French

The extensive independent study field research paper produced by the student is both the centerpiece of the intern's professional engagement and the culmination of the academic achievements of the semester. During the preparatory session, IFE teaches the methodological guidelines and principles to which students are expected to adhere in the development of their written research. Students work individually with a research advisor from their field. The first task is to identify a topic, following guidelines established by IFE for research topic choice. The subject must be tied in a useful and complementary way to the student-intern's responsibilities, as well as to the core concerns of the host organization. The research question should be designed to draw as much as possible on resources available to the intern via the internship (data, documents, interviews, observations, seminars and the like). Students begin to focus on this project after the first 2-3 weeks on the internship. Each internship agreement signed with an organization makes explicit mention of this program requirement, and this is the culminating element of their semester. Once the topic is identified, students meet individually, as regularly as they wish, with their IFE research advisor to generate a research question from the topic, develop an outline, identify sources and research methods, and discuss drafts submitted by the student. The research advisor also helps students prepare for the oral defense of their work which takes place a month before the end of the program and the due date of the paper. The purpose of this exercise is to help students evaluate their progress and diagnose the weak points in their outline and arguments. Rather than an extraneous burden added to the intern's other duties, the field research project grows out of the internship through a useful and rewarding synergy of internship and research. The Field Study and Internship model results in well-trained student-interns fully engaged in mission-driven internships in their field, while exploring a critical problem guided by an experienced research advisor.

This course considers the erosion of democracy. Topics covered include: threats to democracies; are the current threats and discourses new; the political, economic, and social transformations of threats; analysis of the discourse around threats and their meanings; capability of democratic institutions to defend themselves; comparison among different parts of the world.

This course provides thirty-minute voice lessons where students each choose a song they wish to improve. Each student in the group gets a few minutes to work on their song with the professor.

This class is a look at historical religious architecture in the Middle East and Europe at the end of the Antiquity to the Roman Empire (4th-7th centuries). The second half of the semester is exclusively on the roman architecture of the 6th and 7th centuries. Students learn techniques to analyze architecture, understand relevant documents, be introduced to specific vocabulary, and architectural techniques and structures.

The course begins by discussing some classical theses of the sociology of religion, in particular, those developed by Émile Durkheim in the ELEMENTARY FORMS OF RELIGIOUS LIFE. The course then focuses on the study of contemporary forms of religiosity. Among the themes discussed are: the link between religion and technology (especially the Internet), the relationship between politics and religion, the economic dimensions of religious behavior, and the international circulation of religious practices.

This course on sociology of education presents the evolution of the school system and sociological theories on education. It is divided into 4 parts : presentation of the history of school, it's development and how it has transformed socialization conditions and family roles; inequalities in the French school system, how making school accessible to masses does not mean democratization; Impact of this massification on the meaning of school, and the notion of justice at school; new themes in sociology including school policies, differences between public and private education, and school evaluation matter.