Study Abroad

Graduate     Summer

Undergraduate Students

French and European Studies
UC Center in Paris

The program begins with a three-week introductory French language and culture component to introduce students to Paris and the practical use of French. This course earns three UC quarter units of credit. During the following fifteen-week semester, students continue their study of French, earning six UC quarter units, and enroll in three upper division program courses in the humanities and social sciencies. Each course carries five UC quarter units of credit. All instruction and readings are in English. Program courses include "French History and Literature," "Visual Culture (Film Studies)," "Critical Theory," "Histories of Paris," "Identities of France," and "France and European Integration."

French Intensive Language,
Culture and Society Programs

EAP offers two opportunities for students to study French intensively at the intermediate (second year) level. Both programs offer a specially-designed curriculum intended to improve both oral and written language skills while providing a fundamental background in French culture and society. All course work is in French. Language classes are offered at the lower division level only.

The Lyon Fall Program is reserved for students with a solid 3 to 4 quarters of university-level French. This program is designed for UC students by the Center for Instruction in French Studies (CIEF), which specializes in teaching French language and culture to international students. Home-stays are an integral part of the program.

The Bordeaux Fall Program can accommodate students with 3 to 5 quarters of university-level French. Most instruction is conducted at the University of Bordeaux III's Department of French as a Foreign Language (DEFLE). Email : defle@u-bordeaux3.fr

General Academic Year Programs

Most programs begin with a three- to six-week orientation and intensive language program (ILP) in France. The ILP concentrates on providing an introduction to French contemporary culture and history and developing French writing, conversation, and grammar skills in order to prepare students for the demands of regular university course work.

During the year most UC undergraduates take a combination of year-long and semester-length university courses. Most involve one or two lectures a week. UC students usually take the same exams, write the same papers, and are graded in the same way as French students.

The Study Centers offer tutorials to help students succeed within the requirements of the French academic system. EAP may sponsor a writing course during the year to refine students' French composition skills.

The University of Bordeaux

The University of Grenoble

The University of Lyon

The University of Toulouse

Special Focus Programs

The EAP has a number of special focus programs including the Paris Critical Studies Program (listed below under "Graduate Students"), the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris, and other course work in the Grandes Ecoles. For students interested in science and engineering, opportunities are available at the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble and Joseph Fourier University. Contact EAP for more information.

Graduate Students

Paris Critical Studies Program

This program provides a multidisciplinary curriculum in theoretical aspects of the arts, humanities, and social sciences for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. It is offered in cooperation with the University of Paris III (Sorbonne Nouvelle) and administered by the Council on International Educational Exchange. The program takes place at the Paris Center for Critical Studies, located on the right bank between the Champs-Elysées and the Opéra.

The program offers up to eight courses per semester, which draw upon theoretical concepts that have evolved in a number of disciplines over the past forty years. Courses are specifically designed for the program and most are taught by French university faculty, many of whom are pioneers in film theory and contemporary French thought. All course work is done in French.

In addition to the course work, students may take one course per semester at affiliated institutions such as the University of Paris III. Graduate students may also audit classes at the Collège International de Philosophie.

Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris (rue d'Ulm)

Founded during the French Revolution in 1794, ENS rue d'Ulm currently enrolls about 750 students and has a teaching staff of 125. ENS rue d'Ulm is very competitive and is recommended only for strong graduate students with well developed study, research, and scholarly agendas.

Students may take courses and/or do research in antiquity, classics, French literature: Middle Age, 18th, and 19th centuries, geography (contemporary problems in Europe, Asia, Africa and the environment) as well as natural, physical, and social sciences.

Ecole Normale Supérieure, Lyon (formerly ENS Fontenay-St. Cloud)

ENS Lyon is the product of a fusion of two previous ENS. It enrolls about 900 students and has an academic staff of 150. Fields of study open to EAP students include French and comparative literature, linguistics, geography, philosophy, and film studies. Work in history may also be available, depending upon the student's specific interests.

Graduate students also have the opportunity to work with a number of research centers in a wide range of fields including urban history, poetry, education-sociology/history, rhetoric, philosophy, and more.

Students at ENS Lyon designate one of two statuses to its international students, either Etudiants etrangers or Pensionnaires scientifiques. Etudiants etrangers participate in a minimum of four seminars for the academic year, two of which must be taken at the ENS. Pensionnaires scientifiques (research scholars) enroll in two seminars and must present, at the end of the year, a report on their research activities and accomplishments.

Summer Programs

UCLA Department of French and Francophone Studies Summer in Paris

Directed by Dr. Nicole Dufresne, Department of French, UCLA.

This program is designed for elementary, intermediate and advanced students of French who wish to improve their speaking proficiency. Financial aid is available to qualified UCLA students.

For more information...

The department also makes every effort to sponsor students in special summer programs including:

The Dartmouth Summer Institute in French Cultural Studies directed by Prof. Lawrence Kritzman

The Cornell School for Criticism and Theory directed by Dominick LaCapra.

Contact the department chair for more information.

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