Le mercredi 29 janvier, les élèves de khâgne ont rencontré au Lycée Madame le Professeur Klein, de l’Université de Yale (http://history.yale.edu/people/jennifer-klein) dans le cadre d’un cycle de conférences organisé par le service culturel de l’ambassade des Etats-Unis. Cette rencontre était destinée à compléter et enrichir la préparation de l'épreuve d'Histoire du concours des ENS, qui porte cette année sur les Etats-Unis de Lincoln à Truman.
Les élèves ainsi que les enseignantes, Adeline Chevrier-Bosseau (Anglais, UPEC) et Noémi Colin (Histoire, lycée Léon Blum), remercient Madame Klein et Madame Mollé, du service culturel de l’ambassade des Etats-Unis, pour le temps qu’elles ont consacré à cette intervention, précieuse pour la préparation de nos étudiants.
Voici le compte-rendu qu'en donne une de nos khâgneuses, Margaux Renvoisé :
« ln January, Jennifer Klein, an American Professor from Yale, specialized in the field of 20th-century US history went to our high school to give us a lecture about the Franklin Roosevelt years, from 1932 to 1945. Indeed, this year, in preparation for our competitive exam, we have to study the history of the United States of America from President Lincoln to President Truman, that is to say a whole century.
This conference was a real opportunity for us, because in class we studied the important points of the Roosevelt years but we didn’t have the time to go into precise and specific details, so it was a very original way to go deeper into the subject. We were aIl very happy and impatient to hear a specialist on the subject and to hear an American point of view, but also impressed because Mrs. Klein comes from a prestigious school.
As she's a specialist of the question, we went into details concerning some points. She based her lecture of view mostly on the workers and the labor questions and laws, that is to say on the people who were directly affected by the Great Depression. She also broached the question of women and race during the New Deal.
Then, we moved on to the Q & A part. It was a time of discussion : we had the opportunity to talk and ask questions, even if most of the class was oddly shy, because they were impressed, and a few dared to ask questions, but it was very informative.
Beyond the preparation of our exam, it was a way, for the students who want to go on studying abroad, to discover what it is to attend a class in a foreign language, it was a useful glimpse of the US educational system. »
