• ECO 303 - Aspects socio-économiques de la France contemporaine - A study in demographics, economics and social aspects of France in relation to the foundation of Europe. No prior course in Economics required. Offered every semester.

• FRE 301 - Grammaire et composition I - Systematic review of fundamental grammatical structures. Advanced training in witing skills and accuracy of style. First semester.
• FRE 302 - Grammaire et composition II - Continuation of FRE 301 with focus on complex grammatical structures. Second semester.
• FRE 313 - Expression orale I - Intense practical training in spoken French at the advanced level. Prepares students for interaction in real life situations. First semester.
• FRE 314 - Expression orale II - Continuation of FRE 313. Second semester.
• FRE 335 - Phonétique - Study of phonetic theory illustrated by aural practice and pronunciation. Intensive practice for advanced students. Work in the language lab included. Second semester.
• FRE 337 - Le français des affaires - The language of Business and Commerce. Combines simulation of authentic situations and specific writing strategies. First semester.
• FRE 412 - Traduction et stylistique I - Practice in translating selected texts from English into French and from French into English. Second semester .
• FRE 415 - Le français contemporain - Contemporary uses in modern spoken and written French. Focus on lexical enrichment and semantic fields. First semester.

• FRE 321 - La littérature française du moyen-âge au XVIIème siècle - Introduction to masterpieces of French literature from epic literature to golden age playwrights. Authors include Chrétien de Troyes, Rabelais, Montaigne, Pascal, Racine and La Fontaine. First semester.
• FRE 322 - La littérature française du XVIIIème siècle à nos jours - Introduction to masterpieces of French literature. Topics review the Age of Enlightenment, romanticism, realism, naturalism, and new literary trends of the XXth century. Authors include Voltaire, Hugo, Zola, Proust, Camus. Second semester .
• FRE 354 - Le théâtre français du XIXème siècle - Study of the nineteenth century theatrical revolution and of a generation of authors devoted to individualism an creative freedom (Musset, Mérimée, Hugo, Dumas and Claudel). First semester 1997.
• FRE 355 - Le théâtre français du XXème siècle - Confronted with two world wars, a genre that poses metaphysical questions and conveys visions of disintegrating reality and language. Authors include Ionesco, Anouilh, Sartre, Beckett. First semester 1998.
• FRE 367 - Littérature francophone - Francophone literature and its cultural and social identity as it develops in Western Africa, North Africa and Quebec. Authors include Miriama Ba, Kateb Yacin, Anne Hébert. Second semester.
• FRE 381 - Poésie française - From the French Revolution to Baudelaire, an analysis of the complex relations between human suffering and poetic language. Authors include Hugo, Vigny, Lamartine, Musset, Rimbaud. First semester 1997.
• FRE 431 - La France contemporaine - Analysis of French culture and society. Political, social and cultural development of France from 1958 to the present. Second semester.
• FRE 461 - Aspects du modernisme en littérature et en peinture I - Themes in art and literature. From Rimbaud to Chagall: a study of the interrelation between written and visual art forms. First semester 1998.
• FRE 462 - Aspects du modernisme en littérature et en peinture II - Modern literature and art analyzed through the concepts of angst, existentialism and alienation. Second semester 1999.
• FRE 372 - Roman et psychologie - From Flaubert to Duras, an in-depth analysis of French masterworks in their social, historical and cultural context. Second semester 1998.
• FRE 437 - Linguistique : langue, discours et société - A pragmatic analysis of different types of interactions in a socio-historical context. Includes fieldwork. No prior course in linguistics required. First semester.
• FRE 491 - l'Image de la France moderne dans son cinéma - From "Les enfants du paradis" to "La Haine", from literary imagination to social exclusion: fifty years of French cinema. Directors include Resnais, Godard, Ophuls, Truffaut, Varda, Kassovitz. First semester.

