Move To Another City: Try Before You Buy

1. Which town/city/country would you choose to live in from the following?

Candela (Italy)

Detroit (US)

Antikythera (Greece)

Read article here: Try Before You Buy Reading

2. Do you think that Gorlitz, Detroit, and Candela are at the beginning of a new dawn, or at the end of an era? Is it inevitable that some towns/cities will always 'fall off the map'?

3. "Gorlitz's project will only help young liberals working in IT dependent industries." Do you agree?

4. Do you think that technology can help slow down migration from regional towns and cities towards capital cities?  Or do we need something else e.g. infrastructure, devolution, regionalism, traditional industries?

5. Are there any cities in your country that are trying to attract newcomers or hold on to their citizens? How are they doing it? Have some succeeded or failed at this?

6. Could you work remotely at your current job? Could you work remotely in a foreign country? Would you want to?

7. Could you perform your daily tasks solely from a computer or a phone? Would you be happy sitting on a tropical beach, a drink in your hand, with a laptop doing your work?

8. "Working 9 to 5 in an office/factory/shop with colleagues provides a rhythm to life, a security that remote working can never match." Do you agree?

9. Are you a self-starter?

10. Do you need validation to feel successful?

...........

Situation

You represent the town of XYZ, a town that has seen a decrease in the size of its population. You have an interview with a journalist (your teacher) from a prestigious newspaper. Explain to him/her your town's policies on rejuvenating the population.

..........

Discuss quotes

“When you light a candle, you also cast a shadow.”

― Ursula K. Le Guin

"I would rather be the only horse in a one-horse town than be the third horse in a big city."

- David Lichtenstein

"It is not in some sort of retreat that we will find ourselves: it is in the city, in the midst of the crowd, a thing among things, a man among men."

- Jean-Paul Sartre

"The city has a face, the countryside has a soul."

- Jacques de Lacretelle

"Live in the countryside for you, instead of living in the city for others."

-  Latin proverb

Student Handout PDF: Try Before You Buy

Photo: Ketut Subiyanto

Dickens's London

1. What do you know about Charles Dickens? 

2. What period of time did he write about? Have you read any of his books?

3. Is there an author who wrote about another period in a similar way? Is there a particular piece of literature that illustrates a particular period well?

Read article here: Dickens's London Reading

4. Is there a type of food that defines a particular period of your country's history?

5. Did your co-citizens have any doubtful forms of entertainment in the past?

6. Were there any upsides to living in the Victorian era for poor people?

7. Which of the following do you agree with? Why?

a) The buying and selling of street food is localism at its best: local people creating economic activity that nourishes and rewards the community.

b) Food standards have increased people's life-spans.

c) If Victorians had had social media, many more people would have died in fires.

d) We are only a burst pipe, a drought, or a change in the climate away from economic meltdown.

e) We should bring back elaborate door knocks as an additional security measure.

f) Greater awareness of death would encourage today's society to lead a more cautious life.

g) It is no longer important to know who your neighbour is, nor what they do: technology has made us autonomous.

h) Internet paywalls mean that news still has to be paid for: technology has not liberated us.

8. Do you feel nostalgic about a particular period of your country's history?

9. 'Literature is just as useful for learning about the past as any history textbook'. Can you think of any examples?

10. Imagine that it is the year 2169, which writer(s) will encapsulate life in the 2010/20s? What will future readers be most surprised about?

..........

Situation

You are a literary journalist with a broadsheet newspaper. You've been sent to interview a well-known author (your teacher) about their new book on a famous capital city. Quiz them on the differences between today's city and its earlier history. Focus on topics such as food, entertainment, basic public utilities, and attitudes to death.

..........

Discuss quotes

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

― Søren Kierkegaard

“You realize that our mistrust of the future makes it hard to give up the past.”

― Chuck Palahniuk

“People who say that yesterday was better than today are ultimately devaluing their own existence.”

― Karl Lagerfeld

"Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes - one for peace and one for science."

--- John F. Kennedy

“If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed.”

― Mark Twain

Student Handout PDF: Dickens's London

Paris Mayor

 

1. What does feminism mean to you?

2. Which country has  greater equality between the sexes, your country or France?

3. Was there ever a time when it was better to be female than male in your country?

Read article here: Paris Mayor Reading

4. Is it possible to have too many of one gender in the workplace? Is it possible that having one gender only in the workplace is beneficial?

5. Are we where we are because meritocracy at work has failed? Can meritocracy be rehabilitated?

6. Do you think that positive discrimination is a solution? Should the limits of positive/no discrimination be numerical i.e. 50/50 men and women? If so, is the public service ministry right to fine Anne Hidalgo's administration? Is "too feminist" just as bad as "too much masculinity"?  Do you know of any top managers in your country that are female? What percentage of the total do you think they are?

7. Deputy Paris Mayor, Audrey Pulvar (video), said that it "will be an honour to pay the fine".  How is this any different from "huge companies preferring to pay huge fines instead of giving opportunities to women"?

8. Are there any rules regarding parity in your workplace/in your country in general? Are they enforced? Is legislation the only way to address the lack of female representation in positions of authority? France is famously bureaucratic and having such legislation is totally normal. Is your country as bureaucratic as France? Does your country regulate public life to the same degree? Should it?

9. Are job adverts allowed to specify which gender they prefer? Are there differences between the public and private sectors in how they recruit?

