French in the City, and the City in France: Language track

“French in the City, and the City in France: Language track” provides interested students the chance to increase their French proficiency. This 6 week program will begin in Paris, France followed by 5 weeks in Lille, France. While the week in Paris will offer students an immersive language experience living with a family, the location in Lille in the North of France will offer a locale to give French students the chance to put their language skills in dialogue and experience a city and region with a unique linguistic past. This program will run concurrently with the "French in the City, and the City in France: Urban Studies track" program so students of this program can expect to interact with other Pitt students pursuing Urban Studies in Lille. French students will be able to use the city and the region to hone language skills and consider how urbanism relates to French-speaking cultures and to cultural and linguistic connections with nearby countries (Belgium, Luxembourg).

Students in this program will take the same two 3-credit courses.

This program will include one mandatory day trip to Brussels, but will offer other optional day trips for students.*

*Optional day trips will be offered by the Université Catholique de Lille and students may choose to participate in them so long as their required academics/coursework are not missed.

What You'll Accomplish:

As an engaged and active participant in this program, you will have the opportunity to:

acquire transferrable professional skills by improving your French proficiency in all skill areas (speaking, writing, reading, listening) in classes as well as within homestay families.
experience every day life in two French very different French cities
visit cultural heritage sites in Lille and other major French-speaking cities

This program will begin with one week in Paris. Paris, the capital of France, is also France's largest city and one of Europe's most important. Paris, known as the "City of Light" will provide a linguistic hub for your continued studies of French language and culture. After one week, the entire group will transfer via coach bus or train to Lille, France. Lille is a medium-sized city in the north of France (Nord-Pas de Calais region). Once known for its industry, today, the city of Lille is a vibrant, young, student-centered location. It's a great mix of "local" and big city. You'll find that Lille is full of history and you will be able to explore the Flemish influence on the spaces and architecture throughout the various neighborhoods.

Where You'll Live:

Paris

Students on this program will live first with a host family in their homes in Paris. Homestays will have easy access to public transportation (either bus or metro) and you can expect a 30-40 minute commute into central Paris - a great time to study, read, or simply experience regular everyday life as a Parisian! A Paris metro pass will be included for the week. You can expect your homestay to include:

shared bedroom (you and another Pitt student on the program)
shared bathrooms
3 meals per day provided in your home
internet access
access to do laundry

Lille

After spending the first week of the program in Paris in homestays, students will transfer to the city of Lille. In Lille, all students will be housed in single rooms in student residences. The Lille student residences are located roughly 30 minutes walk from where your classes will be held. A local bus pass is included. You can expect these accommodations to include:

single bedroom
shared bathrooms
kitchenette access
laundry service on premises

We do our best to provide the most accurate information about housing and amenities but due to the nature of the locations in which we offer programs and limited availability, these items are subject to change. Contact your program manager with any questions.

What You'll Study:

All students in this program will take the same two courses. Upon successful completion of the program, students will have earned 6.0 credits. The FR 1037 course will be taught by Pitt professor, Brett Wells, while the FR 1035 cinema course will be taught by a local faculty member.

FR 1035 satisfies Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences ARTS general education.

French(es) in Europe: Dialects in Dialogue (FR1037)

Il drache ! Dans les années septante... Peux-tu attendre sur ces clients ? Elles refusent de poutzer toute la chambre... On est amis, peut-on faire schmolitz ? Où est-ce que vous entendriez ces tournures? Font-elles partie du français "standard"? Qu'est-ce que le français dit "standard" de toute façon ? Dans ce cours nous répondrons à toutes ces questions et à bien d'autres en explorant la diversité linguistique de l'Europe francophone: ses prononciations, ses mots, ses tournures et ses innovations récentes. Car pouvoir dire parler le français suppose forcément pouvoir dire entendre et comprendre le français--dans toutes ses différentes réalisations. Notre approche multilittératies ouvrira la porte à l'étude de la différence dialectale en nous permettant un accès aux textes dans le sens large du terme: textes oraux (balados, radio, enregistrements), textes écrits (extraits littéraires, articles de presse, textes techniques), textes multimédias (télévision, cinéma, publicités, vlogues, youtube).

