Winter 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.
The College's Winter Paris Civilization program is devoted to a study of the history of Europe with particular emphasis on France. At the core of this program is the three-course “European Civilization (France)” sequence, compressed into the ten weeks of winter quarter. Program participants also take a French language course, which runs at a normal pace through the quarter, a course designed to help students connect with French (and Parisian) culture. In addition to classroom instruction, the Winter Paris Civilization program features a number of excursions to sites of considerable historic and cultural interest both within and in the vicinity of Paris. The French capital and its environs offer numerous opportunities to connect readings, discussions, and lectures with the surviving monuments of France's past, and it is assumed that students will use their free time to explore this remarkable city apart from program-organized outings. Please note: This civilization program is one of four such programs offered in Paris by the College. There are two offered in Autumn quarter, one taught in English and the other taught in French, as well as a Spring-quarter program taught in English.
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 Mitterand) and just across the street from the new home of the Université Denis Diderot.
As a participant in the Winter Paris Civilization 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 (in the fourteenth arrondissement), the Cité offers easy access, by metro and bus, to all of Paris.
You receive three credits for the civilization sequence, which meets the College’s civilization requirement, and one credit for the French language course (unless you are held exempt from that course). If you have already met the civilization requirement you may use these credits as electives. Course titles, units of credit, and grades are placed on your Chicago transcript.
You remain registered full-time in the College and pay regular College tuition, the Winter 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.
You retain your financial aid eligibility. However, 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 term-time employment factor.
The Winter Paris program is designed for undergraduates in good standing who are beyond their first year in the College. 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. Because the civilization sequence is taught in English, you are not required to have had previous study of French. At the same time you are encouraged to take as much French as possible before the beginning of the program, and your application is likely to be strengthened (and your experience of Paris enhanced) by doing so. Please note: Because of the considerable demand on the Chicago civilization programs abroad, no student may participate in more than one of these programs.
Applications are available on the study abroad website. To apply to the Paris Civilization program, a student submits a general study abroad application electronically, then downloads the supplementary application specific to Civilization programs and submits it on paper, normally in mid-winter quarter of the previous academic year.
In preparing the application and especially in composing the required personal statement, students should keep in mind that admission to Civilization programs are selective and that the number of places available is insufficient to meet the considerable demand. 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.)
If you would like to discuss the Winter Paris Civilization 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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