About The Program
Build professional experience and complete an independent research project while living and working in France. Designed for advanced French speakers, this program combines coursework in French politics, society, history, and culture with a faculty-guided research project and a 12-week internship tailored to your academic interests and professional goals. After five weeks of coursework, you’ll work with an IFE research advisor to define a project connected to your major or interests. IFE coordinates internship placements with organizations that can support your research, allowing you to investigate a question in your field while gaining experience in a French workplace. Placements vary by student and may involve analyzing data, conducting interviews, contributing to laboratory work, or supporting a project in the arts, business, government, sciences, or humanities. You’ll develop your French through daily professional communication while gaining research, writing, and cross-cultural skills that can support future graduate study or career plans. Choose the setting that best fits your interests. In Marseille, coursework and research can draw on the city’s connections to the Mediterranean, including migration, trade, environmental questions, and marine systems. Paris offers possibilities across a broad range of fields, including the cultural sector, fashion, tourism, hospitality, and public institutions. Strasbourg is well suited to students interested in European affairs, international institutions, and cross-border perspectives.
Where you'll study
You’ll take courses through the Institute for Field Education (IFE), whose faculty and local professional networks support the program’s coursework, research advising, and internship placements. Small class settings encourage collaborative learning and close contact with instructors as you prepare for your field research project and transition into your internship. Each location provides a central base for coursework and connects you with the organizations, institutions, and communities that shape professional life in that city.
Marseille: Courses meet at the Tiers-Lab des Transitions, a renovated former farm set within a lush park. This collaborative hub brings together organizations and projects focused on education, culture, and environmental sustainability. The facility includes co-working areas, offices, training rooms, and a canteen. Studying in Marseille places you in a Mediterranean port city shaped by migration, trade, and a long history of connections across the region.
Paris: The IFE Center is on a side street near Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, situated between the 11th and 12th arrondissements. The surrounding Faubourg district is a diverse neighborhood where traditional workshops and markets mix with cafés, galleries, and startups. Classes meet on the refurbished ground floor of an older Paris building that includes computer access, spaces for studying and collaborative work, and a kitchen.
Strasbourg: The IFE Center is in the Krutenau neighborhood—near the city center and cathedral—known for its central canal and green spaces. Studying here places you at the seat of the European Parliament and several international institutions on the border of France and Germany. Classes meet on the renovated ground floor of a historic building that features computer labs, study areas, and an equipped kitchen.
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