By Sarah Carrillo
Staff Writer
Pepperdine’s horizons will once again be broadened when a new international program is launched for the 2002-2003 academic year in Lyon, France.
Lyon will join the Florence, London, Heidelberg and the Buenos Aires programs in educating Pepperdine students year round.
Previously, Lyon has been part of a French language summer program, but now it has been expanded to a full year with general education classes as well.
“We had all four of our existing fall programs full with almost 100 students on the waiting list, so we wanted to give some of those who were about to be denied a chance to study overseas that opportunity,” said Dean of International Programs Dr. William Phillips in an e-mail interview.
“We have never before given our students an opportunity to study during the academic year in a country where French is spoken, which has been an anomaly, since — next to Spanish — French is the most-studied Western language in U.S. universities.”
A unique feature of the Lyon program is that it follows the French academic calendar, so the start and end of classes will differ from the Malibu campus and the other international programs. Classes will most likely begin on Sept. 23 and the fall semester will end on Dec. 20. However, finals for fall semester will not take place until January, after winter break. Because of this, students attending the program are required to stay for the entire year. Classes will end for the Lyon program on May 23.
Students will attend classes at the Catholic University of Lyon, which also hosts the summer program.
“The university stresses Christian ethics and moral values in their courses and we felt Pepperdine students would be comfortable there,” Phillips said.
Another difference in the Lyon program is when classes will be held. Typically, in international programs, classes are held from Monday to Thursday allowing three-day weekends for travel. The Lyon program, however, will not have classes on the many French national holidays and so students may have classes on the occasional Friday. The final schedule of classes has not yet been decided.
Classes will most likely include courses in humanities, French, great books, sociology, history and English. Depending upon which teachers come to Lyon, either political science or economics will be offered second semester.
The program is still accepting applications. As of Wednesday morning, 14 students had signed contracts. The program will probably have 24 students.
Many students applying for the program are on waiting lists for other programs, but the opportunity is available to everyone.
“I decided to apply because I thought it would be a unique experience to live with a French family and study at a French college,” freshman Elizabeth Graham said. “It’s also exciting to be a part of the first group to do this program.”
Educational field trips for the program are still in the planning stages. In most other programs, the group takes a big trip once a semester. For the Lyon program, the group will take more frequent but smaller trips throughout the year. Most of the locations have yet to be decided, but will most likely include Paris and other important sites in France.
Like the Buenos Aires program, students in the Lyon program will live with host families who have previously hosted English-speaking students.
“Lyon is France’s second largest city, the gastronomic capitol of the world, and has a rich history stretching back to Roman times when it was the capital of Caesar’s ‘Three Gauls,’” Phillips said.
April 04, 2002