Spring Paris Program
MATHEMATICS

Please note: Study abroad programs sponsored by the undergraduate College of the University of Chicago are open to University of Chicago students only. Applications from outside the University are not accepted.

General Description:
    


La Tour Eiffel
The College's spring-quarter program in mathematics is designed for students with substantial preparation in the subject (see "Eligibility and Application" below) and a desire to further their studies, intensively and in the company of a small group of like-minded students, in Paris. Students take, in succession, three mathematics courses, each compressed into three weeks. While these courses will be demanding, Program participants are compensated by their small class size and highly focused approach. Students also take a fourth course, running at a normal pace through the quarter, in French language, a course designed to help students connect with French (and Parisian) culture. While an intensely focused study of mathematics is at the heart of this venture, the Program does also include a number of excursions within and in the vicinity of Paris, designed to better acquaint students with French, and Parisian, history and culture.

Center in Paris:
Headquarters for all of the College's programs in Paris is the University of Chicago's Center in Paris. The Center in Paris builds upon the University's long association with various Parisian institutions, as well as its eminence, recognized by the French government, in interdisciplinary scholarship related to France. It acts as a gathering place for undergraduates, graduate researchers, and alumni as well as a site for lectures, conferences, and receptions. For participants in the various programs sponsored by the College in Paris, the Center, with its classrooms, offices, computers, language lab, and (modest) library, provides an administrative and instructional home as well as a supportive environment. Its location, in a "new," academically-oriented neighborhood in the thirteenth arrondissement, places it within easy walking distance of the relocated Bibliothèque Nationale (Bibliothèque François Mitterrand) and just across the street from the new home of the Université Denis Diderot.

Housing:
As a participant in the Spring Paris Mathematics Program you will live in one of the residence halls of the Cité Internationale Universitaire, a campus-like assemblage of houses for international students. In addition to its various national residences, the Cité comprises a library, restaurant (with adjoining cafeteria), and several sports and exercise facilities. Located at the southern edge of Paris (the fourteenth arrondissement), the Cité offers easy access, by metro and bus, to all of Paris.

Credits:
You receive four credits for the Paris Mathematics Program, one for each of the three mathematics courses and a fourth for the language course. If your major subject at Chicago is mathematics, you may use the three math credits within your major. If you are not a math major, their use in your major must be approved by the program chair. You may use any course not falling within your major, including the French course, as a free elective. Course titles, units of credit, and grades are placed on your Chicago transcript.

Registration and Tuition:
You remain registered full-time in the College and pay regular College tuition, the Spring Paris program fee and the non-refundable study abroad administrative fee required of all participants in Chicago's programs abroad. For precise figures, see Study Abroad Program Fees.

Financial Aid:
You retain your financial aid eligibility. However, two expenses--the study abroad administrative fee and the round-trip airfare to Paris--are not underwritten by College Financial Aid. On the other hand, since you cannot be expected to work part-time while in Paris, the self-help component of your financial aid package does not include a term-time employment factor.

Eligibility:
The Chicago Spring Paris Mathematics Program is designed for undergraduates in good standing who are beyond their first year in the College. More specifically it is intended for students who have completed calculus, analysis, and the first two quarters of algebra. Thus, while it is open to students of all majors with sufficient mathematical preparation, it will be of special interest to mathematics majors, normally in their third or fourth year. While the Program stipulates no minimum grade-point average, you should present a transcript demonstrating that you are a serious student of mathematics who will make the most of this opportunity. While you are not required to have studied French before embarking upon this program (because the mathematics courses are taught in English), you will find that some prior knowledge of French, even at the most elementary level, will be helpful to you as you make your way through Paris. You are thus encouraged to take as much French as possible before the beginning of the Program.

Application:
Applications are available on the study abroad website. To apply to the Spring Mathematics in Paris program, a student submits a general study abroad application electronically, then downloads the supplementary application specific to this program and submits it on paper, normally in mid-winter quarter of the previous academic year.

A student accepting an offer of admission is expected to secure his or her place with a $500 non-refundable study abroad administrative fee. (To begin the application process, click on the Study Abroad General Application.)

Further Information:
If you would like to discuss the spring Paris program in Mathematics and the possibility of participating in it, you are invited to contact Sarah Walter (Harper 207A; 834-3753; scw@uchicago.edu).

Statements contained on this site are subject to change without notice.