Centre-in-Strasbourg

Centre-in-Strasbourg, 2012-2013

The Centre-in-Strasbourg program is located in Strasbourg, France, just across the Rhine River from Germany, two and a half hours by the high speed TGV from Paris, and about an hour north of Switzerland. Strasbourg, with a metropolitan population of 400,000, has been called "the crossroads of Europe" because of its location at Europe's center. Its famed Gothic cathedral, begun in 1176 C.E., sits on this island-city's highest spot—the same spot on which sat a Roman fort when Julius Caesar was in the area during his Germanic campaigns of the first century B.C.E. Strasbourg's political importance grows each year with the increasing importance of the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, and the Court of Human Rights that are located there.

Eligibility. Any rising sophomore, junior, or senior who has not yet participated in a residential, long-term study-abroad program may apply. Centre accepts 22-24 students each term who qualify on the basis of academic seriousness, social maturity, and faculty recommendations. The selection committee retains the right not to select students who have had run-ins with the Student Life Office for their campus behavior. The committee’s list is vetted by the Dean of Student Life and the Associate Dean before students are notified.

While this is not a language immersion program, the selection committee typically gives preference to students who have studied French or German. Students selected for the fall term who have never studied French take beginning French while in Strasbourg. Students selected for the spring term who have never studied French must take French 110 for a grade during the preceding fall term; if they forget to sign up for French 110 or somehow never get the word, or take French 110 P/F, they will not be allowed to participate in the spring program. No exceptions will be granted, even for advanced German students who are doing a German home-stay.

Centre Director for 2012-2013. Next year's Strasbourg program will be directed by Prof. Dan Manheim, who has had extensive experience in France and has directed the Strasbourg program.

Living Arrangements in Strasbourg. Home-stays with French or German-speaking families are the norm for those with advanced language skills who want to improve their fluency rapidly. Students in home-stays typically have dinner two or three times a week with their home-stay families. Centre also rents three apartments, all conveniently located in the downtown area within a fifteen-minute walk of the Centre office and classroom. These apartments are fully furnished and include linens, a TV, a kitchen with cooking utensils and dishes, a washing machine, and a telephone. Because these apartments are in regular apartment buildings among French families and not in a college dormitory, Strasbourg students must be very responsible about noise: no loud music or even loud talking in the evenings. The same common-sense fire-safety rules about no candles or smoking or Halogen lamps that apply on campus apply in these apartments. During the apartment orientation session with the coordinator and director, all students must sign a statement about keeping the apartment neat and clean and about maintaining appropriate apartment behavior. Any student breaking this signed agreement will be dismissed from the apartment and will be personally responsible for finding and paying for his/her housing.

Food Money and Eating. Students studying abroad are charged for the regular Centre board plan. They are then given food money at regular intervals while abroad and learn to shop in the markets and prepare their meals as a group, in their apartment kitchens. In the past, students have become experts at finding inexpensive, fresh ingredients and preparing simple, healthy, and delicious fare. To prepare for the program, you should practice making a few recipes before you leave. Centre will pay for occasional group meals, for a two-night/three-day excursion to Paris, and for an art and architecture trip in the region that all students take.

Classroom Facilities in Strasbourg. The Centre classroom area is located at the very center of town, just off the main square, Place Kleber. It includes a classroom that looks out on the Strasbourg cathedral, a study and lunch room, a computer room with a small library, the coordinator’s office, and a storeroom. The noiseless, eco-friendly electric tram stops directly in front of the building.

Courses Offered during 2012-2013

All students will take a French course at the appropriate level and "Questions of Travel," a Humanities/English course taught by Prof. Manheim. This course will focus on the literature of travel, especially travel narratives by U.S. and English authors, but will cover some Anglophone authors from other countries as well. Lectures will cover some of the historic models of travel (connoisseurship, pilgrimage, grand tour, etc.). Readings will include traditional short works illustrating those models, as well as more contemporary travel narratives that display complex mixtures of the traditions as well as proposing their own questions of travel suited to their discovery of their place in a globalized world. Students will write their own travel narrative by the end of the course, as well as a short analysis of that narrative, according to the models of travel we have explored throughout the course.

