From houseboats to Montessori schools, third-year students took to the streets in London to conduct investigative work in connection with their Q2 presentations.
About 45 third-year students in Human Sciences and Anthropology spent the first weekend of March in London, among other things to generate data they will use in their presentations later on this semester. As inspired by the documentary movie Demain, the students are investigating what concrete solutions are being developed to face the most pressing challenges of our times. Prior to the trip, they had made appointments with Londoners who are either experts in their chosen topics, or some of the movers and shakers who are experimenting with alternatives to our current lifestyle, be it on the level of education, housing, sustainable agriculture, etc. In addition to enjoying sometimes one-hour-long interviews, the students also conducted a vox pop survey on the streets to get a feel for the general public’s opinion on their topics and generate further quantitative and qualitative data to feed into their presentations in a few weeks.
Besides this field work, the group also got to learn more about the history of parliamentary democracy and the election system in the UK during a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament, which had been partly funded by the ESPO Faculty. Other visits included an Alice in Wonderland exhibit at the British Library or an exploratory journey through the history of the city at the Museum of London.
Add to this a hostel with Latin quotes in the lobby, some Japanese food and beers at the local pub, and we can safely say – as you do in such situations – that a marvelous time was had by all. We’ll be back!