France

This fifteen-week advanced intermediate conversation, reading and writing course is intended to immerse students in the French language and culture through bi-weekly class sessions and occasional instructor-led site visits. The fall semester program teaches listening, speaking, reading and writing with a focus on communication. Students have the opportunity to use everything they learn in class as they go about their daily activities. Students can expect to be able to talk about a wide variety of topics, such as politics, literature, and the arts, as well as activities relating to their daily lives. While students are learning how to speak the language, they continue their introduction to the culture of the French-speaking world. To immerse students in the language, only French is spoken in class. Although students are not expected to understand every word, they should try to follow the gist by paying attention to the context. Students increase their comprehension as the course progresses. By the end of the course, students are able to understand, perform, and possess the following at a level appropriate to a novice-mid learner: understand and use all the verb tenses of high-frequency regular and irregular verbs, including reflexive verbs; use the indicative, imperative, conditional, subjunctive and infinitive moods; as well as use subject, stressed and object pronouns, articles, expressions of quantity, prepositions, possessive and demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, negative and interrogative expressions, relative pronouns, hypothetical sentences and the passive voice, etc; apply the above-mentioned aspects of French grammar (such as verb tense, mode, and conjugation) to written and oral communication; possess a working vocabulary and engage in conversations with an interlocutor in French, using both simple and more complex sentences and vocabulary, with use of past and future tenses as well as conditional and subjunctive moods, on familiar topics and to express their basic everyday needs, as well as on topics relating a variety of contemporary sociological and cultural issues that touch on questions of family structures, the distribution of household chores, housing, health, politics, the education system, leisure activities, the arts, multicultural society, vernacular French, etc., and to discuss themes in contemporary French culture and society; employ the listening strategies and skills necessary to understanding a wide variety of discourse; understand information on French and Francophone culture on the following topics: health and illness, vacation time, family structures, schooling and values of the French Republic, the distribution of household chores, environmental protection, cuisine, grocery shopping and eating habits, the workplace, café life, multi-ethnic society, youth culture, and the geography, music and cuisine of the francophone world; individually and/or collectively present orally information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of sympathetic listeners on a variety of topics; read, understand, answer questions and discuss selected literary and journalistic texts as well as multimedia material; write summaries, dialogues or skits, as well as produce short (2½-3 pages) compositions; reflect upon basic cultural differences as reflected in a variety of French and Francophone contexts, such as varying levels of familiarity/formality, etiquette, cuisine and dietary habits, family structures, commerce and the professional world, etc., as well as in cultural products such as film, performances, news, and music.

This course studies Robert Dahl's DEMOCRACY AND ITS CRITICS, a modern classic of democratic theory, to develop the ability to think about democracy in a critical and informed way. It considers how the concepts presented in the work frame issues facing contemporary democracy. Through deep reading, the course provides an opportunity to understand every aspect of and engage in a dialogue with this modern classic to discover its full richness.

This course examines the stakes of microfinance development in developing countries, as well as in Europe. It analyzes the links between financial inclusion and poverty reduction. The course addresses specific needs of targeted populations, the specifics of financial and non-financial services offered to these populations, and the challenges of the stakeholders who gravitate towards microfinance institutions (public donors, investment funds, regulators, rating agencies). Issues of social performance and impact are analyzed to identify best practices and discuss controversial issues.

This course introduces the range of historical, political, and cultural frameworks that define the region of the Balkans. Guided by critical geopolitics and critical heritage studies, it maps the turning points and minor stories that make this region. The mapping exercise provides an opportunity to use multi-scalar and multi-temporal approaches and explore territories, practices, events, and communities from the mid-19th century to contemporary initiatives such as the Open Balkans. The course investigates the discrepancies between dynamics around the making of a region, and the spatial entanglements in the culturally and historically charged urban heritage sites. Through these places, it examines spatial categories, borders as part of everyday life, notions of politics of the past, heritage as a tool of geopolitics, and the democratic potential of heritage.

This workshop is for advanced level students (C1-C2). It helps with oral expression and understanding in an academic context. Content focuses on presentations, summaries, and writing academic papers.

Lacking the basic grammar of “Western” modern constitutionalism, such as the separation of powers and judicial constitutional review, the Chinese constitutional law is key to understanding many controversies about China in the international community, especially those concerning human rights protection and the governance of autonomous regions (such as Xinjiang and Tibet) and special administrative regions (notably Hong Kong). To help better understand the characteristics of China's political and legal system and reflect on the role of the constitution in a state and how it should be enforced, this course provides a comprehensive introduction to the historical trajectory of constitution making and amending in China, the features of the current constitution, and the latest developments of its implementation, understood in the social, political, and economic contexts of China and from a comparative perspective vis-à-vis the “West.” At the same time, the course introduces some basic concepts in legal theory and constitutional law, as well as various approaches of comparative legal studies.

This course comprises a thematic and comparative approach to French civilization. It focuses on issues relating to local geography (Bordeaux and it's region), secularism in France, the educational system, and French institutions. Students produce written and oral descriptions of French cultural and economic aspects, explain the cultural differences between their own country and France, and improve their French speaking and writing levels through document analysis.

This course focuses on the study of corporations. Topics include: the structure of productivity and human relations, the business environment, business as a cultural project, and the management of human resources. It provides an introduction to how corporations are set up in France, including an explanation of multiple cultural differences that happen in the French business world compared to the rest of the world.