In addition to a French course and "Questions of Travel," students will select two of the following three courses:
Art History 370: North European Art from the Early Christian Period to the Renaissance. a. A study of the paintings, mosaics, stained glass, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, early Christian basilicas, Romanesque churches, and Gothic cathedrals. Includes visits to churches and museums in Strasbourg, Alsace, Germany, and Switzerland. No prerequisites. Taught by Prof. Kate Sowley.
Government 461: The Construction of Europe. This course capitalizes on Strasbourg's location at the geographical center of Europe and as the home of three of the most important European institutions. Students will first study the Council of Europe, whose main assignment is the defense of Human Rights in Europe. This class encompasses the way the Council works and how its main creation, the European Court of Human Rights, ensures the respect of fundamental rights in Europe. Students will visit the Council of Europe and will also be present at a hearing of the European Court of Human Rights. Understanding what the latter does will also allow students to examine international criminal tribunals, most of which were born–and are all presently located–in Europe. In addition, the students will learn how some European States have decided to deepen their relationship in establishing an economic but also a political and a monetary cooperation. Save contemplating how the European Union was born, how it works and what makes it unique and always on the move, the students will watch a film showing the infancy of the organization and will take a trip to one of its key bodies, the European Parliament. The different aspects of the European construction will be approached by taking into consideration their connection with the USA and their impact on the students living on European soil. No prerequisites; taught by Prof. Pierre Nuss.
English 230: Introduction to American Literature (with the possibility of those who have had ENG 230 to enroll in a related English junior seminar). U.S. literature is at heart a literature of dépaysement, from the pilgrim William Bradford, to characters like Huck Finn and Quentin Compson, right down to contemporary authors like Jhumpa Lahiri. The Strasbourg version of English 230 will address works in which characters (or whole communities) must adjust to being away from home (or to the experience of feeling an alien within a familiar place). We will consider how U.S. authors address various kinds of experience of dislocation, defamiliarization, rootlessness, migration, and longing for home. This course will survey of periods, genres, voices, and styles, with two papers, a midterm, a final, and in-class presentations. No prerequisites; taught by Prof. Manheim.

Travel Dates

FALL students should book their tickets to fly out on Tuesday evening, September 11, 2012, and meet Prof. Manheim in the Strasbourg airport on Wednesday morning. (All flights to Europe arrive the following morning.) The regular class schedule begins on Monday, September 17, and follows a weekly class schedule of Monday-Thursday through Friday, November 30. Centre will arrange and pay for an excursion to Paris in early fall.

During your weekends spent traveling, you must let the director and coordinator know ahead of time where you will be in case of an emergency. There will be a Thanksgiving-in-France celebration at the end of November.

The final examination period is December 3-4. The final apartment inspection is the evening of Wednesday, December 5; and a chartered bus will take you back to the airport in time to catch flights back on Thursday, December 6, 2012.

SPRING students should book their tickets to fly out on Monday evening, February 11, 2013, and meet Prof. Manheim in the Strasbourg airport on Tuesday morning. You will get settled into your apartment or homestay. Students may book their tickets home as early as Wednesday, May 8.

The spring break will be Wednesday, March 20, through Sunday, March 24.

The final examination period is May 6-7. The final apartment inspection is the evening of Tuesday, May 7.

More Information

Internet, Laptops, and phone communication. Constant communication with everyone in the world is less available in Strasbourg than it is in Danville. Indeed, if you want to spend huge hunks of time Facebooking and Skyping and avoiding the environment and people around you, you should not apply for this program; you can do those things in Danville and save the slot for students more interested in being immersed in Strasbourg, France, and Europe. Wireless internet is available both in the classroom and in the student apartments. Although you may turn in all work hand-written, if you own a laptop, you should definitely take it.

Some students find it useful to get a Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail account in addition to their Centre account, which is accessible off campus through https://exchange.centre.edu/exchange. In addition to wireless internet, all phone calls to the U.S. from the student apartments can be made for free. This is especially helpful information to pass along to your parents.

Grades/Independent Studies. Mid-term warning grades of D or U are issued after the seventh week of the regular term, just as in Danville. All Strasbourg courses count in the GPA, just as in Danville. The Pass-Unsatisfactory option is not available in any Centre study-abroad program. Only students whose schedules require that they take a particular course not offered in Strasbourg in order to graduate on time have the possibility of arranging an independent study with a professor in Danville.

Apartment Contract and Upkeep. You are required to sign an apartment contract during the Coordinator’s and Director’s apartment orientation and to keep your apartment clean and in good order throughout the entire term. The Director and Coordinator have the right to inspect your apartment at any time, and the right to dismiss you from the apartment if you do not live up to the signed agreement. The day after the mid-term break, the Director will make a mid-course apartment inspection to determine things that need to be repaired or purchased. On the last evening of your stay, she will conduct a penultimate inspection and assess all apartment members equally the money needed to replace broken items and/or pay for professional cleaning. The last inspection occurs the day after you leave; this is to make certain you’ve stripped the linens from your beds, totally cleaned out your refrigerator, not left wet towels to mildew, taken out all of the trash, etc.