Syllabus:

Download FR_1037_SU24_DRAFT.pdf (181 KB)

Le Cinema Franco-Belge Contemporain (FR1035)

Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences general education: ARTS

The course will be taught by a local French professor.

Offered during the six-week study abroad in Lille, France, this course introduces students to the film production, practices, and receptive perspectives of Franco-Belgian cinema. The course foreheads no previous exposure to film studies or film analysis. Focus is on various intersectional identity points that are represented through the cinematographic medium. Students taking this course will learn how to analyze film production critically. The films watched and studied in this course will be analyzed structurally, narratively, semantically, psychoanalytically as well as historically.

Pitt's partner for this program is WorldStrides. WorldStrides has been collaborating with universities and providing education abroad opportunities for their students for over 30 years. WorldStrides is a leader in education abroad and pride themselves in the quality of their on-site support and comprehensive programming. They believe that learning outside the classroom is an important part of the international education experience.

Students will be supported throughout the process by WorldStrides staff in addition to your Pitt program manager and faculty leader.

Your Pitt Study Abroad Contacts:

Lauren Perri

Hi! I'm Lauren, Program Manager for Arts & Sciences students. As an undergraduate student, I studied abroad in Marburg, Germany. Since then, my career in international education has taken me to many locations around the world. Particularly, I have an affinity for Florence, Italy. There is nothing quite like the challenge of navigating a new city, country, and culture! Let's chat about global experiences.

E-mail:

lap140@pitt.edu

Schedule an appointment

Schedule an appointment with me using Pathways!

Don't see a time that works for you? Just send me an email at lap140@pitt.edu

Your In-Country Contacts:

Brett Wells

Brett Wells is a Senior Lecturer, Co-Director of French Undergraduate Studies, Coordinator of the French Language Program and Advisor in the French department. Professor Wells earned his Masters and PhD in French from Stanford University. He has spent considerable time in Québec, and his research interests include Language planning in Québec, Terminology, Francophone Sociolinguistics, and Applied Linguistics. He has taught at Pitt for over 15 years and led numerous study abroad programs to both France and Quebec. In addition to his interests in language acquisition and second- and foreign-language pedagogy, he has also begun work on developing courses focusing on language for special purposes, such as French for the professions, applied translation and language for cyber-security.

E-mail:

wellsb@pitt.edu

Items Billed by Pitt
	In-State	Out-of-State
Program Fee	$8,099.00	$8,299.00
Pitt GEO Admin Fee	$300.00	$300.00
Total Billed by Pitt	$8,399.00	$8,599.00

Estimated Additional Out-of-Pocket Costs
Airfare		$1,700.00
Meals and Personal Expenses		$1,500.00
Passport (if necessary)		$160

Remember that your lifestyle and spending choices can greatly impact the amount of money you'll need while abroad. The above estimates are estimates.

What's Included:

As a part of your program fee, the following are included:

Tuition for six credits
1 week stay in Paris in homestay with local families
Week-long Paris metro pass
5 weeks in Lille in single student residence halls
Lille bus pass
Class-related visits plus excursion to Bruxelles
Airport pick-up in Paris
Paris walking tour, boat tour on the Seine, and museum visit
Group transfer from Paris to Lille
international medical insurance
Orientation on-site
Walking tour in Lille

When You'll Go:

This program will run from mid-May to late-June. See program sidebar for exact dates.

The program will begin with students arriving to Paris on May 13. Students will stay in Paris from May 13-May 19. On May 19, students will transfer together to Lille for the remaining 5 weeks.

What Else You Need to Know:

This program requires 4 semesters of college-level French or equivalent experience/proficiency. For students interested in this program, but who do not meet the required language proficiency, you may want to consider the Urban Studies track.

This program runs concurrently with the "French in the City, and the City in France: Urban Studies track" so you can expect to interact with other Pitt students outside the classroom.