FRANCE
ESSCA, ANGERS SUMMER BUSINESS PROGRAM

INTRODUCTION
Understanding Europe means understanding the complex environment of a market of 350 millions people, a powerful industrial global player and a fascinating heritage of culture and history.

The European Union, often merely considered the world's largest single market, represents much more than that when discovered from inside. Some consider it to be "undoubtedly the most daring world-order experiment of this century. It has encroached on the sovereign rights of territorial states far more than anything attempted by the United Nations. (...) The European Union is something quite new and different; it is likely to keep changing. If it is perceived outside of Europe as a success, it will provide Asia, Africa, and Latin America, or portions thereof, with positive models that they will be tempted to imitate and adapt to their regional conditions. (...) Europe, as the region that invented the modern state and its diplomacy, is taking the lead in establishing a new form of world order that may soon turn out to be sufficiently different as to qualify as a sequel." (Richard Falk in the Harvard International Review, Summer 1999).

The five-week ANGERS SUMMER PROGRAM, taught entirely in English, offers a thorough understanding of how the European Union, and the delicately balanced cooperation between its member states, really functions. It also provides a first hand initiation into all the essential aspects of European business and its interactions with the United States and other regions of the globe. Courses are specially designed for students with an American university background.

Participants will have the opportunity to gain comprehensive academic and cultural experience through a variety of courses and activities.

Based in one of France's most beautiful cities, ANGERS, an important part of this summer program will also be held in BRUSSELS and PARIS.

For more information: http://www.essca.asso.fr/engprog/

Goals:

True Beginners

  • Acquisition of basic elements necessary for immediate oral or written communications in French

Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced Levels

  • Develop French communication skills
  • Mastery of vocabulary and grammar
  • Improved command of written and oral French

COURSES
French Language Course

  • Comprehension exercises based on authentic documents: audio and video tapes, radio and television broadcasts, newspaper articles and advertising.
  • Vocabulary acquisition based on informative or editorial textsconcerning French life
  • In-depth study of grammatical structures

Conversation Class (in small groups)

  • The goal of this class is to reach a level of spontaneous expression through role-playing, conversation, debate or speech on various topics.

Language Lab

  • Pronunciation and intonation exercises
  • Grammatical Drills
Written Expression (included in the language course for July session)
  • The goal of the project is to increase interaction with native French people. Possible topics include politics, culture, leisure time, economics, sports, fashion, etc. Students are asked to gather information through live interviews with the people of Angers.
Individual or Group Project (at the Intermediate and Advanced Levels)
  • The goal of the project is to increase interaction with native French people. Possible topics include politics, culture, leisure time, economics, sports, fashion, etc. Students are asked to gather information through live interviews with the people of Angers.
HOUSING AND MEALS
There are three room and board options for students:
1. Housing in a private or state-owned residence hall. All meals are in the student cafeteria on campus.
2. Home Stay - All meals in the student cafeteria on campus.
3. Home Stay - Breakfast and dinner taken at home, lunch on campus.
Please note that the residence halls are not located on campus. Housing is either within walking distance from campus or easily accessible via public transportation.
All meals are included from dinner on the day of arrival until lunch the day of departure.

Angers, a dynamic city with a rich cultural heritage, is located 1 1/2 hours south-west of Paris by TGV (the High Speed Train). It is easily accessible not only from Paris, but also directly from Roissy-Charles de Gaule Airport via TGV from the train station at the airport. It is a university town of 260,000 people with a student population of approximately 30,000. The city is renowned for its tapestries. Visit the world famous 320 foot long Tapestry of the Apocalypse from the 14th century, located in the castle of Angers. The castle, an imposing structure surrounded by 17 towers was built between 1228 and 1238. Visit, as well, the Jean Lurçat Museum of Tapestries located in the oldest hospital in France, built between 1174 and 1185 by Henry II Plantagenét, King of England and Count of Anjou. Visit the Saint Maurice Cathedral, a great example of Angevine Gothic architecture and the Saint Serge church, a 13th century Plantagenét style building. Stroll through the old town, with its wealth of medieval houses. Visit the Fine Arts Museum. Angers is in the heart of a region known for its cultural heritage. Not far from Angers one can visit the castles of Brissac, Montgeoffroy, Plessis-Bourré, Serrant, and others. The city of Saumur is known for its castle and old town. There is also the royal Abbey of Fontevraud, the Romanesque church of Cunuault, the blue mine and its slate museum, and troglodyte villages. The region of Anjou is also famous for its wines, and one can visit wine cellars and taste the Rosé d'Anjou,or the excellent red cabernet wines. Angers is also home to the producers of Cointreau, an orange flavored liquor. Every bottle of Cointreau is produced right in Angers and sent around the world.

Cultural and Sporting Activities:
Many activities are offered on and off campus such as movies, lectures, an International Evening, concerts, soccer, basketball, table tennis and others.

Excursions
The following excursions are included in the program:

  • July 4 - Sound and Light Show at the castle of the Puy
    du Fou (evening trip)
  • July 6 - Loire Valley Castle Tour (day trip)
  • July 11 - L'Anjou troglodyte (with dinner)
  • July 14 - Mount St. Michel and Saint Malo (day trip)
  • July 19 - Gulf of Morbihan (by boat), Megalithic site in
    Carnac and the city of Vannes (day trip)

COSTS: $2,080.00

Cost includes:
  • Tuition and fees for six credit hours (transcript from Truman State University)
  • Room and board as described above
  • Cultural activities listed above
  • Health and repatriation insurance

Cost does not include:
  • Airfare and train to Angers and back
  • Passport costs (no visa required)
  • Personal Expenses
ACADEMIC CONTENT

