[LUM#6] A Shared University

[LUM Magazine] - Published on October 17, 2017 in Science and Society

For the past eight years, the university has been extending its reach to priority neighborhoods in Montpellier. Sixty students work with children from twelve schools, both in the classroom and during field trips. The program includes meetings and discussions.

May 2017, Clamouse Cave, in the Montpellier hinterland. With wide-eyed wonder, students from the Petit Bard school and their teachers explore the underground landscape of rocks and crystals that are hundreds of thousands of years old. That evening, back in their so-called “priority” neighborhood, they will return home deeply moved by this breathtaking sight.

At the heart of the group lies a unique and enriching aspect: students from the Faculty of Sciences are mentoring the children. To promote the university and foster a culture of science in local neighborhoods, they are participating in the UniverlaCité project, launched by the University of Montpellier to bring together two worlds that rarely intersect.

Stalactite and stalagmite

Standing before the limestone formations, Mehdi, a junior, engages the children:“What do we call the one that goes down? And the one that goes up?” The answers come pouring out, full of enthusiasm:“It’s the stalactite that hangs down, and the stalagmite that grows up!” The students’ classroom presentations before the field trip have paid off. A flurry of questions follows:“Why is this stalactite so big? Has it been there for a thousand years?”“Given its size, hundreds of thousands of years,” says a student. Faces light up in the crystal corridor, but also when they see the “eccentrics”—those zigzagging concretions that seem to defy the laws of gravity.

Once back in the daylight, the group sets out to explore the aquatic and terrestrial wildlife along the banks of the Hérault. It’s a breath of fresh air for the students and children, who watch intently as they spot frogs, shrimp, grasshoppers, beetles… With a butterfly net in hand, a parent accompanying the class becomes a naturalist, delightedly searching for insects in the bushes. Even the teachers brush up on their zoological knowledge alongside the students. As biologists, the students draw on their memories of lab work when they have to identify dragonfly larvae and viper snakes.

Each class is welcomed at the university

Today, UniverlaCité involves sixty science students from twelve schools in the Mosson and Petit Bard neighborhoods of Montpellier. Throughout the year, they meet with approximately 700 children in classrooms and on field trips. At the end of the year, each class is welcomed to the College of Sciences. To carry out their mission, the students are supervised by Thierry Noëll, the project’s founder and UniverlaCité’s official project manager at the University of Montpellier since 2009, assisted by his colleague Sylvie Lanau.“We supervise the students, but they don’t receive any specific training: the project develops spontaneously, through human interaction.”

“Pursuing a university education comes with a certain responsibility toward society. Students are thoughtful and eager to share. When they go into the neighborhoods, they represent the university. The project brings ambition, openness, and connection to the children, but also to the students,” explains Thierry Noëll, who believes in the calming influence of students’ presence in the neighborhoods. Starting next year, UniverlaCité will expand, reaching six to eight additional schools.

Keywords: Scientific culture, Students, LUM#6, LUM Magazine