Summer Paris Program
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.
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Jennifer Kye
The Louvre
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The College's eight-week Summer Paris program, in the political and cultural capital of France, is devoted to intensive French language instruction at an advanced level. The program runs from mid-June to early August and consists of three courses. Two of these are advanced French language courses; the third course, taught in French, treats some aspect of French culture (literature, history, theater, art, etc.). For pedagogical reasons the two language courses are taught intensively at the beginning of the program, "front-loading" language skills that will be useful in the French culture course. The culture course then is compressed into the last three weeks of the program (weeks six through eight) while the language courses continue at a less intensive pace. Normally the last week of the program consists of an extended excursion to a site outside Paris that is associated with the subject of the culture course. Apart from this longer site visit, the program also includes a number of smaller excursions in and around Paris (including perhaps trips to the Opera, the Comédie Française, various museums, historical sites, etc.). All instruction is of course in French.
Headquarters for all of the College's programs in Paris is the University of Chicago Center in Paris. The Chicago 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, the Center in Paris, 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.
As a participant in the Summer Paris 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.
You receive three credits for your work in the Summer Paris program, one for each of the program courses. These credits are posted, with grades, on your Chicago transcript.
You are registered as full-time summer quarter student, paying regular tuition (at the reduced summer rate) for three courses, the Summer Paris program fee, and the College's non-refundable study abroad administrative fee. The program fee covers accommodation (without meals) and program excursion costs. (For precise figures, click on Study Abroad Program Fees.)
While you retain your financial aid eligibility for this program, you should remember that the bulk of University gift aid is restricted to the regular academic year (autumn, winter, spring). However, under certain conditions a student may be eligible for gift aid during the summer quarter, and all applications for summer aid are accepted and given a serious review. If you are granted financial aid in the summer, you should understand that two expenses--the non-refundable 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 summer employment factor.
The Summer Paris program is designed for students who have completed at least one year of work at Chicago and who have had at least two years of college-level French (through French 20300) or who demonstrate, by examination, a comparable competence. While the program stipulates no minimum grade-point average, you should present a transcript demonstrating that you are a serious student who will make the most of this opportunity.
Applications are available on the study abroad website. To apply to this Paris Summer 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 the non-refundable study abroad administrative fee. (To begin the application process, click on the Study Abroad General Application.)
If you would like to discuss the Summer Paris program
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.
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