Interview with Sabine BACOUEL-JENTJENS, Professor

Is this your first time attending or have you participated in this evening before?  

It is the first time I come to Pécs yes, but I have participated in several other international programs such as the Erasmus mobility program. I have been in touch with one of the professors here from the University of Pecs, professor Zsuzsanna Vitai. She came twice to Paris to teach in my courses and she always invited me to this international teaching week. And it finally happened this year.  

What is your favourite thing about this event so far?  

I really liked how motivated the students were. I enjoyed sharing some new ideas, listening to their feedback and their point of view as younger people, compared to my age, and this was very refreshing and encouraging.   

Why did you choose this exact event to come to? What caught your interest?  

First of all, professor Zsuzsanna Vitai always invited me to come but it never happened until this year. It was an opportunity for me to see another country and to meet with other kind of students. This week was also an opportunity to meet with other professors. It was an opportunity to learn about other universities, to maybe initiate new partnerships, start new research projects with the other professors. I think it can open new doors and windows.   

What do you think of our city, Pécs?  

I find the city very calm. For example, if you go to the centre, even though there are people, there are cars, it’s just peaceful. It’s not loud. This is a real quality, I think. Very calm very nice. Also, your university is so well placed. I mean it’s not far away from the centre and it has nature, light, a wonderful coffee shop and even inside your university is so well equipped, so many places where the students can nicely sit down and work or discuss between classes.   

What class did you choose, or which one did you come for?  

I taught in one of professor Zsuzsanna Vitai’s classes of Leadership and Advanced Organization Behaviour for master students. On the first day I had an intervention on Intercultural management. We talked about a case study of a French person working in the United States and experiencing quite a lot of difficulties. We talked about those intercultural differences. And today in the morning I had an intervention on Diversity where we did a diversity fresco explaining and elaborating on stereotypes, discrimination and what we can do against it. I really enjoyed it because I learned so much from the students that I can bring back home with me.