Fall students will fly out of the States on Wednesday, Sept. 9, arriving in Strasbourg on the 10th, when the program officially begins. Students will fly home on Saturday, Dec. 7. Spring students will fly out of the States on Monday, Feb. 15, arriving in Strasbourg on Feb. 16. They will fly home on Saturday, May 16. The Strasbourg program purposely lasts fewer than 90 days so that most students will not have to obtain a visa. If you plan to arrive in Europe before the program begins, stay in the Schengen zone after the program ends, and/or participate during the same academic year in a CentreTerm abroad course in a Schengen country, you must acquire a long-term French study visa, a process that requires a fee and an in-person visit to a French consulate. To keep our students safe our Centre in Strasbourg program has been deferred until the spring of 2021. Thank you for your understanding.
 
Special Notes about Program Dates and Travel.
Because classes often end at 5:00 p.m. on Thursdays, students can sometimes leave for weekend travel on Thursday evenings. Increasingly, Strasbourg students are opting to spend some of their travel periods in their Strasbourg apartments, taking day-trips to Germany and around Alsace. When students are away from Strasbourg for the night, they must let the director know where they’ll be and travel with at least one other Centre student, unless their parents email the director permission for them to travel alone.
 
90-day maximum stay: The Strasbourg program purposely lasts fewer than 90 days so that students do not have to obtain a visa for stays of longer than 90 days. If you plan to arrive in Europe early or stay once the program ends, you must acquire a long-term French study visa, a time-consuming process that requires a fee and an in-person visit to a French consulate. You cannot obtain a visa once you are in Europe.

The same as studying in Danville, plus a $$375 deposit (surcharge/emergency fund/carbon offset) due 11 March 2020, and a $25 travel medicine fee. Flights to the abroad site are also the responsibility of the student. All pre-departure meetings, including the travel medicine meeting held each semester, are mandatory. If you have significant financial need, you may also qualify for additional funding from the Center for Global Citizenship.
 
Students studying abroad are charged for the regular Centre room and board plan. They are then given food money at regular intervals while abroad and learn to shop in the markets and prepare their meals as a group, in their apartment kitchens. In the past, students have become experts at finding inexpensive, fresh ingredients and preparing simple, healthy, and delicious fare. Centre will pay for occasional group meals, for a two-night/three-day excursion, and for an art and architecture trip in the region that all students take.
 
Eurail Tickets. Information on Eurail tickets is available at http://www.euro-rail.org. Participants in this program are not allowed to purchase and use an unlimited “Global” Eurail pass; our experience has shown that this is disruptive to the program’s schedule and goals. Recent Strasbourg students have felt that a 10-day or 8-day train pass is sufficient and gives them flexibility to travel to further-away destinations via inexpensive air travel. Some Strasbourg students choose not to purchase a Eurail pass.

Homestays with French or German-speaking families are an option for students with advanced language skills who want to improve their fluency rapidly. Students in homestays typically have dinner two or three times a week with their homestay families.
 
Centre also rents three apartments, all conveniently located in the downtown area within a fifteen-minute walk of the Centre office and classroom. These apartments are fully furnished and include linens, a TV, a kitchen with cooking utensils and dishes, a washing machine, and a telephone. Because these apartments are in regular apartment buildings among French families and not in a college dormitory, Strasbourg students must be very responsible about noise: no loud music or even loud talking in the evenings. The same commonsense fire-safety rules about no candles or smoking or Halogen lamps that apply on campus apply in these apartments. During the apartment orientation session with the coordinator and director, all students must sign a statement about keeping the apartment neat and clean and about maintaining appropriate apartment behavior. Any student breaking this signed agreement will be dismissed from the apartment and will be personally responsible for finding and paying for his/her housing.
 
Apartment Contract and Upkeep. You are required to sign an apartment contract during the Coordinator’s and Director’s apartment orientation and to keep your apartment clean and in good order throughout the entire term. The Director and Coordinator have the right to inspect your apartment at any time, and the right to dismiss you from the apartment if you do not live up to the signed agreement. The day after the mid-term break, the Director will make a mid-course apartment inspection to determine things that need to be repaired or purchased. On the last evening of your stay, she will conduct a penultimate inspection and assess all apartment members equally the money needed to replace broken items and/or pay for professional cleaning. The last inspection occurs the day after you leave; this is to make certain you’ve stripped the linens from your beds, totally cleaned out your refrigerator, not left wet towels to mildew, taken out all of the trash, etc. Students will not be allowed to move into the apartments until the day the program officially begins; if you plan to arrive early, you must reserve a room in a hostel or hotel.
 
No Overnight Guests in Apartments. Because of liability issues, no overnight guests may stay in the Centre apartments, even for a single night. No exceptions can be granted to this rule. Infraction of this rule will result in your immediate dismissal from the program with none of your semester’s tuition returned. The director will be happy to provide you with a list of Strasbourg hostels and hotels of all price ranges for any guests who may visit.

