UC Center Summer Program
French Language and Culture
Summer 2009 Semester
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Welcome to the website of University of California's summer program in French Language and Culture!

We at the UC Paris Center look forward to welcoming you here in person on June 22. For the seven weeks you are here, your mornings will be spent in language classes taught by resident Parisians. Two afternoons a week, you will attend one of the sections of the program's culture course. Both sections of this course, one for students with a humanities major or interest and the other for students with a social science major or interest, are designed to give you ample opportunity to take advantage of being in Paris. They will include visits to Parisian sites, museums and through several assigned excursions, you will also be encouraged to explore certain sites on your own or in small groups.

Throughout the summer, you'll have many opportunities to use the French you're learning in class in everyday situations, and you'll gain a real familiarity with some of the basic issues of French society and culture.

Again, we look forward to spending time with you here in Paris. A bientôt !

UC CENTER PROGRAM IN
FRENCH AND EUROPEAN STUDIES
CALENDAR

Date

Official EAP Start Date

Monday, June 22, 2009

Orientation and French language placement evaluation

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Classes start

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Week two

June 29 - July 3, 2009

Week three

July 6 - July 10, 2009

Week four

July 13 - July 17, 2009

Bastille Day - no classes

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Week five

July 20 - July 24, 2009

Week six

July 27 - July 31, 2009

Week seven and end of program

August 3 - August 7, 2009

Final exams

August 6 & 7, 2009

Move out of housing

Saturday, August 8, 2009

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French Language Course

Each student will be enrolled in an intensive language course. Students will leave the program with at least the equivalent of a first year French class on their home campus, and a good grasp of the practical use of French. Students will be placed in one of three groups based on the French they have had on their home campus and the results of a diagnostic exam upon their arrival in Paris .

Culture Course: Social Science emphasis


This course is designed for students with a social science major or focus. The course will be taught principally in English, and will meet twice a week for two hour sessions. Additional required excursions and visits, as a class or on individual assignment, will enhance classroom discussions. Topics that may be covered include:

  • Expressions of Absolute power: the monarchy's mark on Paris
  • Revolutionary Paris
  • Gender parity and "positive discrimination"
  • Paris in the context of Europe
  • The history of immigration in France
  • Franco-American relations: Sarkozy and the legacy of de Gaulle
  • The mayoral race in Paris

Culture Course: Humanities emphasis

This course is designed for students with a major or focus in the humanities. The course will be taught principally in English, and will meet twice a week for two hours sessions. Additional required excursions and visits, as a class or on individual assignment, will enhance classroom discussions. Topics that may be covered include:

  • Notre-Dame de Paris: the People's Cathedral. Readings from Hugo's great novel in translation shed a different, secular light on this Parisian monument
  • The 18th Century Salons and the birth of art criticism
  • The Modern Intellectual and his remains
  • Social impressionism
  • Balzac's Paris : Lost Illusions , Lost world? Readings from the middle Parisian section of Balzac's novel will inspire visits out into Paris to see what's changed and what's remained the same since the nineteenth century Restoration monarchy
  • Marivaux in the Banlieue : Kéchiche's L'esquive

ATTENDANCE POLICY FOR THE SUMMER PROGRAM IN FRENCH AND CULTURE STUDIES

In the "Student Conduct and Discipline Agreement" our students have made a commitment to conform to standards of conduct including "regular attendance in all classes for which Student is registered."

Here is the specific attendance policy of the UC-Study Center Summer Program in French Language and Culture:

  1. Roll will be taken as a matter of course
  2. There will be no unexcused absences. Any absence must be documented (note from medical doctor, for example)
  3. Unexcused absences will be penalized as follows: we will lower 1/4 letter grade per course for each unexcused absence