Maybe weekly is excessive - it's a little narcissistic to think my life is that exciting! So with that in mind, here is a brief summary of my past couple weeks...

Right after finals, I ran away to Mont Saint Michel (full blog here) to erase from my mind the exhaustion and stress from taking so many intense exams in a short period of time. While weekend getaways are always a whirlwind, for me it is the perfect reset button: New place. New energy. New start.

Strategic Brainstorm...One of my favorite things to do!

I returned to school that following Monday and began my Spring Semester, this time at the IESA campus. As the Arts and Cultural Management is a dual-degree between two programs (Paris School of Business and IESA), where upon graduation I will get two degrees, I am required to take classes in both institutions. I am also required to complete one dissertation AND one capstone project (along with exit exams) to meet all the requirements. This semester I launched not only into my classes, but also the beginning phases of these projects. 

Students getting to meet with mediation and communication team at CREDAC

Unlike in my undergrad experience, you do not have a consistent schedule week to week or even day to day with the Arts & Cultural Management program. The rational behind this ranges from the professor's outside commitments to room availability. By the end of the semester in May, I will have completed over 10 classes. You may be wondering: "How is this possible?"... In part because the hours of work have not lightened from January. I am still on campus for 10-12 hours a day! Current classes I have taken include: Cultural Economics, Event Management, Theater Production, Press Relations, Organizing Film Festivals and Analysis of the Media. It's a huge breathe of subjects - with a diverse team of professors. Within these classes we will be taking many of the foundational knowledge we learned in the first semester in our strategy courses, and applying it to the arts sector.

Another key component of these classes has been the number of site visits provided as part of the courses. Students are consistently our of the classroom and meeting with professionals in local arts organizations or visiting international artists. Site visits have ranged from the contemporary work of CREDAC to large institutions like Palais de Tokyo and Philharmonie de Paris. 

I am excited to embark on this next segment of my education and look forward to sharing it with you all!