Eligibility

Minimum 3.0 GPA & grades of B or better in at least French 202; French 212 or 214 required for upper level French credit.

The City of Paris
The capital and largest city of France, Paris has a population of over 2 million people with an additional 10 million living in the outlying suburbs, making it one of the most populated metropolitan areas in Europe. Known as one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, Paris is a center for the arts, intellectual discourse, and gastronomy. It has been an important and central location for over two thousand years, and is today one of the world’s leading cultural and financial centers. With the river Seine and famous boulevards crossing the city, Paris is made up of twenty arrondissements, each with its own unique character. The city offers a wide array of art museums, musical and theatrical venues, architectural landmarks, literary cafes, stunning gardens, and some of the world's top institutions of higher learning, all of which make Paris an ideal location to explore scholarly and cultural pursuits. Paris’ transportation system has grown quite extensively to accommodate the growing city and allows visitors and residents to easily access the many attractions and points of interest.

The city is home to a number of universities and renowned research and teaching institutes, many of which are located in the Latin Quarter. While Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, studying at Reid Hall will offer the student an opportunity to gain a very different perspective on the city. Living and studying with Parisians, it is hoped that students will discover their own Paris and an understanding of why Parisians love Paris.

Reid Hall
Reid Hall, owned and administered by Columbia University, is located on the rue de Chevreuse in the Montparnasse district of Paris near the Luxembourg Gardens. The original building was constructed in the early 18th Century, before the French Revolution, and modern additions have enlarged the facility, creating an interior courtyard and private garden. Reid Hall, itself, primarily houses administrative offices and classrooms and also has a small reference library, a reading room, lounges, and two large conference rooms. Students have access to WiFi in classrooms and all common areas of Reid Hall. The building is located within walking distance of the Latin Quarter and several branches of the University of Paris.

Reid Hall programs draw upon the resources of the city to help students gain both the knowledge and the confidence to live and communicate in a French-speaking environment. The programs offer intellectually challenging courses both at Reid Hall and in the French university system. Courses at Reid Hall are taught in French by French scholars. Reid Hall participants enroll in French university courses at the University of Paris VII (Denis Diderot), IV (La Sorbonne), University of Paris I (Panthèon) or at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques. The Reid Hall Programs are designed for students who not only want to learn French, but who also wish to broaden their intellectual horizons and cultivate a critical perspective on the European tradition. The program challenges students to step outside the boundaries of a traditional French language program and use French as a means to further their understanding of their own area of study. Students with a good command of the French language refine their speaking and writing skills through intensive language training and by taking selected disciplinary courses taught in French specifically for the program at Reid Hall and/or in the French university system. Depending on their language levels and academic goals, students tailor their courses of study to meet their needs.

Program website at: http://www.ce.columbia.edu/paris.

Penn Students at Reid Hall
Reid Hall offers a variety of courses to suit students with different levels of French and academic interests. All students will begin their studies with a week-long orientation followed by a three-week intensive French language practicum. Practicum groups are formed based upon language level and academic area of interest. The practicum will focus on grammar and composition and developing an understanding of key concepts that may be needed during a student's study in Paris. Following the practicum, students will participate in a homestay in a French provincial town, where students live with families and complete course-related supervised study projects.

Upon return from the homestay, students enroll in a French stylistics course at Reid Hall called Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences and three electives, all taught in French, selecting courses from Reid Hall and the French universities. Past Reid Hall electives have included Medieval Art, Political Life in France, Democracy and Journalism in France and Paris in Context: Itineraries on the Architectural, Urban Cultural History of Paris. All Penn students must take one or more courses in direct enrollment at one of the French universities:

Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po): A limited number of courses in history, political science, international relations, general economics, and comparative society.

University of Paris I (Panthéon Sorbonne): Courses in art history, history, political science, economics, philosophy, international relations, and film.

University of Paris IV (Sorbonne): Courses in art history, history, comparative and French literature, philosophy, cultural geography, and anthropology.

University of Paris VII (Denis Diderot): Courses in film studies, history, literature, philosophy, sociology, gender studies, biology, physics, mathematics, and chemistry.

Course Load
Participants must maintain a full course load during their period of study abroad. All students enrolled at Reid Hall must complete five courses each semester. The Intensive Practicum counts as one credit unit so students will not be taking more than four courses at any one time while studying at Reid Hall.

Grading
Reid Hall reports grades using a standard A to F scale. As on all Penn Abroad programs, grades are recorded on the Penn transcript and are calculated in the cumulative grade point average. The pass/fail option can be exercised according to the Penn on-campus policy.

Academic Calendar
Fall semester: early September - late December
Spring semester: mid January – early June

Reid Hall is not a residential facility for students, but the Program has an effective system for helping students find appropriate quarters. Because of the difficulty of finding housing in Paris, the program housing coordinator usually matches students to apartments, or homestays before the students' arrival in Paris. Specific information on obtaining housing in Paris will be provided to accepted students. Participants must be willing to live under local conditions for students.

As part of the homestay students will receive a simple breakfast each day and four dinners per week with the family. For other meals and depending on the housing option chosen, students have private or shared kitchen facilities, or eat in moderately priced restaurants or the inexpensive restaurants universitaires. For about four dollars, a student with a carte d?étudiant can eat a full meal in any university cafeteria. Students receive more detailed information on dining options during orientation.

student Life
During the semester Reid Hall offers a variety of activities and excursions to introduce students to life in France. Past activities have included a French cuisine workshop, a wine appreciation workshop, evening concerts and plays, dinner in a French household, a music workshop, day and weekend trips with French and international students to the Châteaux de la Loire, Normandy, Reims, Giverny, Burgundy, and many other sites of interest, drawing and painting Paris, French cuisine, and a ciné-club.

Many Reid Hall courses incorporate field trips related to the topic of study and may includes one or two trips outside of Paris. Students may be asked to contribute a small fee to participate in some of the activities, excursions and field trips. Reid Hall also provides opportunities for language partners, volunteer work, student teaching and internships including a special research option at the Institute Pasteur.

The city of Paris, itself, offers an abundance of activities for students to explore, and students should take advantage of the many museums, performances and cultural and sporting events that can easily be found in the city.

Visa
The French government requires that all program participants obtain a student visa and students studying for the academic year will also need a carte de séjour. Instructions are provided to admitted students. Non-U.S. citizens must consult a French consulate for visa requirements.