Spending a Semester in a French-Speaking Country
Virtually all our majors spend a semester in a French-speaking country, as do many other students who are not specializing in French. Students study in a variety of countries, and the college is affiliated with a number of carefully selected off-campus programs which reflect the department's focus on the French-speaking world as a whole.
All of these programs emphasize immersion in the language and the culture of the country: students generally live with families and, besides taking formal academic courses, are involved in a wide range of experiential activities including community service. In addition, many of the programs offer the opportunity to do internships, and all integrate field trips and aspects of the local area into students' course-work--the history of architecture in Paris, the writers and films of Provence, or the economic and cultural history of Nantes.
In order to find the program best suited to their individual needs, students work closely with French-department faculty and the Off-Campus Study Office. Grinnell students currently study in Senegal and Madagascar as well as in several areas of France (Nantes, Paris, and Aix-en-Provence); others have participated in summer programs in Quebec.
Students' individualized programs of study include, for example, problems of development and social change in Senegal, the culture of West Africa (Dakar), anthropological field work in Madagascar, art history in Paris, political science and international relations at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Paris), and French literature and contemporary culture in Aix or Nantes.
After returning to Grinnell, students are encouraged to develop their off-campus experience by incorporating it into further course work or individual projects, or by sharing it with the campus and local community in the form of oral presentations.
Many students also share their experiences with others by joining the Off-Campus group called GROWE.
Currency Converter: http://www.xe.com/ucc/
|
