Trei reprezentanţi UAIC au dialogat despre prevenirea abandonului şcolar în rândul studenţilor, proiectele pe care le coordonează pe acest plan, rezultatele obţinute, consilierea oferită tinerilor dar şi despre orientarea lor pentru o carieră de succes, în Studioul BZI LIVE
Luni, 27 ianuarie 2020, la ora 15.00 în lumina reflectoarelor Studioului BZI LIVE a fost programată o ediție – dialog cu trei invitați aparte, pe un domeniu respectiv un fenomen de interes și utilitate publică! Alături de ec. dr. Corina Berica, Șef Birou Proiecte de Dezvoltare și coordonator proiecte ROSE la Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza (UAIC) din Iaşi, conf. univ. dr. Ileana Oana Macari, Facultatea de Litere, UAIC respectiv director de grant ROSE STOP ABANDON! și LITERATIS respectiv Matei Macuc, student anul II în cadrul Facultății de Litere din cadrul Universității Cuza au fost abordate aspecte ce țin de: prevenirea abandonului şcolar în rândul studenţilor, proiectele pe care le coordonează pe acest plan, rezultatele obținute, consilierea oferită tinerilor și orientarea lor pentru o carieră de succes!
Importanța dezvoltării personale a studenţilor
Pe de altă parte, alături de invitați s-a făcut referire la importanţa dezvoltării personale a studenţilor, modul în care tinerii văd participarea în cadrul unor asemenea proiecte speciale. Ce presupun aceste activităţi, care sunt implicaţiile şi rezultatele acestora, ce înseamnă activitatea din cadrul proiectelor de prevenire a abandonului au fost avute în vedere. Pe de altă parte, realităţi educaționale, nevoia de atragere a studenţilor în evenimente şi acţiuni, dincolo de activitatea didactică, ce va urma din această perspectivă organizatorică educaţională pentru UAIC au fost alte puncte abordate.
Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iași a câștigat 10 sub-proiecte
De reamintit că, în luna august 2019, Universitatea Cuza a câștigat toate cele 10 sub-proiecte depuse în cadrul rundei II de aplicații pentru Schema de Granturi Necompetitive pentru Universități (SGNU) finanţate din Proiectul privind Învățământul Secundar (ROSE), bugetul total fiind de 4.912.104 lei. Sub-proiectele sunt finanțate integral de Banca Internațională de Reconstrucție și Dezvoltare (Banca Mondială) și au ca scop dezvoltarea și aplicarea unor programe de îmbunătățire a performanțelor academice ale studenților, de îndrumare și sprijin, servicii de coaching și dezvoltare personală, consiliere profesională și orientare în carieră, de dezvoltare a competențelor socio-emoționale, workshop-uri în domenii specifice, precum și campanii de sensibilizare adresate studenților cu risc ridicat de abandon sau alte activități similare.
Școli de Vară dedicate elevilor din medii dezavantajate social
De reliefat că, în perioada 30 iunie – 21 iulie 2019, Universitatea Cuza desfăşoară opt Şcoli de Vară, finanţate din Proiectul privind Învăţământul Secundar (ROSE) de către Banca Mondială. Astfel, 375 de elevi de liceu, cu precădere dezavantajaţi social, participă la cursuri, ateliere de lucru, vizite de studiu şi alte activităţi concepute pentru încurajarea finalizării de către aceştia a studiilor liceale şi pentru facilitarea continuării educaţiei la nivel universitar. „Şcolile de Vară îi pot ajuta pe liceeni să ia o decizie informată şi realistă cu privire la viitorul lor, în acord cu particularităţile şi dorinţele fiecăruia. Ei au pătruns în viaţa academică nu oriunde, ci la cea mai veche universitate a României moderne şi au aflat mai multe despre domeniul care îi pasionează, cu ajutorul colegilor noştri şi al studenţilor implicaţi în program. Cred că prin aceste programe se poate declanşa sau dezvolta dorinţa de a veni să studiezi la Cuza”, a transmis prof. univ. dr. Mihaela Onofrei, prorector pentru activităţi studenţeşti şi parteneriate cu mediul economic şi sectorul public la UAIC.
