Стажировка в Мичиганском университете
Студентка 4 курса факультета Liberal Arts Юлия Еремеева получила возможность пройти короткую стажировку в Мичиганском университете и на месте собрать материалы для своей дипломной работы “Роль общественных организаций в восстановлении посткризисного Детройта” (научн. руководитель М.С. Неклюдова).
Стажировка была организована в рамках Меморандума о взаимопонимании по вопросам организации и развития академической мобильности и о сотрудничестве между Попечительским советом Мичиганского университета и РАНХиГС.
The short-term visit described below took place under the academic development, mobility and cooperation program of the RANEPA and the University of Michigan (as according to the Memorandum of Understanding on the Issues of Academic Mobility Organization and Development and on Cooperation between the University of Michigan and the RANEPA).The author is Julia Eremeeva, the 4th year BA student at the Liberal Arts College. Her graduate thesis academical supervisor is Maria S. Neklyudova, Chair of the Department of Cultural Studies and Social Communications.
I will never forget the excitement I felt when I was entering the plane to New York. My J-1 visa said: “The University of Michigan”, and that was where I was heading to get academic assistance with my paper dwelling upon revitalizing of post-crisis Detroit.
In the USA, I lived in the suburbs of Ann Arbor so in usually it took me around 30 minutes to get to the university. Ann Arbor is rather big and crowded unlike other towns in that area. It was built around the University of Michigan, so the campuses occupy most of its territory. No wonder that every day I saw students rushing all over the place with coffee in their hands and the huge yellow letter “M”.
My time in Ann Arbor was full of meetings, both scheduled and unexpected; I also explored the resources of the university. Professors from the Slavic Languages department helped me navigate the town, offered me space for working on my project and kindly invited me to attend a Russian language class. After that class, I received a couple of emails from students who wanted to meet me in the downtown and talk about Russia, Russian language and my studies. Thanks to them I could learn more about the university structure and see the buildings from the inside (neither a student card or any ID is required to enter any of the university buildings, you basically just go inside). Also, they told me about some student superstitions and traditions, so I felt like I was entrusted with some sacred insider knowledge.
One of the important events there was an insightful meeting with Andrew Herscher, the author of The Unreal Estate Guide to Detroit. He gave me a lot of advice upon how to study Detroit and what aspects to cover in my paper.
Also, I met Marian Krzyzowski, history professor from Detroit, who helped me to give the wording to my paper topic back in September. We had a long conversation on the issues Detroit was facing and how this city had been developing since the crisis period.
During my stay, I went to explore Detroit and see what I was writing about with my own eyes. Those sights were completely different from Ann Arbor: many buildings under construction, the downtown relatively desolate. Everything looked forgotten and mysterious. I am sure this city, Motor City, needs to be researched upon and paid attention to.
I cannot thank the RANEPA and the University of Michigan enough for giving me this opportunity to learn and explore. My trip to the USA was incredible.
