Global Education

Program Dates

Term	Start Date	End Date
Spring 2024	Early January, 2024	Late April, 2024
Fall 2024	Late-August, 2024	Mid-December, 2024

These dates are tentative. Confirm program dates before booking travel.

Where: Paris, France

Paris is a city of history, politics, art, fashion, and romance. Some of the world’s greatest artists, writers, and intellectuals have lived along the banks of the Seine, and Paris is the home of such well-known sights as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the tree-lined Avenue des Champs-Elysees, the Louvre, and Notre Dame Cathedral. Lately, Paris has become a magnet for musicians; since the early 1980’s, pop clubs have been staging the concerts of Paris’s many immigrant musicians, and the city’s streets have become filled with a crazy quilt of sound and rhythm called Afro-pop. To experience Parisian culture is to enrich one’s life forever. For Paris is, as Hemingway said, “a moveable feast.”

Academics

The Paris Internship Program provides eight weeks of intensive French-language study and liberal arts courses, followed by seven weeks of full-time internships with organizations in the greater Paris area. Placement in one of the two internship tracks offered depends on the amount of college-level French classes the student has already taken. French faculty from local universities teach courses on contemporary France specifically designed for students in the BU program. Allegheny students participate in the French Language Track of the program

The program is divided into two phases:

Week 1–Week 8 (Core Phase)
After an orientation period, students enroll in three courses and begin the internship placement process. Students take one French language course, and/or two or three electives in either French or English, depending on their proficiency.
Week 10–Week 16 (Internship Phase)
During the second half of the semester, students participate in local professional life through faculty-supervised internships. Students serve as interns full time, Monday through Thursday, while also attending small group and individual writing tutorials, which monitor progress in the internship and the drafting of an extensive analytical internship report. A mock professional interview for a full-time position in the company where the student interns completes the course’s requirements.

Academic Structure

Course taken with other study abroad students. Internship will be with local company either in English or French.

Course Credit

16 Credit Semester-Long Programs

Study Abroad students are expected to enroll for 16 credits in the fall and spring semesters and must maintain full-time status while abroad. Student visa requirements for some overseas programs may not allow for a reduced course load below 16 credits. Any request to withdraw from a course must be approved by the student’s academic advisor and on-site program director.

Most study abroad students do not enroll for greater than 16 credits. Any request to overload must be approved by the student’s academic advisor and on-site program director.

In all cases, students must be registered full-time for: a minimum of twelve credits.

Courses

For a full list of course offerings, visit BU Paris website here.

Eligibility

3.0 G.P.A. Four semesters of college level French or the equivalent are required. Participation is limited to 1-2 students per semester

Housing & Student Life

Students have the option of living in a local homestay or a university dormitory.

Homestay: Students have individual bedrooms in a local family home with linens, laundry and internet provided. Kitchen access is allowed and students eat 1 meal per week with their host family.  Meal plans are not provided.

University Dormitory: Students have single rooms with a desk, sink, closet and fridge and share shower, toilet and kitchen facilities. Linens are provided & washed biweekly and laundry facilities are available in the building. Students may eat at the student cafeteria. Meal plans are not provided.

Visa Information

U.S. citizens will apply for a visa before arrival. Non- U.S. citizens should consult with Boston University regarding the visa application process.

Fees & Costs

Students are charged Allegheny tuition and fees including a $800 off-campus fee, and Independent Living room rate. Allegheny financial aid, with the exception of work study/campus employment is applied to program costs. Students must pay the $45 application fee to BU but do not have to pay the program deposit. Additional costs include meals, health insurance, international airfare, and personal expenses (including passport, visa, local transportation).

Application Process

Allegheny students must apply for approval to study off-campus from the Global Education office AND apply directly to their chosen program. For this program, the program requires nomination from Allegheny’s Global Education Office before students can apply directly to the program. So, students must complete the Allegheny approval application and then wait for further instructions to apply to their program. The Allegheny approval application deadline is February 20 for fall programs and September 20 for spring programs. Study away approval applications will be reviewed immediately following the appropriate semester deadline. After a student has been approved by Allegheny, the Global Education office will send the student’s nomination and/or application documents to the program abroad. Students will receive instructions directly from the host program’s visiting student office with their next steps. For more information about the study away application process, please visit the application steps page.