Un studiu realizat de Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iaşi în zece licee din localităţi din mediul rural şi în oraşe sub 10.000 de locuitori a relevat faptul că cele mai importante argumente în favoarea înscrierii în învăţământul superior sunt legate de viitoarea carieră şi de speranţă într-un viitor mai bun.
Acesta a fost realizat pe baza unor paneluri de discuţii la care au participat peste 500 de elevi din clasele terminale, față în faţă cu studenţi voluntari şi consilieri în carieră ai Universităţii Cuza. Pentru o autenticitate şi o deschidere mai mare, elevii au avut posibilitatea să răspundă anonim la întrebările privind argumentele care i-ar convinge să aleagă o facultate. Acestea au fost organizate şi analizate pe arii tematice, în funcţie de menţionările spontane ale elevilor.
Care sunt factorii care-i determină pe elevi să vină la Universitatea Cuza
„Topul factorilor care i-ar influenţa în mod pozitiv este: posibilitatea carierei (98 de menţiuni), viitorul mai bun (55 de menţiuni), gândul la bunăstarea financiară (37 de menţiuni), posibilitatea de a obţine burse (37 de menţiuni) şi sprijinul familiei (32 de menţiuni). De asemenea, elevii au spus că decizia lor privind învăţământul superior este influenţată şi de rezultatele de la bacalaureat, de posibilităţile de dezvoltare personală şi de dorinţa de a studia mai mult”, arată datele studiului de la Cuza.
„Lipsa de informare cu privire la oportunităţile de educaţie, dar şi o încredere în sine scăzută îi împiedică pe cei mai dezavantajaţi elevi să se orienteze către facultate”
Pe de altă parte, elevii din localităţi mici reprezintă una dintre categoriile cele mai vulnerabile privind orientarea către învăţământul superior. „Lipsa de informare cu privire la oportunităţile de educaţie, dar şi o încredere în sine scăzută îi împiedică pe cei mai dezavantajaţi elevi să se orienteze către facultate. Odată ajunşi studenţi, aceiaşi factori conduc la un risc crescut de excluziune socială, precum şi la un abandon universitar ridicat”, a precizat Irina Subredu, psiholog şi consilier în cariera al UAIC.
Doar 20,8 la sută dintre tinerii din mediul rural urmează studii superioare, în comparație cu 53,9 la sută în mediul urban
Mai departe, conform raportului privind starea învăţământului superior realizat de Ministerul Educaţiei, doar 20,8 la sută dintre tinerii din mediul rural urmează studii superioare, în comparaţie cu 53.9 la sută în mediul urban.
Prin această activitate, Universitatea Cuza îşi propune să îmbunătăţească accesul la învăţământul superior şi să crească gradul de incluziune pentru tinerii proveniţi din medii dezavantajate. Proiectul „PACT pentru incluziune: Peers, Administrativi, Consilieri, Tutori, împreună pentru creşterea echităţii sociale” este finanţat prin Fondul de Dezvoltare Instituțională.
Universitatea Cuza investește 2,5 milioane de lei pentru combaterea abandonului şcolar
Universitatea Cuza din Iaşi investeşte 2,5 milioane de lei pentru combaterea abandonului şcolar, una dintre cele mai grave probleme cu care se confruntă învăţământul superior românesc în ultimii ani. În anul universitar 2017-2018, au fost implementate şase proiecte diferite, cu scopul de a sprijini studenţii care se confruntă cu dificultăţi de învăţare, de integrare sau probleme financiare, astfel încât să aibă posibilitatea de a absolvi facultatea.
