Has French Cinema lost its roots and become a nondescript mass of so-called European film traditions? Is transnationalism just a weighted synonym for ‘international coproduction?’ Can popular cinema also be art?

The European Studies Group and the French and Italian Forum will co-host an upcoming talk, "Le Soleil Couchant by Théophile Gautier (1830): An Introduction to Reading French Poetry." Featuring guest speaker Geoffrey Hope, a professor of French at the UI, a reading and discussion will take place on the poetry of Théophile Gautier, in honor of the retirement of Professor Wendelin Guentner.

The European Studies Group will present a guest lecture by Edward Ousselin of Western Washington University on "Europe as a Literary Concept: The Case of Victor Hugo" at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, October 16 in 2520D University Capitol Centre. The event is free and open to the public.

In preparation for studying abroad, I was able to cross an item off of my bucket list: I got an international driving permit. It doesn’t matter as much if I actually use it, although that would be great, too. (After two days in the country, though, I’m already more than a little hesitant to get behind the wheel.) It’s just the fact that I could legally drive in Morocco if I really wanted to that is exciting.