Please use this forum to share with your transatlantic partners ideas and suggestions about what topics you might want to illustrate. The goal is to have several groups of MIT and Paris II students deciding together on common topics to illustrate. Veuillez utiliser ce forum pour échanger avec vos partenaires transatlantiques vos idées et suggestions quant à des sujets à illustrer. Le but est de former plusieurs groupes d'étudiants de Paris II et du MIT qui décideront ensemble de ces sujets en vue de les illustrer.
Aparna 11/15/2004.19:30:36
"In class today, I had a suggestion to depict 'food' at MIT - what, where, and when students eat at MIT during the week. I thought that we could depict this by taking pictures of students and through surveys and polls. What does everyone else think about this?"
Evans 11/15/2004.23:21:52
"In the same class, I think it was Edgar who came up with the idea to represent what "working" means to us visually. Mostly taking pictures of people working in odd places, different situations, dormitories, actual jobs, etc. I like the idea, and I think the food idea is solid too. My guess is that French people would just die if they had to eat like we eat; not that they couldn't, but they sure wouldn't want to."
Jorge 11/16/2004.01:05:44
"An idea we came up with today in class expands more on what both Aparna and Evans have suggested, which is to show all the differences between an MITs student's life and that of one in Paris II - it has been discussed through the forums that our habits of studying and partying are different (which I agree should be shown), but it would be good if we could show as much as possible. For example, the places we live in, our classes and how they are conducted, what we do in our free time (when we have some, if at all) like working out, sports, etc... Another interesting idea that was offered were our cars - it had been mentioned in one of the forums that cars from France and the U.S. are quite different.... Any other interesting ideas?"
Eric 11/16/2004.01:59:03
"We discussed the idea of comparing the Boston metro (what we call the "T") with the metro in Paris. We could expand on topics such as who uses it, when it operates, how the cost compares, etc. Another idea we discussed was to compare our suburbs and the city with les banlieues et la ville in/around Paris. As we have seen, there are a few differences in how we view the suburbs versus how the French view them, so it might be neat to see these differences in pictures."
Pierre 11/16/2004.09:55:01
"sur le metro, je pense qu'une gallery peut être sympa à faire. Surtout que le métro parisien est plein de surprises. Je trouve cette idée de comparaison très sympa. Je m'y mets."
Lauren 11/16/2004.11:01:11
"I also like the idea of photographing in the metro...the only problem is that in Boston I think there is a law against taking pictures in T stations. maybe we should take pictures of places it isn't allowed to take pictures like Home Depot and Walmart...are there places that don't allow photography in France?"
David 11/16/2004.15:53:24
"what about cars? would anyone be interested in taking pictures of cars and also talking about the difference in traffic (speed limits, rules, etc.)?"
Marie 11/16/2004.21:14:36
"Hello - would any of the French students be interested in seeing what an American Thanksgiving is like? For example, the foods eaten, the decorations, the traditions, the commercial aspect? Let me know!"
Tufool 11/19/2004.02:06:59
"I also think that the metro is a great idea. The "T" here is really interesting, every T-stop has some sort of art. My friend and I had been planning, weeks ago, to go around and make take pictures of the different art in every single t-stop in Boston. Maybe i will do that. In Paris, is there some sort of "art" associated to the metro stations (musicians, posters, etc??)"
Adil 11/19/2004.11:17:48
"Ok my friends… Notre thème: ( write a proposal) Nous avons décidé avec Pierre (le libanais), Henri (le cambodgien), Pablo (l’argentin), Marie-Élisabeth (la fille du groupe) et moi (le marocain) de montrer les banlieues françaises. Description de notre thème : (descripe your theme. How you imagine it ?) Notre thème montrera la différence entre la banlieue parisienne chic (belles maisons, parc, bel appartement) et la banlieue parisienne choc (tour, bâtiment gris, voitures brûlées). On vous montrera la différence sociale entre d’un côté la petite bourgeoisie et d’un autre côté la classe moyenne. Nos photographies : (How you will photograph it ?) Nous espérons vous montrer la cadre des banlieues (architectures, maisons, bâtiments publics, marchés typiques propre aux deux types de banlieues), les personnes qui y vivent (différences ethniques, mode de vie, style vestimentaire), les types de loisirs (associations sportives et culturelles). Notre organisation de travail : (How you will divide the work ? Nous avons décidé de diviser notre travail. Marie-Elisabeth et moi, nous avons décidé de prendre le rôle des banlieusards chic (BCBG : bon chic bon genre) et Henri, Pierre et Pablo en banlieusards choc (racaille : voyous, tennis, survêtement, casquette à l’envers…) et d’aller sur le terrain pour prendre les photos. Où allons-nous ? Where will you go ? Banlieue chic : Versailles, Neuilly, St Germain en Laye… Banlieue choc : St Denis, la Courneuve, Créteil… Nous vous envoyons une carte pour localiser ces banlieues : http://www13.mappy.com/sidHT5k6bgZUi/Mn21w/CFGMA?poi_rr=0.5&csl=m1&fsl=m... Marie-Elisabeth, Pierre, Pablo, Henri, Adil"
Delphnie 11/19/2004.11:29:01
"Nous avons décidé de vous présenter la nourriture française. Nous commencerons par l'importance de la qualité de la nourriture pour les français. Nous partirons de nos dîners de famille, de fêtes, jusqu'à nos spécialités régionales. Ensuite nous vous éclairerons sur les spécificités de la restauration française (nous vous donnerons des notions sur les grands cuisiniers français et le prestige accordé à nos restaurants). Pour finir, nous vous expliquerons notre "bouffe" à la française et l'évolution de nos modes de consommation. Florence, Delphine, Gregory, Jeremy et Benoît."