• HIS 323 - Histoire de la France de 1945 à nos jours - A close analysis of the IVth and Vth republics, de Gaulle's role, the decline of the French empire and decolonization. Foreign policy since 1945. First semester.
• HIS 334 - Histoire de la Provence et du Comtat Venaissin - From the Pope's settlement in Avignon in the XIVth century to the French Revolution. History of a foreign enclave within France. Second semester.
• POL 307 - La France et l'Union Européenne - An analysis of the European Union with emphasis on the role of France. Study of the treaties of the 1950's, questions of sovereignty, increasing interdependance and the '95 Maastricht treaty. Prospects for the XXIst century. Offered every semester.

• PSY 331 - Psychologie et communication - Theory and practice in the area of personal and social development in the perspective of transactional analysis. Second semester.

HOUSING AND MEALS

Students are generally housed in the homes of French host families. Living in a French home is considered the best form of housing because it provides an immediate introduction to life in this new place. "Family" should not be interpreted too narrowly. Increasingly, about 50% of IAU's host families are childless couples or divorced women with children who enjoy having a student living with them. Host families come from a cross-section of society; they belong to no particular professional or social milieu, but all are carefully chosen and many have hosted American students for several years. A large majority of IAU students come to consider themselves a valued member of the family. Through their families and as neighborhood residents, students benefit from meeting local people of all ages, discovering customs and exploring politics. Students may travel with their families as well. All find that speaking French at home is the single greatest factor in increasing their facility with the language-and, as one student has said, "If you're lucky, you'll have a younger sister or brother to help you with the argot." Living in a French home is seen universally as an invaluable opportunity not found in many study abroad programs. Naturally, all students must accept the constraints and responsibilities that such arrangements entail. Whenever possible, IAU accommodates students' stated housing preferences. Students who wish to live in independent lodgings for dietary or other reasons should be aware that these are limited in supply and can often be arranged only upon the student's arrival in Aix. Housing in the very center of town is limited. About one-third of IAU students live in the old city. Most of the rooms available with families are approximately 15 to 35 minutes walk from classes. A bit farther afield accommodations may be more spacious and offer the enjoyment of country living. FOOD French food. These two words alone evoke haute cuisine associations, but also symbolize unbruised perfection in fruits and vegetables, fresh baked crusty loaves, flavorful cheeses, naturally produced meats, flaky pastry, and superlative chocolate available to any shopper. Purchase, preparation, appreciation, consumption are culturally important, bringing together the human with the aesthetic, people tasting together. For students and their French families, the nightly dinner table can be a source of cultural/political/language education. What you eat and the ceremonies around the eating can be an education in itself, and dinnertime may provide a gracious and lively event each day. Daily continental breakfasts and dinners-demi-pension-are taken in the student's French home. Students are responsible for lunches. There is a multitude of affordable cafés, brasseries, boulangeries, small sandwich and grocery shops from which to choose. The open market in Aix sets up its vivid produce each morning and is the most economical and fun place to shop. Avignon opens its plentiful indoor central market, Les Halles, every morning. Many other food markets are available around town during the week. OTHER INFORMATION: WEATHER Compared to the northern United States, the climate of Provence is mild, sunny and fairly dry. However, temperatures from October to March are cold-below freezing- especially in early morning. It is often rainy in spring. The average winter temperature on a sunny afternoon is 10-11°C (50°F). The average temperature in July and August is around 28°C (85°F). European homes are usually smaller and heated at a lower temperature than those in the US. ACTIVITIES The Institute's Office of Student Affairs sponsors an active calendar of activities and events, such as hiking, skiing, wine-tasting, cooking, rugby, dance, soccer, football, fencing, and music as well as weekend day trips to such places as the seaside town of Cassis, the Matisse Museum in Nice, and the culturally varied city of Marseille. Some trips will be organized as an integral part of a given academic class. In order to offer diverse experiences of French families, the Avignon students are invited to Carpentras and Eyragues to stay in French homes for the weekend. A number of new friendships have developed from these visits. VOLUNTEER WORK There are a limited number of volunteer positions, all of which require a sound grasp of the French language. Some students have taught in public and private high schools and helped children from underprivileged families with their homework. There are additional possibilities in fields such as journalism, communication, arts, psychology, and social work FORMS To request more info To apply Return to the France Menu

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