The 2020-2021 program will be directed by Professor Marc Démont, Visiting Assistant Professor of French.  A native of France, Dr. Démont has also co-directed Centre College study-abroad courses to Tahiti and India (Pondicherry).

Mandatory Classes: 

all students must take a French Class at the appropriate Level

and 

“The French Experience”: French Contemporary Issues and Identities (HUM 2**) This course’s main focus is to undo the stereotypical representations of France and of French people and to give students a better understanding of contemporary France. The course will be organized thematically around specific “identities” (Sexual Identities, Racial and Religious Identities, Urban identities, etc.), and each of these themes will give students the opportunity to delve into French history and its cultural heritage. The course will offer a solid understanding how French society negotiates identities and deals with its own social tensions according to a specific cultural and institutional heritage, or “experience”.  Taught by Dr. Marc Démont.

Students must also enroll in TWO of the courses from the following list:

• Film Analysis and History of French Cinema (FLM 2** / FRE 3**)  This course will introduce students to the history of French cinema while simultaneously exposing them the methods and techniques of film analysis. The course organization and assignments will reflect this double articulation allowing students to produce rigorous film analyses in relation to the films’ contexts of production. From the rise of the Pathé studio, to the French contemporary stardom, movies will be introduced as complex products shaped by different forces and relations that students will learn to identify and discuss critically. The course will cover the major social and artistic movements (Réalisme Poétique, Nouvelle Vague, New French Extremism, etc.) that contributed to make of French Cinema a major innovator and leader, and one of the most recognizable national cinematic tradition. Taught by Dr. Marc Démont.

• The Religious Landscape of France (SOC 215). Students will learn how the history of France, particularly the relationship between the Church and the State and the persistence of Catholicism along with the development of French republicanism, continue to shape the religious landscape of the country today. Students will analyze religion using sociological tools and will use these tools to examine a religious community or religious phenomenon. The class combines lectures, readings, student presentations, and site visits within Strasbourg. Taught by Prof. Alex Neff.

• The Construction of Europe (POL 461). Capitalizing on Strasbourg’s location at the geographical center of Europe and as the home of three of the most important European institutions, students study the Council of Europe, whose main assignment is to defend Human Rights in Europe.  How does the Council work, and how does its European Court of Human Rights ensure the respect of fundamental rights in Europe?  Students also study the ways in which some European States have deepened their interconnectedness through economic, political, and monetary cooperation. In conjunction with a trip to the European Parliament, students consider how the European Union was born, how it works, and what makes it unique. All of these issues are approached comparatively, with an eye toward the United States, and in their impact on students living on European soil. No prerequisites; taught by staff.

Classroom Facilities in Strasbourg
The classroom area is located near the University of Strasbourg, a short walk from the main cathedral. It includes classrooms and an office, small library and study area.  

• Any rising sophomore, junior, or senior who has not yet participated in a residential, long-term study abroad program may apply. Centre accepts approximately 20-24 students each term who qualify on the basis of academic seriousness, social maturity, and faculty recommendation. The committee’s list is vetted by the Dean of Student Life and the Associate Dean before students are notified.
• While this is not a language immersion program, the selection committee typically gives preference to students who have studied French or German. Students selected for the fall term who have never studied French will take beginning French while in Strasbourg; those without any French who are selected for the spring term are strongly advised—but not required—to take French 110 for a grade during the preceding fall term.
• The application process will be discussed during the three campus-wide informational meetings on November 8, and January 8.
• Applications due no later than noon on February 6, 2020.
• Apply online using Centre Online Forms for a 2020-2021 abroad semester program. 
• Selected students must pay the non-refundable deposit of $375 by March 11; the $25 travel medicine fee is also due on March 11.

The same as studying in Danville, plus a $$375 deposit (surcharge/emergency fund/carbon offset), and a $25 travel medicine fee for a total of $400 is due on March 16, 2020. Flights to the abroad site are also the responsibility of the student. All pre-departure meetings, including the travel medicine meeting held each semester, are mandatory. If you have significant financial need, you may also qualify for additional funding from the Center for Global Citizenship.

Centre students will continue to pay their Centre tuition for their term abroad but will not be charged for room-and-board for that term; they will use their room-and-board money to help cover the cost of their airfare and the rental of an apartment. 

To be announced.

Selection of courses provided by IES and at the Université de Nantes.

Applications open on Nov 14, 2019 and will close on Feb 11, 2020. You need to have a high level of French for this full immersion program and will work with Allison Connolly while choosing courses. . A deposit of $375 and a $25 Travel Medicine Fee for a total of $400 is due on March 16, 2020.

• Apply online using Centre Online Forms for a 2020-2021 abroad semester program.