S 11/21/2004.10:43:47
"Peter (Pierre Le françois), Pascalroux (Pascal Heritier), Mamy bammeuse (Ms Kurschat), Chti bibouche (Audrey Nicod), et bold (Vincent Fleuret) prenons le thème du métro. Nous allons décrire l'atmosphère du métro parisien après un petit historique : le charme de ses stations, son carrefour de culture, sa richesse historique, ses couleurs, et malheureusement sa pauvreté aussi. Un descriptif au plus juste de ses particularités."
Xiaojie 11/21/2004.11:43:29
"Adil's idea of taking pictures of the French suburbs is interesting. Would anybody be interested in depicting the 'inner city' in the U.S.? Or maybe it would be more effective to contrast the ghetto to, say Beacon Hill? The only problem is, I don't know if Boston really has an inner city. I think Evan's idea of photographing people at work would be more feasible. Why aren't the French students interested in that?"
Marie 11/21/2004.19:21:48
"I still like the idea of pictures of food....I won't be having a traditional Thanksgiving this year because I won't be going home...I'll probably eat with my brothers in Chinatown somewhere...but that'd be interesting. I'm not aware of an equivalent of Chinatown in France. And the other people in the group could photograph a traditional Thanksgiving... I can also look around in stores and photograph holiday decorations - Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc... I will be eating in different restaurants for most of this weekend, so perhaps I can take pictures of different restaurants as well. And maybe somehow explain ZAGAT ratings? Who else is interested in this?"
Brian 11/21/2004.22:33:23
"Marie - I'm game - There's a group of french students who want to show french food - I'll be going home for your typical thanksgiving, I'd be happy to photograph that, as well as whatever other meals I may consume in the interim :)"
jeremy 11/23/2004.08:48:11
"Tu as raison Brian, notre groupe s'occupe du thème sur la nourriture française. Et pour répondre à ta question Marie, nous avons effectivement un 'Chinatown' à Paris. (pas très loin de là où nous vous écrivons d'ailleurs...) Alors ce n'était pas vraiment sur cette base que nous étions partis mais nous pouvons essayer de d'intégrer ce thème dans notre travail. It must be interesting ! Ainsi d'un autre coté, nous vous exposerons également les traditions française and 'our French Restaurants'. What do you think about that ? Sinon j'aurais une question pour Marie : qu'entends tu par "zagat ratings" ?"
Jorge 11/23/2004.17:01:54
"hello all - I'm also interested in doing the food project. No one has talked about what students at MIT eat - I will be taking pictures of some of the restaurants/cafeterias at MIT..."
rubinopablo 11/26/2004.05:12:08
"Hello guys, have nice hollidays ! nous allons travailler pour vous :) Avez vous des éxamens en Français?"
Edgar 11/28/2004.15:05:53
"To Pablo: yes, we do have an exam in French. It will be Tuesday. Wish us luck! Anyway, I am here to present a proposal of a theme that myself, Evans Boney (basketball player), Jenny Hu (the sailor), and (Andres?) came up with. It has to do with what Evans wrote in message #2 of this forum: to illustrate the differences between the notion of "work" for an MIT student and the same notion for a student of Paris II. Following Adil's (rather formal) proposal, here it is: Our theme: the daily academic life of an MIT student What our theme is supposed to show: Our theme will show how work relates to the daily life of an MIT student. In particular, we plan to show the correlation between time, place, and content: that is, when, where, and what MIT students are studying. How we plan to show this visually: We will take pictures of many things. We will take pictures of, for example, a student waking up, and take a picture of a clock to show at what time they wake up. Also, we will take pictures of different places where MIT students study: the library, their dormitories, in classrooms, labs, etc. We will take pictures of people sleeping in odd places in order to show how MIT students cope with stress and fatigue. We will take pictures of sample class schedules, among other things. How will we divide the work: we haven't discussed this fully yet, but we plan to do much of the work together. It is nice that Jenny has a camera (since the others I believe don't). Why we think this project is interesting: obviously, we are all students, and we would love to show the students of Paris II how we schoolwork affects our daily lives here. Moreover, we want to see the Paris II side of things, and we want to see what interesting differences come up. Thanks! -Edgar, Evans, Jenny, and Andres"
Xiaojie 11/28/2004.22:31:29
"Edgar's idea sounds really cool. Why aren't the French students interested? Is it because you do not live at school, so students tend to study at home? Do you have a "student center," or place on campus where students go to study?"
Brian 11/29/2004.22:30:27
"I can answer the question on Zagat ratings, Jeremy. Basically, Zagat is a company that releases annual ratings on many things - but they are most well known for their restaurant ratings. (They also rate hotels, shopping centers, things like that. See http://www.zagat.com) Most people who are new to a city in America can purchase the appropriate Zagat guide in order to get an idea of where the good restaurants are. Many restaurants that have received favorable ratings also post this information in their doors or windows to attract customers. It used to be free to look at these ratings online, but I don't think that it is anymore. As such, I haven't looked at a rating in some time. Plus - part of the fun is experiencing a restaurant for yourself, is it not? I've placed some photos on the site for our traditional meals section. Mine are of our recent Thanksgiving holiday. I know there aren't really any big holidays over there but I think we're focusing on how Americans celebrate holidays with food, but the photos that are up on your side look appetizing..."