May | 2022 | International Programs

Introduction by Lisa Zwicker, Director of International Programs

Since 2006, IU South Bend and Université de Toulon et du Var (UTV) have had a formal exchange in which students from IU South Bend study at Toulon University, and students from Toulon study on our campus. For our students, the primary goal of spending a semester or year in Toulon is to acquire proficiency in written and spoken French and cultural competence that includes a deeper understanding of the culture and history of France. IU South Bend students in Toulon take classes in French; as a result, this exchange is primarily geared toward French majors and minors. The Toulon exchange provides an ideal opportunity for students to learn from native speakers and to progress quickly toward graduation.

UTV is an urban campus of close to 10,000 students, some residential, with many commuting, and enrolls many international students. It offers programs in law, business, economics, technology, engineering, natural sciences, world languages, and humanities. The campus is situated on the eastern edge of the city of Toulon, a major port and commercial center on the French southern coast between Marseilles and Nice. With its mild Mediterranean climate, mountain backdrop, and campus of palms and large sycamores, this is a very appealing location in which to study.

According to government data, Toulon has more sunshine per year than any other city in France: an average of 2,856 hours per year. This is largely due to the wall of mountains (Maritime Alps) that protects Toulon from weather coming from the north. Just 50 km to the east of Toulon are the beautiful French Riviera cities of Saint Tropez and Saint Raphaël. Marseille and Nice are both less than one hour by train.

Hailey writes about her year in Toulon…

French majors, minors, students proficient in French (and those who would like to be!) are invited to learn about the IU South Bend – Université de Toulon et du Var (UTV) exchange program by getting in touch with International programs director Lisa Zwicker (zwicker@iusb.edu) or Professor of French Anne Magnan-Park.

by Lisa Fetheringill Zwicker, Fulbright scholar in Wrocław, Poland

“You must see the department’s art,” the Chair of the Jewish Studies Department Marcin Wodziński told me at our first meal together. After a bit of miscommunication (his original email landed in my spam folder), I found myself with Marcin and another visiting faculty member, Atsuto Anzai, as we started in Marcin’s office and then made our way through the hallways and classrooms.

The Jewish Studies department is housed in a former medieval Augustinian Monastery, a building that was later rebuilt in the early 1700s and then used as the first university library.

Home of the Jewish Studies Department, Uniwersytet Wrocławski

During the 1945 siege of Breslau, it became the headquarters for the National Socialist defense of the city. Breslau fell, in fact, four days after Berlin. Marcin shared with me that National Socialist military officials in charge of Breslau’s siege planned their strategy around the table and in the room that now serves as the department seminar room, filled with books donated by the Jewish studies and gender studies scholar Ada Rapoport-Albert (1945-2020). Fitting symbolism for a new era for the University!

The Taube Philanthropies and Koret Foundation donated funds for a complete renovation of the building, and before construction began, the department invited artists from the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design to construct an exhibit of paintings on the walls themselves, art that was meant to exist only for the short time before the renovation was to begin. A few pieces from that time remain in department offices as special treasures, and Marcin is considering now the best ways to display them.

The most prominent art appears along the hallways by Mira Zelechower-Aleksiun whose work displayed here brings together Jewish sacred texts with Polish history and popular culture.

These images don’t quite do justice to the size of the pieces, that can be seen below in the Jewish studies hallway

In pieces like the one below, Zelechower-Aleksiur draws together Biblical narratives of Jacob with references to twentieth century culture – the art of Bruno Schulz and a short story Ptaki (Birds) that speaks, in Zelechower-Aleksiun’s words, of “autumn, the depths of winter, and yellow nights.”

In the main lecture hall, works of Lev Stern make reference to creation in Genesis and the division of land and water.

Marcin and Lev Stern installing paintings, photo courtesy of Monika Jaremków

Along the wall, the ten frames of paintings, in Stern’s signature style of building up layers of paint and using tools to scrape away lines or layers, suggest the ten decades of the twentieth century.

One seminar room hosts the powerful and immediate photographs of Agnieszka Traczewska whose moving images document the Hasidic community.

The collage works of Anna Szpakowska-Kujawska make reference to the Holocaust, here in her pieces in which the word “Dlaczego” [Why] repeats.

During our walk, I asked about presenting this valuable art in areas where they could be stolen or vandalized. I wondered out loud about the exposure of these precious pieces.

Perhaps taking such risks seem obvious and natural in a city like Wrocław where art seems to be everywhere. Along the Riverwalk outside of the University library fly the sculptures of Magdalena Abakanowicz.

And her playful sculptures shine outside of the National Museum

Modern buildings vie with historic ones

Murals cover the sides of buildings…

Bright red cartoon-like apples seem to hang from the tree.

Outlined against historic buildings, even late winter trees seem spookily dramatic with their long curving branches

The role of the art in public spaces here reminds me of the ideas of Americans for the Arts that “Public art humanizes the built environment and invigorates public spaces. It provides an intersection between past, present and future, between disciplines, and between ideas.”

For the members of the Jewish Studies Department, the impact of this decision for Marcin and other department members was clear, “Putting the art on our walls created a new feeling in the department, especially for our students. It created a new sense of solemnity and purpose that you could see in the students’ faces and in their eyes as they entered this space.”

With thanks to Monika Jaremków for her help with this article.