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French and Italian

FRENCH and ITALIAN IMMERSION and STUDY ABROAD OPPORTUNITIES

Click HERE for an article about the French Cannes Film Maymester.

Study Abroad

FRENCH STUDY ABROAD

If you are interested in FRENCH study abroad either as a student who wishes to specialize in French or a student who has no previous experience with French, please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Raisa Rexer. Students may go for fall, spring, Maymester, or summer. The deadline for Spring 2024 will be announced. Applications for Spring 2024 will open in November. The deadline for Fall 2023 has passed.

Vanderbilt Approved French Study Abroad Programs:

Columbia in Paris
Language of Instruction: French, Language prerequisite: Yes
American University of Paris
Language of Instruction: English, French,  Language prerequisite: No
CIEE Open Campus: Paris
Language of Instruction: English, French,  Language prerequisite: No
CIEE Toulouse: Business & Culture
Language of Instruction: English, French,  Language prerequisite: No
CIEE Toulouse: Language & Culture
Language of Instruction: English, French,  Language prerequisite: No

For additional information contact the Global Education Office.

ITALIAN STUDY ABROAD

If you are interested in ITALIAN study abroad, with or without previous experience with Italian, please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Elsa Filosa for more information. The deadline for Fall 2023 has passed. Applications for Spring 2024 will open in November. The deadline for Fall 2024 is not yet announced.

Vanderbilt Approved Italian Study Abroad Programs:

CET Siena
Language of Instruction: English, Italian,  Language prerequisite: No

CET Florence
Language of Instruction: English,  Language prerequisite: No

Click HERE for an Italian student’s study abroad testimonial.

For additional information contact the Global Education Office.

Maymesters Abroad

Maymesters abroad are regular Vanderbilt courses taught by Vanderbilt faculty in another country. They are typically three to four weeks in length and offered in the month of May. Maymesters offered by the College of Arts and Science are generally announced in November. For more information see  A&S Maymester Abroad Course Listings.

Summer 2024 Maymester programs offered by French and Italian faculty are: TBD

PATHWAYS TO IMMERSION

The Department of French and Italian at Vanderbilt fosters and welcomes the creativity, interdisciplinary attitude, and flexibility of every student who wants to propose her or his unique path toward the fulfillment of the Immersion requirement. The following are just some possible selections of courses that may help you to achieve that goal.

Summer-Intensive or Semester-Long Study Abroad Immersion Programs 

The Study Abroad programs listed below provide students with a total immersion in the French or Italian language and culture in a summer-intensive or semester-long program that fulfills all the requirements for Immersion (300 hours). (International Pathway)

Option A: During their study abroad experience, students develop a blog or vlog (in English or in the target language(s)) and post at least two entries per week. The audience and purpose of the blog/vlog (e.g. trace one’s origins, educate travelers on a cultural particularity of the target country, share with future students aspects of the target language, etc…) should be defined in advance to create a cohesive project.
Option B:  Students engage in community or volunteer work and reflect on the experience in a final presentation.

French – Contact DUS Raisa Rexer
Italian – Contact DUS Elsa Filosa

Lower-Level French and/or Italian Immersion

  • Learning a Foreign Language: A Journey!  Students take three semesters of Beginning and/or Intermediate language, The immersion project entails collecting classwork, reflecting on the language learning process, and producing a creative project.

Intermediate/Advanced French or Italian Immersion

  • French Fluency and Multicultural Identities  Students with credit for the first three semesters of French have the choice of enrolling in two courses that focus on language use in context and cross-cultural awareness. The immersion project entails a final reflection and the creation of an appropriate project.
  • Contemporary Italian Society and Culture   Students with credit for the first three semesters of Italian have the choice of enrolling in three courses at an upper intermediate or advanced level. The immersion project entails collecting classwork, reflecting on the language learning process, and creating an appropriate project.
  • French Society and Culture   Students with credit for the first three semesters of French have the choice of enrolling in three courses at an upper intermediate or advanced level. The immersion project entails collecting classwork, reflecting on the language learning process, and creating an appropriate project.

Other Immersion Opportunities

  • From Design to Fashion, from Fashion to Design The Department of Theatre and the Italian program propose an immersive experience through the world of design and fashion. This will offer students the opportunity to investigate the aesthetics and process of costuming and makeup, the cultural, historical, and economic aspects of Italian brands, and the issues and practices of sustainable fashion, culminating in a final project.
  • Italian Cinema: History, Theory, and Practice  Students take courses dealing with the history of Italian cinema, film theory and practice, and contemporary inter-media experiments, culminating with a final project.
  • Jewish & Arab-Muslim Relations (France, North Africa, Israel)  Students participate in a faculty-led immersion project that aims at comprehending one of the most entrenched conflicts of our epoch: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The immersion experience ends with the completion of a final creative or research project.
  • Urban Culture, Life, and Architecture  This interdisciplinary immersive experience brings together cultural theory and urban planning to explore the ways in which fiction, film, painting, photography, graphic novels, and performance art aspire to communicate the complex life and design of our cities, as well as seek to transform the way readers and viewers understand and experience urban realities. The immersion project entails a thesis, or a multimedia project, or community work.

 

For more information regarding Immersion in the French & Italian Department contact:
Raisa Rexer, Director of Undergraduate Studies for French
Elsa Filosa, Director of Undergraduate Studies for Italian
Alexis Finet, Language Program Director of French

 

Maymesters Abroad

Maymesters abroad are regular Vanderbilt courses  taught by Vanderbilt faculty in another country. They are typically three to four weeks in length, and offered in the month of May. Maymesters offered by the College of Arts and Science are generally announced in November. For more information see  A&S Maymester Abroad Course Listings .

Summer 2024 Maymester programs offered by French and Italian faculty are: TBD

 

For additional information contact
the Global Education Office in the Student Life Building, Suite 115

at 615-343-3139