Care au fost obiectivele
„Din cele şase proiecte, trei au vizat în mod specific studenţii de la trei facultăţi: Geografie şi Geologie, Litere, respectiv Matematică. Pentru aceștia s-au organizat activităţi, precum o mai bună informare asupra sistemului de sprijin pe care se pot baza în universitate >, desemnarea unor tutori personali care să urmărească îndeaproape dezvoltarea studenţilor, organizarea de ore de pregătire suplimentare sau grupuri de studiu studenți-profesori, evenimente de carieră şi vizite la potenţiali angajatori, sesiuni gratuite de consiliere psihologică. Alte măsuri vizează creşterea motivaţiei de a învăţa, prin organizarea de concursuri, de seminarii motivaţionale şi de creştere a încrederii în sine”, a mai transmis prof. univ. dr. Mihaela Onofrei, prorector la Cuza.
Ratele de abandon ridicate sunt o problemă foarte des semnalizată la nivelul învăţământului superior românesc
Ratele de abandon ridicate sunt o problemă foarte des semnalizată la nivelul învăţământului superior românesc, aceasta fiind calculată la aproximativ 35 la sută la nivel naţional. Facultăţile UAIC se confruntă cu această problemă mai ales în anul I de studiu, acolo unde riscul variază între 20 la sută şi 40 la sută – cu menţiunea ca acest calcul îi include şi pe cei care se răzgândesc după admitere şi încheierea contractului de studiu, fără să se prezinte deloc la facultate.
Care sunt factorii ce-i determină pe unii tineri să renunţe la studii
Printre factorii care îi determină pe unii tineri să renunţe la studii se numără: situaţia materială precară, lipsa unui mediu familial şi şcolar care să încurajeze eforturile pentru studii, alegerea inadecvată a facultăţii din cauza lipsei de informaţii din timpul liceului, informarea insuficientă la nivelul universităţii cu privire la posibilităţile de angajare, probleme de învăţare şi diferenţele foarte mari între stilul academic practicat în liceu şi tipul de predare dintr-o facultate. Fondurile au fost obţinute de Universitatea Cuza prin două tipuri de finanţări – Fondul de dezvoltare instituţională (FDI) şi ROSE – fonduri ale Ministerului Educaţiei Naţionale (MEN), dedicate reducerii abandonului şcolar în învăţământul secundar şi terţiar.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
'I'm used to being the only brown person in the room': why the humanities have a diversity problem
Cultural bias and a lack of plurality of voices may account for low numbers of BAME postgraduates in subjects such as history and philosophy
Can you name a philosopher? If Plato or Aristotle come to mind, but Franz Fanon or Gayatri Spivak do not, you may have a case of Eurocentrism – an understanding of the world that centres the west, at the expense of other cultures. But it’s not a value judgement on those non-European minds, say those who are increasingly alarmed at a lack of diversity among humanities postgraduates.
“It’s a blind spot,” says Shyane Siriwardena, who lectures in philosophy at Leeds Trinity University. “It’s down to the naive belief that if black or ethnic philosophers were any good, they’d be up there with the rest of them.”
And this is damaging for all of us beyond the confines of universities, she says. Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) students make up 22.3% of all master’s graduates, but just 11.5% of humanities postgraduates, and this drops to just 8.6% for history and philosophy and 9.2% for the arts. Business, law and medicine on the other hand have much higher proportion of black and Asian research postgraduates.
“I’m used to being the only brown person in the room,” says Dr Shahmima Akhtar, a doctoral fellow working with the Royal Historical Society, whose race, ethnicity and equality report found history is the least diverse subject in the UK – black historians make up less than 1% of university history staff.
Akhtar believes the problem in her subject starts in schools, where the history taught is predominantly white and Eurocentric, and is the start of an enduring and implicit bias against history from the perspective of those who are not white.
“If students never see anyone who looks like them in textbooks, they’ll think the subject’s not for them. They won’t feel welcome. By the time students graduate from a history degree, they may have studied Nazi Germany three or four times,” she says.
Diversity specialist and business psychologist Binna Kandola says it can be easy for BAME students to feel excluded by lack of representation in the historical account. “Source material in humanities is incredibly subjective in a way it can’t be with subjects such as maths or science,” she says. “It’s easy for BAME students to feel they aren’t studying their own culture.”