No Overnight Guests in Apartments. Because of liability issues, no overnight guests may stay in the Centre apartments, even for a single night. No exceptions can be granted to this rule. Infraction of this rule will result in your immediate dismissal from the program with none of your semester’s tuition returned. The director will be happy to provide you with a list of Strasbourg hostels and hotels of all price ranges for any guests who may visit.

Pre-Registration/Convocation Credits/Netlibrary. While in Strasbourg, you pre-register for future courses via email with your regular advisor. You will automatically receive six convocation credits for your time abroad. While abroad, you may access articles on any database at our library. However, if you wish to use an e-book abroad, you must register with Netlibrary before you leave campus.

Eurail Tickets. Information on Eurail tickets, which may only be purchased in the U.S. before you leave, is available at euro-rail.org. Participants in this program are not allowed to purchase and use an unlimited Eurail pass; our experience has shown that this is disruptive to the program’s schedule and goals. If you wish, you may purchase a 10- day “EurailpassYouth Flexi,” which allows you ten days of travel within a 60-day period. The cost for this 10-day Flexipass is roughly $600. Recent Strasbourg students have felt that a 10-day train pass is sufficient and gives them flexibility to travel to further-away destinations via inexpensive air travel.

Study Abroad Medical Insurance. Students studying abroad through any Centre program receive travel and accident insurance at no additional cost. Centre’s Study Abroad Insurance, while provided through EIIA (Educational & Institutional Insurance Administrators), is administered through Chartis and WorldRiskTravel. Every student studying abroad with Centre College receives a contact and information card as well as a passport sticker. Each has the Centre insurance policy number, which is the only information needed to receive services. The categories of coverage provided are: accident and sickness ($100,000 limit with a $500 deductible); emergency medical evacuation and emergency family travel ($200,000 limit); accidental death and disability ($200,000 limit); and repatriation of remains ($100,000 limit). For specific questions, please contact the Center for Global Citizenship office at 859.238.5285 or leigh.cocanougher@centre.edu.

Counseling and Support Services. The kind of counseling and support services available on campus are not available abroad. Because any significant life transition can exacerbate and complicate already existing mental health issues, students who are currently on psychotropic medication and/or have been in mental health counseling should consider participating in the three-week Early Summer Strasbourg program or one of the CentreTerm programs abroad. In addition, those students are urged to meet with a Centre Student Assistance Program counselor prior to their leaving to develop a support plan for their time abroad.

Application Procedure. Applications and faculty recommendation forms can be picked up from the bookshelf at the Center for Global Citizenship or at one of the three study abroad meetings November 21st, 29th, or January 5th. You should give the recommendation forms to your faculty recommenders early in January. Turn in your completed application at the Study-Abroad office no later than noon on Wednesday, February 8. You may not email your application in. The selection committee may interview all applicants. You will learn of your status by e-mail on February 25. Because competition for slots in Strasbourg is sometimes strong, students are encouraged to take the essays they write as part of their applications especially seriously.

Program Cost. The cost (tuition & fees, room, board) for the Strasbourg program is the same as for study in Danville, except for a $350 surcharge that helps to cover some of the additional costs of housing in France. A $100 book charge covers all books you will need in Strasbourg, where students sometimes share copies of books and articles. In addition, students pay for their own airfare. Recently, students have been able to find round-trip air tickets for between $700-$900. Some have found www.studentuniverse.com and www.statravel.com helpful in this quest. Most students say they spend about twice as much on personal expenses as they spend in Danville.

All financial aid arrangements (both merit and need-based) remain in effect. Students with remaining loan eligibility are eligible to borrow additional money for these additional educational expenses. Remember that you may be able to save some money by canceling your automobile insurance while abroad, since you may not drive a car or other motorized vehicle while on a Centre abroad program.

$350 Deposit by NOON, Tuesday, March 6th. In order to hold your slot, you must pay the nonrefundable $350 deposit plus the $100 book charge (or $450) at the Cashier’s Office in Boles Hall by noon on Tuesday, March 6th. Nota bene: If you later decide to withdraw from the Centre-in-Strasbourg program, the $350 non-refundable deposit is, as its name implies, not refundable. The $100 book-fee is refundable.

Obtaining a Passport. If you do not currently have a passport that will remain valid for at least one month after your return, you should begin the process of obtaining one as soon as you are selected, since it can sometimes take six or more weeks. You can now do this at the Danville post office at the bottom of Main Street. A French visa is no longer necessary for students to obtain for this program.

To see photos from past Centre-in-Strasbourg experiences, click here.