The European Union - Macro-economic environment
2 credits

Institutions, Collectivities, Companies

  • Structures and interactions of the main E.U. institutions
  • Processes of decision-making
  • Role of local and regional collectivities
  • Case studies: how companies benefit from the E.U.Regional Dynamics in the E.U.
  • The committee of the regions
  • European spatial planning
  • Structural funds and budgetThe Common Agricultural Policy
  • Underlying principles of the CAP
  • Costs and current problems of the CAPThe European Monetary Union
  • Emergence of the EMU
  • Impact of the Euro on European business
  • Evolution of the Euro since its introductionEuropean (Rhineland) Capitalism vs. Anglo-American Capitalism
  • The Rhineland model of capitalism
  • Major European interpretations of capitalism
  • Reactions to globalizationEU Enlargement to the East / Regional Unions in Eastern Europe
  • History of EU enlargement since 1957
  • New regional unions in Central & Eastern Europe
  • Problems inherent in the enlargement process
  • Case studies of several EU applicants

    Brussels Seminar
    2 credits

  • Visit to the European Commission and meeting with commission officials
  • Meeting with a professional lobbyist
  • Meeting with a political journalist from the Wall Street Journal Europe
  • Visit to the permanent representation of a major European region
  • Meeting with an EU official working on EU-Asia cooperation
  • Visit to the European Parliament
  • Meeting with an international television journalist
  • Visit to the European Council and meeting with the head of the translation office

    European Management Issues + Markets in Europe
    2 credits

    Markets in Europe

  • The European regions as markets (population, wealth, education, industriesÉ)
  • Infrastructures and logistical networks within Europe
  • Case studies of several key markets

    European Marketing

  • Standardization vs. adaptation: European marketing strategies
  • Consumer Behavior : Is there such a thing as a European consumer ?

    European Financial Markets: London, Frankfurt, Euronext (Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam)

  • Analysis of the major European stock exchanges
  • Differences in financial culture among European countries
  • New stock exchange coorperation

    Wine Business & Wine Culture

  • Marketing of wine in Europe: general aspects and case studies
  • Field visit to a local wine museum and wine producers

    Management of Cultural Institutions

  • Marketing strategy for internationally renowned cultural institutions
  • Case study: How the Louvre is run (the seminar is held within the Louvre itself)

    Financing Business in Europe

  • Comparison of financial needs between different E.U. members
  • Comparison of different European banking systems

    European Company Law

  • The "Brussels" factor in national laws
  • Convergence and divergence in corporate law in Europe

    Accounting Systems, Taxes and Social Charges

  • Major divergences in national accounting systems across Europe
  • Valuation methods and the difficulty of comparisons
  • Divergences in tax systems and social charges among E.U. members
  • Harmonization as the crucial point of the E.U. agenda

    European Cultural Studies
    1 credits

    Background and Emergence of the European Union

  • Defining Europe
  • The European Union today - facts and realities
  • The emergence of the Union and the background of the European idea
  • The E.U. as the first supra-national experiment

    National Identities in the Globalization Process:

  • The expression of collective identity in an age of globalization
  • European soccer frenzy : a sociological analysis of the 2002 World Cup

    Religious Heritage in France and Europe:

  • Christian heritage
  • The impact of religious attitudes on capitalist behaviour (Course held at the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud, and completed by field visits to Angers Cathedral and the Tapestry of the Apocalypse)

    Cross-Cultural Stereotypes and Perception:

  • Negative and positive aspects of stereotypes
  • Hetero- and auto-stereotypes, hetero- and auto-perception
  • Cross-cultural awareness

    Some national case studies:

  • Britain and the European Union: a love-hate relationship
  • Ireland: the Emergence of the Celtic Tiger
  • Franco-Germand relations: the powerhouse of EuropeSchedule
  • The exact program schedule will be published in "pdf" format on these pages four weeks before the start of the program. Please note that weekends in Angers will include at least one all-day field visit each

    Field visits:

    A series of subject-related field visits to companies or production sites are included in the lecture program. Among them are Lucent Technologies Saumur, local Anjou and CrŽmant de Loire wine producers, Cointreau liqueur manufacturer, Carrefour hypermarkets.

    Lecturers:

    Apart from ESSCA permanent staff (Ross Mac Artain, Albrecht Sonntag, Anne Gombault, Amanda Menguelti), the following guest lecturers will teach in the ANGERS SUMMER PROGRAM :

  • Brigitte Fouilland, Paris (15 hrs)
    Lecturer in Political Economics at Le Havre University, specialist in European Spatial Planning and Regional Dynamics.
  • Christian George, Rouen (15 hrs)
    Director of a CFA consulting firm, teaches business techniques in various business schools and adult education programs, has worked as an auditor in Brussels for several years.
  • Michel Bourqui, Paris (6 hrs)
    General Secretary of the International Wine Office, Paris, specialist in international marketing.
  • Daniela Heimerl, Paris (3 hrs)
    Researcher at "La Documentation Française", specialist in economies of Eastern European states.
  • David Rees, Angers (3 hrs)
    Economist, lecturer at ESSCA and other Angers institutes of higher education.

    Class time and textbooks

    Class time:
    Generally, students will have up to six contact hours per day. The total number of contact hours for the whole program is 114 (including the Brussels seminar which counts for 30 contact hours) . These contact hours also include those of the field visits which are directly subject-related.

    Textbooks:
    Students will not need to use particular textbooks. Handouts and other material are provided by each lecturer.

    For more information, please contact:

    Center for International Education Abroad
    Truman State University
    Kirk Building 120
    Kirksville, MO 63501
    Phone: (660) 785-4076
    Fax: (660) 785-7473
    Email: CIEA@Truman.edu

    REQUIRMENTS
    Sophomore, Junior, or Senior status
    2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale

    FORMS
    To request more info
    To apply

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