Ironically, master’s courses allow for more diversity, but by then too many BAME students are no longer in education. Black students are one and a half times more likely to drop out from university than white or Asian students. And because black students are less likely to gain a high degree than their white counterparts – 57% of black students get a 2:1 or first degree at undergraduate level compared with 81% of white students – this rules out postgraduate study for many.
“But we want a society that is cohesive and multicultural,” says Akhtar. “We’re divided on so many levels – history has the power to create that cohesion.”
She’s still shocked by a 2014 YouGov survey that found 59% of Britons believe the British empire was something to be proud of.
Culture shapes our lives as much as politics, say the founders of Arts Emergency, a new and expanding mentoring charity and network for people from underprivileged backgrounds.
“Humanities are about human stories, and we are all human. If you don’t have diversity, you don’t have the full human experience,” says Carys Nelkon, head of programmes at the charity, which has to date mentored 700 students, about 60% from BAME backgrounds. She blames the attainment gap, cultural bias, and simple economics for poor BAME representation in humanities and the arts.
“If you come from a privileged background, research shows you are four times more likely to make it in the creative industries,” she says.
Humanities are essential for teaching critical thinking, communication and ethics, says Arts Emergency chief executive Neil Griffiths. There needs to be more clarity around job prospects and opportunities for humanities postgraduates.
“As a student my Sri Lankan family encouraged towards traditional subjects such as science, medicine or law,” says Siriwardena. “They believed that humanities won’t get you anywhere.” But one year on from the RHS report, there is progress, says Akhtar. Universities are acting on a swathe of recommendations, including engaging with schools, hosting more talks and looking to diversify reading lists and course content.
Some universities have focused master’s – Goldsmiths now offers master’s in black British history and black British writing, Birmingham City is preparing for its first intake on a new black studies MA, and Bristol University has appointed a black history professor to explore the city’s historic links with slavery.
As for the black philosophers and historians, there are plenty, says Siriwardena - from professors Naomi Zack to Kwame Anthony Appiah to medieval philosopher Avicenna – they just need to make their way on to the reading lists.
Publicație : The Guardian
'Volunteering is one of the most important things you can do': how one student is tackling the environmental crisis
I’ve been incredibly lucky to grow up in Cornwall so I feel a strong duty of care towards the ocean. As a child, I started making art out of the plastic I found on beaches and set up my first website when I was 11 to raise awareness and funds for the Marine Conservation Society. While studying marine biology at Plymouth University as an undergraduate, I realised how dire the situation really was and how much needs to be done.
In 2017, during my third year, I co-founded a social enterprise called Beach Guardian CIC with my dad. After watching Blue Planet, people wanted to make a change but didn’t know how, so we had the privilege of facilitating local community beach cleans around Padstow – it’s a special thing because everyone feels Beach Guardian belongs to all of us. We’d be nothing without the volunteers who join us on the beach.
Emily was studying at Plymouth University when she realised how dire the situation really was. Photograph: Jody Daunton/Guardian
Since we began, we’ve organised hundreds of outreach events and delivered workshops to more than 12,500 schoolchildren across Cornwall and as far away as Manchester, Kent and Salisbury. For me, it’s been a phenomenal learning curve. I’ve gained experience applying for grants, organising events, and my confidence has grown exponentially through regular public speaking. When someone’s outlook on our throwaway society is changed because of what we do – I feel so inspired.
Now as a postgraduate, my peers are so supportive and some are getting involved with Beach Guardian. I know that if I want to see global significant change, I have to start working with policy and legislation – so my master’s in conservation science and policy at Exeter is giving me enormous insight. I want to learn not just from my lectures but from my peers as well – I’m broadening my horizons beyond just marine biology and I’m always eager to learn more.