10. Anne Hidalgo has been very vocal in promoting equality at work. Should all female bosses do likewise? Are there any downsides to doing this?

............

Situation

You represent the Public Service Ministry in Paris. Telephone Anne Hidalgo to announce the ministry's decision to fine her administration €90,000. Give your reasons why. Your teacher will play the role of Anne Hidalgo.

..........

Discuss quotes

“A feminist is anyone who recognises the equality and full humanity of women and men.”

― Gloria Steinem

“Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.”

– Charlotte Whitton

“Change Feminism to Gender Equality. Change the label, not the idea.”

― Darice Carins

“Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught.”

― Honore de Balzac

“If you are going to sin, sin against God, not against bureaucracy. God will forgive you but bureaucracy won't.”

― Hyman G. Rickover

Student Handout PDF: Paris Mayor

Photo: Cristian Muduc

Rome's Repairers

 

1. Which bothers you most in your town:

loose pavement slabs

potholes in the road

litter

lack of rubbish collection

graffiti

vandalism

poor street lighting?

2. Have you been to Rome? What were your impressions of the city? Was it well-maintained? How did it compare to other Italian cities?

Read article here: Rome's Repairers Reading

What is your reaction?

3. Do you see the GAP activists as 'criminals and anarchists'?

4. Who do you blame for Rome's poor state: the local council, the government, its citizens, the Mafia?

5. How efficient is your local council? Does it carry out timely repairs?

6. What would be the outcome if you attempted to carry out repairs in your neighbourhood? When would be the best time to carry out the repairs?

7. Italy has the largest number of 'major tax evaders' in Europe, accounting for tax evasion of over €180 billion. Do you agree that this is the real problem?

8. Is it not ironic that we have a Colosseum that's lasted about two thousand years, but it's surrounded by streets that don't last a few seasons?

9. Who are/were the best builders in your country?

..........

Situation

Role A: You have decided to take matters into your own hands and repair something in your neighbourhood. Announce your plan to B.

Role B: You believe that it is the local council's duty to carry out repairs, and that it is foolhardy to undertake them. Persuade A with your argument.

..........

10. What sayings do you know about Rome i.e. 'It wasn't built in a day'?

11. What do other Italians say about Rome, do you imagine?

..........

Discuss quotes

"It takes half your life before you discover life is a do-it-yourself project."

--- Napoleon Hill

"The only thing that saves us from bureaucracy is its inefficiency."

--- Eugene McCarthy

"Italians know about human nature - they understand human nature perhaps better than anyone else does. They know that people are weak and greedy and lazy and dishonest and they just try to make the best of it; to work around it."

--- Donna Leon

"I would rather be first in a village than second at Rome."

--- Julius Caesar

Student Handout PDF: Rome's Repairers

Photo: Anastasia Zhenia

Twin Towns

1. What do London (UK), Santa Clara County (US), and New Delhi (India) have in connection with Moscow?

2. Why are Stalingrad (now Volgograd) and Coventry (UK) important names in the history of town twinning? Why do towns twin?

3. Are you aware of any organisations in your town/city that promote links with other towns/cities across the world? How do you know this? Does your town/city have any visible references to other towns/cities?

4. Has your town/city organised any events with its foreign partners? Have you taken part in any? What happens at the following events: a civic reception, a garden party, an evening out? What type of event would give a foreign visitor a good idea of your region's culture/industry?

5. What is your attitude towards twinning? Choose from the following:

a) It seems harmless, but it doesn't particularly interest me

b) It's an expensive waste of money. It's just a chance for councillors to get free holidays

c) Long live twinning! It is far better than bashing each other's heads in.

6. Why do you think twinning is in decline? Read article here: Twinning Reading

Do the reasons given in the article match your own?

7. If your town/city were to scrap its links with other municipalities abroad, would it be popular or unpopular with voters?

8. The article cites several examples of town halls twinning with others for political reasons - is this a good use of twinning? Do you know of any other examples of twinning being used to make political gestures?

9. Is technology going to make twinning less likely in the future? Are there any areas that have yet to be exploited by using town twinning?

10. (Taken from the comments section) Why are the following funny?

a) "I live in Slough - it's twinned with Hell (Norway)."

b) "I well remember the "Twinned with Chernobyl" sign some joker attached to the "Welcome to Slough" hoarding on the M4."

c)  "I live in the borough of Bracknell, which is twinned with the German town of Aarse."

d) "An old joke goes "Rotherham doesn't have a twin town, it has a mutual suicide pact with Scunthorpe."

..........

Situation

You have been approached by the mayor of your town to create/scrap/invigorate (you choose) the (existing) town-twinning arrangements of your municipality.

After much reflection, you have called a press conference to announce the changes. Hold the press conference and answer any questions from local journalists.

..........

Discuss quotes

“I’ve never approved of the idea of twinning, because places are inevitably matched with places like them. So if you live, say, in a stunningly beautiful medieval town… then you’ll be twinned with your exquisite European equivalent. But if you live in Warrington or St Helens then you’ll be twinned with another industrial casualty.”

---  Pete McCarthy

"Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship"

---- Benjamin Franklin

“A ship in a harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

 – John A. Shedd

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

 ― Henry Miller

"When you look at a city, it's like reading the hopes, aspirations and pride of everyone who built it."

--- Hugh Newell Jacobsen

Student Handout PDF: Twinning Outline

Photo: Zukiman Mohamed