This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
This past fall, 15 Lafayette students spent the semester in Dijon, France, studying French culture, language, literature, and business in a program affiliated with the French business school L’ecole Superior de Commerce. George Rosa, professor of foreign languages and literatures, led the trip.
The Lafayette group took two business classes, a culture class, and an advanced language class with French professors and students. They also had a literature/history class with Rosa. As a group, the students visited Paris, Provence, the Alps, Beaune, and Strasbourg. They also toured Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct in Avignon.
French and economics & business double major Camila Galaz ’07 (Quakertown, Pa.) used her fall recess to travel with friends to Amsterdam and Italy. She found the atmosphere in Italy more relaxed than that of France and was impressed with the beauty of Venice. She considers the experience of living with a host family one of the most rewarding of the semester.
“It was so much better than an apartment,” she says. “I was able to truly see how a French family functioned. I was also able to practice my French with them on a daily basis. I would certainly recommend having a host family.”
International affairs major Al-Amin Kheraj ’08 (Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania) chose to study in Dijon because French is a dominant language in Africa. Learning the major languages of his continent will be helpful for a career in international development. His nationality gave Kheraj a unique perspective during the semester.
“Being Tanzanian helped me in meeting a lot of French people who were natives of African francophone countries such as Congo, Morocco, and Algeria,” he explains. “Most importantly, being Tanzanian amongst other different nationals developed awareness for the other students on the trip, as their nationalities did mine. I felt like the trip not only exposed us to French society, but also to each other.”
Other students who participated are international affairs and government & law double major Shannon Dorsey ’06 (Wharton, N.J.), Marquis Scholar Diana Galperin ’08 (Warminster, Pa.), international affairs major Kristen Kalinowski ’08 (West Nyack, N.Y.), biology major Leigh Kalinowski ’08 (West Nyack, N.Y.), international affairs and economics & business double major Vijay Krishnan ’07 (Karnataka, India), Nikolas Lamb ’08 (Easton, Pa.), computer science and economics & business double major Ihssane Loudiyi ’07 (Rabat, Morocco), international affairs major Brian Mason ’08 (Manchester, Conn.), government and law major Christopher McGuinn ’07 (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Marquis Scholar and biology major Stephanie Morain ’06 (Des Moines, Iowa), English major David Platt ’07 (Langhorne, Pa.), psychology and art double major Chelsea Rhadigan ’07 (Lapeer, Mich.), and Marquis Scholar and French and international affairs double major Laura Sims ’07 (Farmington, Conn.).
Lafayette offers a variety of faculty-led and other study abroad programs. Over the winter break, more than 170 students are taking special Lafayette courses in Thailand and Myanmar; Turkey; Greece and Italy; Austria and Germany; Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands; Spain and Portugal; and Hawaii. For information, contact Roxanne Lalande, director of study abroad programs and professor of French in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, (610) 330-5918 or lalander@lafayette.edu. Her consultation hours are 10 a.m.-noon and 1-3 p.m. Monday and Wednesday in 409 Pardee Hall and 9 a.m.-noon Tuesday and Thursday in 1 Markle Hall.