It’s undoubtedly hard work juggling postgraduate studies alongside my activism. I have a great support network, and I plan my school bookings around lectures. This year has been intense but I wouldn’t change it – it’s a stepping stone that will help my career by broadening my knowledge, expanding my profile and developing my network.
Beach Guardian has organised hundreds of outreach events since its inception. Photograph: Jody Daunton/Guardian
Volunteering is one of the most important things that anyone can do, especially as a postgraduate student, because it shows potential employers that you have that drive to do something you feel strongly about and put your passion into practice. It opens up doors, too – I’ve made new connections with some amazing people, which empowers me to keep going.
This university is a hub for sustainability expertise. So much peer-reviewed research in sustainability comes out of Exeter, there’s the Centre for Circular Economy that collaborates with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, plus the university is a partner in Tevi (Cornish for ‘grow’), an initiative that aims to gear business towards environmental sustainability.
There has been a real culture shift in awareness about plastic, the environment and the climate crisis. Sustainable solutions must be part of whatever postgrads do in the future. There’s something every profession can do and university courses must reflect this. Every course needs a module about sustainability but even if they don’t, you can still be proactive and sign up to university societies such as Extinction Rebellion – every student has a voice and the power to make positive change and limit their own environmental impact. Of course, we need top-down help from industry and policymakers but everyone can make a difference.
Publicație : The Guardian
'The world is changing now': why education and climate activism go hand in hand
For students and universities, tackling the climate crisis is a shared responsibility
“Iturned down a six-figure training contract to focus on climate issues,” says law graduate Harry Holmes, 21, a King’s College London master’s student in environment, politics and globalisation. Worried that many years of studying environmental law or a PhD would take him well into what he calls “the climate decade”, he opted for a one-year course that allows him to continue his environmental activism while broadening his understanding of climate breakdown. He volunteers for UK Youth Climate Coalition, engaging 18-29 year olds in national and community campaigns and works with UK Student Climate Network. “Juggling activism with my studies is difficult and draining but it’s the right thing to do,” says Holmes.
With sustainability-focused postgraduate courses ranging from agroforestry to engineering, the choice is now vast. “Sustainability is no longer just for biologists and geographers,” says Iain Patton, chief executive of the Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education, who recently launched the Climate Commission for UK Higher and Further Education Leaders with 40 vice-chancellors and principals from UK institutions plus students working together to meet net-zero targets. “Yes, we need environmental specialists but everyone needs a baseline carbon literacy and understanding of sustainability.” Thanks to youth climate activism, Patton has noticed a huge shift in postgraduate education. “The world is changing now,” he says. “This is really significant. Students will deliver carbon-literacy training, influence institutional leadership and have positive impacts on postgraduate curriculum design. What we currently have is broken – we need innovative new approaches.”
Former pro vice-chancellor of Arden University Dr Alison Green is an expert witness for the Climate Commission. Having moved from academia to activism, she’s now national director of Scientists Warning, a global movement of climate scientists, because “it can’t be business as usual”, she says. “Universities should be a force for good, enabling us to become good planetary citizens and stewards of the planet. The relationship between economy and education must be resolved – we need to transform MBAs based on classical growth theory to evidence-based environmental economics, for example.”
Manchester Metropolitan University leads the way with a pioneering carbon literacy programme as part of its commitment to be carbon neutral by 2038, and sits in second place in the student-led People and Planet University League that ranks universities by ethical and environmental performance. Helena Tinker, Manchester Met’s head of environmental sustainability, works with the Carbon Literacy Trust, training students and staff to reduce their environmental impact. “We’re embedding this into some degrees and we offer free five-day intensive courses teaching students how to lead carbon literacy training. From an employability perspective, it’s fantastic,” says Tinker. “While learning about sustainability and climate change they become competent, confident trainers.”
