THE GOUCHER COLLEGE PARIS PROGRAM
For double majors in French and... Sociology, or Theater, or English, or Computer Science, or Peace Studies, or any other field taught at Goucher College...
For any French-speaking Goucher student...
Whatever your academic focus, the Goucher Paris Program is a chance to learn alot about what’s going on in France and Europe today, through both coursework and contact with society, while improving your French language skills tremendously.
You can even chose to work in/on an area of specific interest, as part of the program.
Goucher College chose IFE, a French educational organization, to operate this program because of its track record in providing students innovative opportunities and programs for getting inside France today.
The small size of the student group ensures individual attention and a high level of participation in classroom discussion and debate.
How exactly does the program work?
The Goucher College Paris Program is a tightly-constructed, integrated approach to getting to know France today. Students become conversant with contemporary French and European issues, while perfecting French language skills.
This is accomplished through five principal program elements:
Cours de Langue Française de la Sorbonne
Paris - France – Paris: Discovering a nation via its capital
Language and Methodology Seminar / Internship Report
(In addition students are encouraged to participate in activities sponsored by a French student organization for language and cultural exchange, to attend the monthly IFE guest lecture program, and to make use of monthly suggestions for outings, exhibitions, etc.)
Orientation / Preparation The first two and one-half weeks of the program are devoted to a series of activities both inside and outside the classroom designed not only to introduce students to life in Paris and its many advantages but also to provide the keys to a basic understanding of French society needed to undertake an internship. Activities include lectures and lecture-visits on Paris; guided visits to Paris neighborhoods; one-day trip outside of Paris; various excursions in Paris ; encounter with French students; seminars on current affairs, and other activities.
Cours de Langue Française de la Sorbonne Students are assigned to the appropriate class level based on the results of a diagnostic exam. Language courses focus on grammar, expression, phonetics, and literary awareness in classes taught by professors of French as a second language in the University of Paris system. Classes are held at various sites around the Latin Quarter. A student’s grade is assessed on the basis of a final examination following the traditional French two-part model: an oral exam and a written one. (Read more)
Paris-France-Paris : Discovering a nation via its capital This course is constructed as a series of investigations of Paris – and of its relations with the surrounding cities and the rest of France – from various vantage points. Taking the city as its framework, the course highlights the main questions facing French society, and their roots. The course is presented as a journey of discovery through a series of significant Parisian "spaces" (including a large number of class meetings which take the form of lecture-visits in and around Paris), with lecture material emphasizing the specificities which make a particular space special or important and discussing the culture represented by a space. (Read more)
Part-time internship Each student is assigned a part-time internship (four mornings per week), the purpose of which is language improvement and deepened understanding of French society through contact and conversation with various actors. In light of this goal, placement is primarily in educational and not-for-profit milieus. The internship will be completed by a formal report (see below).
A part-time internship is well suited for certain milieus and is less feasible in certain others, such as government ministries, scientific laboratories, or museums. A part-time internship in general favors administrative tasks, daily or short term assignments, observation (e.g. participation in meetings), and personal contact. On the other hand, a part-time internship can serve as excellent preparation for a full-time, more mission-driven, field-specific, consultancy-type internship like the placements that form the core of the Paris Field Study and Internship Program. The part-time internship component is described in more detail in the placement form of the application packet.
Language and Methodology Seminar / Internship Report The Seminar is led by a professor of French as a Foreign Language ("FLE") and meets weekly for 1h30min, with a twofold purpose. On one hand the Seminar provides students additional work on phonetics, pronunciation and spoken French in general, while on the other hand it serves to advise and assist students in the preparation of the Internship Report, a 20 page document in French describing the host organization, the missions assigned to the student intern, the work accomplished, and a critical analysis of the whole including lessons learned, etc. As such, the Seminar consists of both collective exercizes and individual tutorial sessions.
TO APPLY
The first step is to notify the Office of International Studies that you are interested in applying to the Paris program. All completed applications are to be filed with the OIS. The Goucher College Paris Program application contains five forms. You may download each form separately as a PDF file. The files contain text fields and other fields that may be completed on-screen online, but please note that unfinished files cannot be saved or stored. The easiest method is likely to prepare answers in separate text documents and then copy and paste into text fields in IFE application files.
These are the links to the five forms:
The Application Form
The Language Recommendation Form
The General Recommendation Form
The Placement Form
The Housing Form
All questions concerning the application process may be addressed to the OIS and/or to IFE.
For all information concerning...cdonhaus@goucher.edu
The Goucher College Paris Program page on the GC website
