Oregon daily emerald., January 13, 1976, Page 6, Image 6

French school not for ‘jet set’
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Oawtng t>y Cindy Sato
COWBOYS & COWGIRLS
Inter co llegiate
The Rodeo Club will have its organizational
meeting on Wednesday, January 14th at 7:00
p.m. in the EMU. The room will be posted in
the EMU lobby. Anyone interested should
attend.
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Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a
series on student opportunities to
study abroad. Today 's story exp
lains the program in France.
By KEYTE HLADKY
Of the Emerald
“This program is not for jet
setters,'' says Prof. Louis Olivier,
former resident director (1973-75)
of the Oregon French Study
Center at the University of Poitiers
in Poitiers, France. "It's a serious
academic experience
The French overseas study
program is sponsored by the
Oregon State System of Higher
Education (OSSHE). Its head
quarters are at Oregon State Uni
versity, which designed the prog
ram in 1971, but the program itself
is administered by the University
of Poitiers and an executive board
made up of representatives from
all the OSSHE schools.
The program includes nine
months of study from mid
September to mid-June at the
University of Poitiers. Twenty-six
students are presently enrolled.
16 of whom are from the Univer
sity of Oregon.
To be eligible for the program, a
student must have two years of
college French or its equivalent,
junior standing (preferably, be
cause the French government
does not recognize lower division
work as university-level), and a
"reasonable academic record. In
addition, each applicant is inter
viewed separately by at least
three French professors. The
program is not restricted to French
majors
Once accepted, the student
must make his own travel ar
rangements. Olivier says most
students travel on Canadian
Youth Fares, which were $500
round trip . .
In France, students enter a
four-to five-week intensive orien
tation and language study prog
ram. This consists of 30 hours a
week of French study in small
—yojaa - ■ • =.
groups with native language in
structors and additional study in
the audio-visual lab. In addition,
there are excursions for cultural
orientation.
"We make an effort to bring stu
dents in contact with members of
the community," says Olivier "For
example, in 1973-74, we arranged
for a small town to invite the whole
group for a weekend . . each
student stayed with a different
family. We had one with a goat
herd, one with the president of the
tiny local bank and so on We re
peated it the following year and
will do something similar this
year."
Several excursions are built into
the program. The University of
Poitiers also offers SEARCH-like
courses during the school year
which involve students with the
community.
Poitiers is a town about the size
of the Eugene-Sprmgfield area
The University, founded in 1431.
has about 12,000 students and two
campuses—one old, one new
Poitiers goes back to Gallo
Roman times, says Olivier. You
can still see the rums. The old
campus is in the old town, which is
built on a steep hill—a natural for
tress between two small rivers. It's
full of 14th and 15th century build
ings, including the main campus
building The city had extended
out onto a plateau; the new cam
pus is on the edge of a modern
housing area there
While in France, most of the
students in the program live in
dorms, some with families and a
few in community apartments
similar to quads Students eat in
student restaurants, some of
which serve cafeteria-style and
some family-style.
When regular session begins,
students study French in the Insti
tute for Foreigners at the Univer
sity of Poitiers. The program in
volves 16 hours of class a week
four-to-five hours of language in
struction in the A-V lab; two hours
( Continued on Page 7)
03 nil ■
Trans cen dental M edit at ion
"All that is true and real is always simple, natural and
life-supporting”
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
FREE INTRODUCTORY LECTURES
WEDNESDAY - January 14th
12:30 and 8:00 p.m. EMU (room to be posted)
for more information call 343-8738
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TAKE
A
S.E.C.
j What are your alternatives?
| S.E.C. (Students for Educational Clarification) an Un
| dergraduate Student Union in the College of Education,
| is offering a SEARCH class that looks at alternatives in
| teacher preparation.
j Tuesday, 7-10 p.m., 001 Condon
Upper Division Credit Available
Phone 045-1750 or 040-6681