At the University of Sussex, which has 3,000 solar panels, an anerobic digestor, grey water recycling and renewable electricity, vice-chancellor Adam Tickell explains that sustainability will soon be integral to every student’s experience: “A compulsory, non-credit-bearing programme will give everyone a sense of collective environmental responsibility. The Sussex student spirit is hungry for change – we want to lead the way,” he says
Experience: ‘I want to make a difference as a scientist’
Travelling abroad heightened Lucy Carruthers’ awareness of the climate crisis. Interview by Helena Pozniak
I was so anxious about leaving a good job in an industry I knew well for a course I’d picked off the internet. But just one week in, I rang my mum and told her it was the best decision I’ve ever made.
Travelling had already opened my eyes to the environment and the climate crisis. I’d always wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef – but when I went scuba diving there, I saw how bleached and damaged the coral was. It was depressing. Travelling in India, I met farmers who were talking about how drought had hit their crops. I grew more interested in the environment and started reading up about it I began to feel more and more guilt about the industry I was working in. Although the company met environmental standards, I was still working with harmful chemicals on an industrial site where huge stacks were pumping out emissions into the atmosphere – I didn’t like it.
When I told people at work I cared about the environment, they called me a tree hugger and a hippy. They were all intelligent people. It still shocks me that some people don’t understand climate change; they don’t think it’s happening. You can find any answer you want online to suit your opinions and convince yourself it’s not happening. I think more work needs to be done in communication.
This course caught my eye as it was so hands-on. People have come from all different disciplines: geography, astrophysics, teaching – we all have a basic interest in climate change. As part of the course, we’ve taken samples from Lynemouth Bay, where coastal erosion has caused an old colliery landfill site to begin leaking waste on to the beach. Many of the beaches along the coast are being eroded – we’ve written a report that we hope will bring some positive action. In another project, we’ve analysed core samples to reconstruct an environment from 2,000 years ago. In June, we’re going to Abisko in Sweden to learn new skills and techniques monitoring the environment in a faster changing, extreme climate. I’ve never been so far north before or stayed in a research facility.
This has been a leap into the unknown – but I’d rather give it a go instead of wondering. I think there will be so many jobs linked to tackling the climate crisis and the environment in the future – from research, to environmental consulting or engineering. Course leaders want us to be the next generation of scientists to raise awareness. I do want to make a difference.
Publicație : The Guardian
Call of the wild: the new science of human-animal communication
Degrees in this emerging field offer fascinating research opportunities and career options
If your pets could speak, what would they tell you? Experts at the animal-computer interaction lab at the Open University (OU) are close to finding out. There, animal behaviour specialists work with designers to create the kind of technology that helps animals communicate and work alongside humans more naturally – to raise the alarm if an owner falls ill, put a wash on, or switch out the lights for an owner who has a disability.
“If you give animals more of a voice, they can make themselves better understood. It’s as though they can talk back to us – and this can be very valuable,” says Clara Mancini, a communication and design expert who founded the lab back in 2011. “We are researching with them, allowing animals to participate in the design process.”
This is a niche area of an already niche field – but dozens of master’s at UK universities relate to animal behaviour in some form; some research-led, some practical.
Working closely with charities, the OU’s lab has collaborated with the likes of Dogs for Good and Medical Detection Dogs. Traditionally, medical detection dogs trained to sniff out cancerous cells have learned to sit down in front of positive samples. But for a dog, this is an unnatural response to an exciting smell, says Mancini, and limits what they can reveal. Her team have created a sort of sniffing platform with pressure pads that measures a dog’s spontaneous response to an odour. Mancini hopes this will allow scientists to detect more nuances in a dog’s reaction, revealing more about the stage or concentration of the cancer, for example. Other projects include designing an alarm – in the shape of a sausage, no less – that an assistance dog could pull if a diabetic owner suffers a hypoglycaemic attack. Researchers have also designed large snout-friendly buttons for assistance dogs in the home.
While the OU’s lab is unique in the UK, the University of Stirling is also offering a master’s in human animal interaction. Many taught courses, such as a new master’s in animal behaviour at the University of St Andrews, aim to act as a springboard into a research career.
