Bucknell en France
Founded in 1987, Bucknell en France provides an opportunity for all Bucknell University students, regardless of major or background in French, to enrich their Bucknell University education by studying in France for an academic year or a semester. The program is located in Tours, a prosperous and culturally rich city of 365,000 (495,000 metro area) situated in the very heart of France, 150 miles southwest of Paris in the Loire Valley. Bucknell en France is administered by the Bucknell University French & Francophone Studies program in cooperation with the Université de Tours, a French university of 30,000 students and more than 1,200 faculty. Students are accompanied by a Bucknell faculty-in-residence who is a member of the French & Francophone Studies program. They are also supported by a permanent program coordinator in Tours. Students live with host families, take courses in a variety of disciplines, go on excursions, and participate in cultural and athletic activities in the city.
Students remain officially enrolled at Bucknell University and at the same time are registered as students of the Université de Tours. Most courses are taught in French, although a limited number are available in English and are integrated into the Bucknell University curriculum. Students receive Bucknell University grades and credit. Courses approved by a student’s academic adviser and department chair or program director count toward the major or minor. Student schedules are tailored to match their curricular needs, interests and level of French proficiency. The first days in Tours include an intensive language and cultural orientation. While a semester’s stay in Tours is highly beneficial, students who remain for the year have significantly more time to increase their language proficiency, integrate more fully in the French culture, travel in France and Europe, and consolidate the benefits of their experience abroad.
Students who do not meet the minimum language requirement for participation in the regular Bucknell en France program may enroll in a semester of intensive French at the Université de Tours and can earn credit for the equivalent of three Bucknell University French courses. A fourth course is taken in English at the Université de Tours.
Some highlights of the Bucknell en France program include guided integration into a French university system with on-site academic support; individualized language assessment throughout the semester/year; preparation for the internationally recognized DELF exam (Diplôme d’études de langue française); engagement in service learning consisting of English tutorial to French students providing students a “mirror” in which to contemplate their own linguistic and cultural assimilation; contextualized excursions to various regions in France (e.g., Normandy, Provence or Dordogne in southwestern France), Loire Valley châteaux, and patrimony sites in Tours; visits to artisanal sites (e.g., winery, goat cheese farm, glass blowing studio, florist); French cooking workshops; integration into experienced French host families; contact with French student mentors; and extracurricular opportunities (e.g., choir, rugby, fencing, archery, yoga, hip hop, soccer).
The academic calendar of Bucknell en France is similar to Bucknell University’s with adjustments for the French academic year. The first semester begins in late August and ends in mid-December. The spring semester runs from early January until mid-May.
Students are placed with host families so they have an opportunity to experience life in French society, to make friends among the French people and to speak French in all aspects of life. Students have a private room and typically take daily breakfast and evening meals with their host family. They eat lunch on their own in town, in one of the student restaurants, or at local cafes or bakeries. Returning students consider their experience living with the French family to be one of the most valuable aspects of their study in Tours.