Location

Saint Nizier d’Azergues, Lyon, Paris, Versailles, Saint Jean de Maurienne, Bonneval-sur-Arc, Orange, Avignon, France

Program Description

Information Session 

September 24, 2024, 3:00- 4:00PM, Zoom 

Why Study Living Histories of Work and Work Practices in France?

Purpose/Pourquoi:

This 28-day study abroad is not just 6 credits, it’s a 6-course feast—spanning from the village of Saint Nizier d’Azergues, to Provence, to Lyon, to the French Alps, and on to Paris and Versailles! You will explore a multitude of geographical landscapes, a vast historical time period, dynamic work cultures, and encounter an extraordinarily diverse array of people who call France home. As you learn about the history of France, you’ll be learning about yourself. During this adventure, you will develop both personal and intercultural skills by working directly with a leadership and development coach.

Prerequisites/Prérequis: You don’t need to know how to speak French, but you will want to:

• know how to pack lightly
• put on a pair of good walking shoes
• carry a question that moves you in your life and your studies.

Promises/Promesses:

• Personal and intellectual development
• Historical, cultural, and social enrichment
• Discover the beauty of different French regions, landscapes, cities, towns, and villages and, of course, delicious food and wine!

COURSE WORK:

This 6-credit program is open to all majors, as well as to non-JMU students. You will choose two courses from among three 3-credit courses offered: a General Education course that fulfills the Arts and Humanities: Human Questions and Contexts requirement (HUM 251, 3 credits); a General Education course that fulfills the Madison Foundations Critical Thinking requirement (UNST 390, 3 credits); an upper-level elective history course that, subject to approval of the minor coordinator, may count towards your cross-disciplinary minor (HIST 391, 3 credits).

HIST 391: “Work Practices and Ecologies in France” begins with the meta-question: Is there something fundamentally destructive in work, money, and capitalism? In collective conversations, you will rely on the writings of modern and contemporary philosophers, poets, literary and visual artists, musicians, and activists to build a foundation for seeking answers to this question. In addition, in your independent study abroad project, you will form your own meta-question linked to the concerns of the 21st century and to your major, and explore the history of French inquiry into this question and the ways in which the French are addressing your meta-question in the present day.

HUM 251: "Creating Meaning: Nature, Commerce, and Sustainability" nurtures collective conversations about the following questions: How do humans create meaning? Where does human nature figure into the creation of meaning? What is the place of the natural world in the creation of meaning? What does sustainability imply? Is sustainability compatible with creating meaning? At the start of the program, you will study the relationship that 18th-century French writers had with nature and material culture, as well as their understandings of the connections between city and countryside. Journaling and intercultural focus group work will complement the analytical and interpretive work that you do in collective discussions. 

UNST 390: In France, you will have opportunities to explore and discover how in public and commercial spaces France’s rich and multi-faceted history so often serves as a critical element of collective decision-making, informing the path of the nation in the present day and influencing decisions as France, the nation, moves into the future. The course “Breathing in Culture and History in France” invites you to build a deep understanding of the social-cultural historical circumstances you will discover throughout your journey in France and, simultaneously, to develop yourself by cultivating greater emotional intelligence and key intercultural competencies that will strengthen your ability to express yourself creatively, interact with others, integrate a new culture, navigate complex networks, and make positive collective change as you develop greater meaning in your own life.

Location Description

· Saint Nizier d’Azergues (population 784) is a scenic village in the Beaujolais, surrounded by conifer forests with well-marked hiking trails, located about 40 miles northwest of Lyon. The village contains many Christian crosses, the oldest dating to 1599AD and, not far from the village, a 140-foot-tall cut stone viaduct that bridges the steep slopes of the Azergues valley.

· The city of Lyon (pop 522,000), France’s second largest financial center after Paris and its gastronomic capital, is located where the Rhône and the Saône Rivers converge. Here, you will visit the Museum of the Resistance and the Deportation as well as the Museum of Confluences.

· Orange and Avignon are located on the Rhone River in Provence. Orange was a Roman city founded in 35BCE as Arausio. In contains Europe’s best preserved Roman Amphitheater. Seven successive Catholic popes lived in Avignon, from 1309-1377CE.

· The Alpine town of Saint Jean de Maurienne (pop 7536; elevation 3572 ft) contains a cathedral, a clocktower, and a pocketknife museum. Bonneval-sur-Arc (population 259, elevation 6561 feet) is referred to as the village located at the “end of the world”. An easy one-hour hike links it to the medieval hamlet of L’Ecot.

· Paris, with a population of 12.3 million, is the capital of France and the most visited city in the world, receiving over 40 million international tourists annually. There is much to discover here, including the newly-renovated Cathedral of Notre Dame, the National Museum of the History of Immigration, the Comédie Français, and traditional French restaurants.

· The Chateau de Versailles and its gardens are considered one of the greatest achievements in French 17th-century art. It is also a showcase of early modern state-building techniques.

Director

Mary K Gayne | gaynemk@jmu.edu | History

Accommodations

• You will stay 9 nights in a traditional 19th-century manor house at Saint Nizier d’Azergues. You and your peers will share bedrooms, common spaces, the grounds, and a swimming pool. You will have access to a kitchen where you will regularly prepare and enjoy communal meals.
• You will stay 2 nights in a bed & breakfast in Provence. One night will be at a restaurant and the other you will receive a dinner allowance.
• In the French Alps, you will stay for 4 nights in a mountain lodge with one or two of your peers. You will benefit from breakfasts and hearty Alpine meals.
• In Lyon and Paris, you will stay in a private group dormitory within a city hostel, for 4 nights and 8 nights, respectively. Breakfast is provided at the hostels. In addition to dinner allowances, you will dine in traditional French restaurants, a crêperie, and a restaurant representative of the cuisine of overseas France.

Additional Items to Consider

• Time is built in for independent travel during the weekend of the annual Fête de la Musique. All independent travel and meals are at your own expense. If you choose to remain in Saint Nizier d’Azergues, you will have access to the communal kitchen, at no additional cost.
• There are two full “free days” in Paris. Your bed in the dormitory will still be yours during these days, but you will cover your meal costs.
• Public transport is relied upon for all travel. You will be solely responsible for moving your belongings between stopovers. In short, pack lightly and find some good walking shoes.
• Program fees cover the planned museum visits; however, if you’d prefer a Paris Museum Pass during the last week of the program, entry fees can be converted into an allowance to be put towards the pass cost. This will allow you to visit almost any museums not included in the programming. A program-provided metro pass will cover Paris transportation during the final week of the program.
• The program fee includes some extra-curricular activities. When a choice of activities is offered, the program fee may only cover a portion of the cost.
• Your round-trip ticket to France is not included in the programming fees. Consider purchasing a multi-stop ticket that will allow you to fly into LYS (Lyon-Saint-Exupery Airport and out of CDG (Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport). This is likely to be the most efficient and least expensive option given that the program starts in Lyon and ends in Paris.
• Orange France promotions are worth looking into if you want to use an unlocked phone and purchase a French SIM card. In any case, you are strongly advised to determine how you plan to address the cell phone question prior to departure.

Applicant Criteria

Applicants must have a GPA minimum of 2.0

Open to all undergraduate majors and class levels.

No foreign language requirement. English is widely spoken; however, you will significantly enhance your experience if you demonstrate an initial willingness to connect using French.