Students at Exeter’s MSc in animal behaviour spend a week on Lundy Island observing abundant wildlife, including puffins, guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes, not to mention the island’s rare breed Soay sheep, says programme director Dr Lisa Leaver, an animal behaviour expert with a background in psychology who founded the course in 2003. “Most of our graduates go on to do PhDs,” she says.
“Some work in science education departments in zoos, or go on to teach, or work with conservation charities.” A research apprenticeship forms a significant part of the course, she says, with subjects as varied as social structure of killer whale groups to male signalling of fiddler crabs on Portuguese beaches.
Understanding animals better has wider moral implications, Mancini believes. “We tend only to listen to our own voice and that’s dangerous. We have forgotten we are part of something bigger – and if we don’t adjust our perspective, we are eventually going to destroy the planet.”
Experience: ‘I measure the bond between animals and humans’
I still pinch myself that I’m here. I’ve always loved animals and wanted to help make a positive change. I’m the first person in my family to go to university. After I graduated in biological sciences from the University of East Anglia, I applied to all the big animal charities – to zoos and to conservation organisations. But animal welfare is so competitive, you need a specialist qualification.
I saved up to take an MSc in animal welfare at Northampton University. It was right up my street, I loved the research element. My supervisor gave me confidence and encouragement to take on a PhD – I never even thought I’d do a master’s, let alone research. During my PhD I’ve worked part-time as a nutritionist for Marwell Zoo for a year on maternity leave cover, which was an amazing experience as those jobs are like gold dust. I’ve also worked as a pet nutritionist in Yorkshire and lectured on an animal science degree.
My research looks at anxiety in dogs and whether herbal supplements actually do have a calming effect. I joined the research team of the Dogs Trust in spring. This is the kind of work I wanted when I first graduated, but I now realise I needed to take the research route to get here. When we are collecting data, we work directly with dogs. Our team is running a groundbreaking longitudinal study looking at dog health, welfare and behaviour. I’m working to develop a tool that measures the bond between humans and animals.
At this level you can carry out research that’s needed to support positive policy changes, as well as having an impact on the welfare of thousands of animals. This is my dream job.
Publicație : The Guardian
Une survivante du camp d’Auschwitz raconte « la boue, les odeurs, les cris, les peurs » à des lycéens normands
REPORTAGE
Ginette Kolinka, 95 ans, témoigne auprès de lycéens, dont certains ignoraient que des membres de leur famille avaient été déportés.
Le ciel n’a pas envie de se lever ce matin de janvier sur Auschwitz-Birkenau, en Pologne, où plus d’un million de Juifs ont été assassinés pendant la seconde guerre mondiale. Dans un des blocks du camp de concentration d’Auschwitz, vingt-huit bâtiments lugubres de brique rouge, Paul Bénard, 17 ans, en classe de terminale L au lycée Guillaume-le-Conquérant de Lillebonne (Seine-Maritime), feuillette le Livre des noms, qui recense 4,2 millions de victimes connues sur les six millions de Juifs assassinés pendant la Shoah. Lettre B, il s’arrête, interloqué. « Bénard Hélène. Oui, c’est elle, la première femme de mon arrière-grand-père. » Il réajuste son blouson, sort vite à l’extérieur du block 27.
« Ma famille n’était pas trop favorable à ce que je vienne à Auschwitz », Paul Bénard
Plus tard, dans un des quatre bus qui transportent les cent-quarante apprentis et lycéens de ce voyage d’études de deux jours organisé par le conseil régional de Normandie et le Mémorial de la Shoah, Paul évoque ce passé familial qui ne passe pas. « Un secret de famille. Mon grand-père m’en a parlé une seule fois. Je viens de l’appeler. Il a été surpris. Ma famille n’était pas trop favorable à ce que je vienne à Auschwitz. » Du haut de ses 17 ans, le lycéen ne sait pas trop s’il doit « soulever le couvercle » ou pas. « Je suis extrêmement ému, c’est plus terrible que je l’imaginais ! »
Publicație : Le Monde
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