Ok. I did find a pdf with all the information about who is teaching the courses, plus course descriptions, on the website after my advisor sent me the link…
did find
Sorbonne Registration
I just wanted to write down some thoughts as I begin course registration in Paris because I’m very excited and don’t want to forget the new awarenesses I’m having. I admit that during the summer, I was nervous because the French have a different system; while everything is very organized, we are expected to go to certain websites and obtain all the information from them ourselves, whereas in the US, we are generally sent packages of paper information once accepted to the school. At first, the digital-only communication was mysterious to me, as it seemed to require an inordinate amount of telepathy that I wasn’t sure I possessed. But then I realized all the information was surprisingly easy to reach. I think my initial reaction came from the way that these websites operate through chains of links that at first would appear very multi-directional, as with any typical website, but are in fact quite linear. (The application process was this way, as well). Therefore, while the information is in fact very accessible and orderly, my first responses tended to be, “Wow, how did I get to this page? And how would I go back to the previous page if I needed to? or maybe I don’t need to?”
Another interesting thing is that we are contacted in a more individualized way by a registration administrator at the beginning of the process so that it almost feels like we have a personal assistant who can answer our questions while we are completing tasks. And the administrator can do things like add a new section to our online module if we request to upload an additional document. So not only does the communication feel personalized, the process can also involve personalized website restructuring and rebuilding. I found that very interesting and futuristic, while I still felt a little lonely at times because the part of me that was used to receiving paper letters wondered if anyone had forgotten about me (especially when I read very late into the process, at the end of a series of linearly-connected links, that I had probably missed a department introduction in early September!) All of these reactions put together are very paradoxical, but I suppose every experience abroad involves paradoxes of the sort.
Overall, the French system is definitely very resourceful, involves less paper waste, and requires what feels like a more tangible amount of faith and unity…
I’ve found that there are many good courses offered for the first semester (the image above shows only the first of about five large sections of choices). I am currently torn between choosing 19th-20th century related classes, as that’s my focus, and Renaissance-related classes, which I long for as foundation. (Being torn is an understatement, really. I’m all too aware of how short the two years here are going to be, which is fairly unusual as a reaction for me, and makes me wonder if I might want to find a way to stay longer). In any case, I think I’m going to try to do both classes I’m considering. Crossing fingers everything will work out fine. So far so good. Deep breath.
my 2012-2021 blog
I’ve been rereading posts from the blog I wrote in from 2012-2021, when I spelled my pen name Sulyn Zan. I started this blog primarily to help myself get over being shy or insecure about my writing; it’s actually strange to me now how seriously I took that part of myself before this period of time began. It’s as if my writing and my voice somehow represented my entire self-worth, and I was terrified that if I shared these with people, I might be proven insubstantial or incapable. Therefore, I never shared any of the writing that I considered to be a *real* effort at writing in this blog, except perhaps my literary analysis. I felt it more expedient to accept my more spontaneous voice, and to test whether or not that in itself had value. It worked, as this was the voice I used to hobnob with Stephen Colbert’s writing team and a number of other people in film/TV/politics/books/music/journalism and other fields, on Twitter. Today I have no fear of famous, well-established people, of what they think of me. I can be dull or simplistic if I want to be because I have already proven to myself and others that I am not (not usually, or at least not always!) My flaws retain the portion of me justly allotted, and that is that. The flip side is that some of the writing done in this voice may be more appealing than that which I’ve done as a “concerted” effort in private. But I’m still excited to submit more of my formal writing to literary magazines soon…
Incidentally, the very final blog – the one that comes up as soon as you click on this link – is very off-the-cuff and not my best writing. The first of the “Breakfast Guy” blogs, however, is a better effort, not least of all because I was so inspired when first arriving in Athens.
Athens (a poem)
Sorbonne
I’ve been accepted to Sorbonne University, Paris IV, for an MA in French Literature. Very excited.
This is propelling me to study 5-6 pages of Flaubert a day. The accumulation in vocabulary is making a difference already, and reading Flaubert is distinctly pleasurable for me, even compared to reading Camus. And Bergson fulfills the side of me that enjoys neuroatypical rhythms and volumes of language…
The Meadow
My student Eileen wrote this story last year when she was in sixth grade. It went up on “Stone Soup” today. I’d mentioned that just after she wrote this, I was in London and saw a fox from my balcony. Prophecy! Here’s an excerpt – please read all of it at https://stonesoup.com.
Acceptance to French Literature Programs
It’s been a long and detail-oriented past couple of years getting back into French, but I passed my C1 exam at the French Institute in December just a week or two after I returned from Athens (it was cutting it close, but I made it!), and then I got accepted to four French Literature Master’s programs: three at the Nouvelle Sorbonne of Sorbonne University, and one at Columbia University.
I’m still waiting to hear from Paris IV Sorbonne University, whose professors have given me some inspiring feedback on my research proposal, and where I hope to be accepted…
Regardless, the likelihood is that I will be studying Henri Bergson and Flaubert in French this autumn, thus merging my previous studies of cinema and literature. Excited, especially because I also expect that the script I’ve been working on for many years now will be completed before then.
self-portrait in car, august 22, 2020
Brighton Fourth
Very happy that my NYU film mentor, who I interviewed for “Cineaste Magazine” in 2020, recently won an award for Best Screenplay in an International Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival for “Brighton Fourth,” and that the film, directed by my classmate Levan Koguashivili, won Best Film and Best Actor in the same category.
I recommend the film, especially in light of the situation in Ukraine, which has been somewhat similar in Georgia (the film is about Georgian immigrants to Brooklyn). Please check out the interview I did with Boris just prior to this festival win about his fascinating early years among greats Kozintsev and Shostakovich: https://www.cineaste.com/summer2020/from-minimalism-to-neorealism-boris-frumin-interview
Stone Soup Book Contest
Very happy to announce that one of my students, Olivia Lee, ten years old, was on the list of Honorable Mentions for the 2021 “Stone Soup” Book Contest. She wrote a 20,000 word book that we worked on from April to August of 2021!! I now have several other students working on their first books for the same contest.