Summer 2019 Program

French Language and Culture

We at the UCEAP Paris Study Center look forward to welcoming you here in person on June 18th. For the seven weeks you are here, your mornings and afternoons will be spent in language classes taught by resident Parisians and in lectures and activities related to your culture course.  All courses are designed to give you ample opportunity to take advantage of being in Paris.

Throughout the summer, you'll have many opportunities to use the French you're learning in class in everyday situations, and you'll gain a real familiarity with some of the basic issues of French society and culture.

Again, we look forward to spending time with you here in Paris. A bientôt!


French Language Courses 

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Intensive Track

Each student will be enrolled in an intensive language class, which is made up of two sequential courses worth 5 UC quarter units each.   Students will leave the program with the equivalent of two quarters/one semester of lower-division French.* Students will be placed in one of six levels (French 1 & 2; French 2 & 3; French 3 & 4; French 4 & 5; French 5 & 6; French 6 & 101) based on the French they have had on their home campus as well as information culled from a language questionnaire they will have completed prior to their arrival in Paris. At the end of the summer program students will have completed 10 UC quarter (6.6 semester) units for their French language course.

Semi-intensive Track

Each student will be enrolled in a semi-intensive language class.  This track is currently limited to students with no previous experience of the language.  At the end of the summer program students will have completed 5 UC quarter (3.3 semester) units or the equivalent of 1 quarter of lower-division French.

Pre-ILP Track

Each student will be enrolled in an intensive language class, which is made up of two sequential courses worth 5 UC quarter units each.   Placement is done according to information culled from a language questionnaire completed prior to arrival in Paris. Students will leave the program with the equivalent of two quarters/one semester of lower-division French.*  In lieu of taking a Culture Course, students will also be enrolled in a Methodology Course worth 3 UC quarter (2.0 semester)units which meets two times per week.

 

*Students placed in FR 60/FR 101 will leave the program with the equivalent of one quarter of lower-division French, and one quarter of upper-division French.


Upper Division Culture Courses

The culture courses meet 2 times per week for a total of four hours. In addition, the individual/group visits, special conferences, film screenings, etc. meet for 1-2 hours most weeks. At the end of the summer program students will have completed 4.0 UC upper division quarter (2.6 semester) units for their culture course.

 

Paris as Palimpsest: A Perpetual Dialogue Between Past and Present

7_ages_of_Paris.jpgIn France, the past is always present.  This class is designed to provide students with an understanding of the intellectual framework and historical references that inform the most volatile issues debated in France today.  Thorough study of the history of Paris from political, economic, and social perspectives will equip the student to analyze and evaluate current issues and events from both the French and the American perspective.

The course will be taught principally in English, and will meet twice a week for two hour sessions. Additional required excursions and visits, as a class or on individual assignment, will enhance classroom discussions.(Suggested subject areas to which this course transfers over:  History/Sociology/Political Science.)

 

The Cultural Politics of Food in Paris

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This course explores the intersection between food cultures and food politics, with an eye towards arguments and debates that have animated French culinary culture. How is food a portal for studying the changing dynamics of cities, global systems, and national identity? In what ways has food been employed to construct notions of community and belonging? Through discussions of interdisciplinary course readings, reporting and writing assignments, and excursions around the city of Paris, we will consider how food structures our identities, everyday practices, and political lives. (Suggested subject areas to which this course transfers over:  Sociology/Anthropology.)

 

Paris Reflections: Reconstructing Sites of Memory through Literary and Cinematographic Representations

Perec.jpgParis inscribes in every street corner a page of France’s history. Its cobblestone streets record centuries of struggle and offer the world at large their narrative. Writers, chroniclers and later filmmakers have picked up these narratives and turned them into eternal works of art. The historian today, retracing this past, has turned them into sites of memory.

This course will use literary texts and films as well as historical texts to search for and reconstruct these sites of memory.  From the French Revolution to the student revolt of May 1968, we shall follow Parisians and read and watch what has been said about them. We will study the ways in which cinematic representations and literary texts shape collective memory and offer their particular historical/political representation of France. We will take an interdisciplinary approach and compare and contrast works of fiction with works of non-fiction, the written word with the visual representation and finally through site visits, introduce yet another means of transmission, the words inscribed in stone. Classes will be broken up into specific themes each pertaining to a major event in the life of France. (Suggested subject areas to which this course transfers over: History / Film / Comparative Literature.)

 


Attendance Policy for the Summer Program in French Language and Culture

In the "Student Conduct and Discipline Agreement" our students have made a commitment to conform to standards of conduct including "regular attendance in all classes for which Student is registered."

Students are expected to attend classes and participate actively in their education through their coursework at UCEAP Paris.  It is, therefore, the student's reponsibility to attend all classes, arrive punctually, and participate actively and respectfully in class activities and discussions.

Click here to read the Summer Program in French Language and Culture Academic Handbook, which outlines the attendance policy [PDF]


Excursions, site visits and activities

All language and culture courses use the city of Paris as their classroom.  You'll be visiting museums, historical monuments and other only-in-Paris places.  Site visits are an integral part of students' coursework and are required course meetings.

Planning on traveling during your weekends?  Please note there are four excursions/activities, one of which takes place on a Saturday:

1) Saturday, June 22rd: the beautiful renaissance château of Chantilly

2) Students will participate in a French culinary activity (dates TBA)

3) Students will attend a ballet performance on Tuesday, July 2nd

4)  Wednesday, July 24th: the beautiful colors of Giverny and La Roche-Guyon.

Be sure to plan accordingly! 

 

"My experience studying abroad in Paris (as cheesy at is sounds) undeniably changed the course of my life." - Former program participant