In addition to the semester-long programs in France, Germany, and Costa Rica, the Foreign Language Department is happy to offer study abroad opportunities in the form of two to three week trips to countries where the target language is spoken.
In recent years there have been trips to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, Germany and France. Future trips are envisioned for Costa Rica (January 2008), Germany (2008).
These 3-credit academic trips allow students to be immersed in the target language and culture. Some trips include language courses, others concentrate on cultural and historical aspects of the country visited. In all cases, language students have the opportunity to put their skills to work in an authentic setting. Follow links to information and photos about the various trips recently offered.
In January 2004, Dr. Nancy Durbin accompanied a group of 15 LU students to Paris for two weeks. In addition to visiting all the important cultural sites of Paris, the group made excursions to Versailles, Chartres and Fontainebleau. Here are some of the many sites visited in Paris:
- Le Louvre
- Notre Dame de Paris
- Le Musée d'Orsay
- La Tour Eiffel
- La Sainte Chapelle
- La Conciergerie
- Le Musée Rodin
- Le Centre Pompidou
- Le Musée Picasso
- La Maison Victor Hugo
- L'Arc de Triomphe
- Le Jardin des Tuilleries
- Montmartre & Sacre Coeur
- Le Musée nationale du Moyen Age
- Le Musée Carnavalet
- les Catacombes
A three-credit course, participation in the trip required scholarly effort as well. Each student researched one of the sites and made an oral presentation on the subject to the group as the site was visited. This research was then used to produce a written paper on the topic. Students also kept daily journals of their cultural and linguistic experiences, and wrote a second, less formal paper discussing the benefits of travel and study abroad.
