<p>Ive posted this on the Centre College board with some additional information. I thought this part might be of general interest, since I dont remember any reviews of visits to study abroad programs. My DS and I visited Centre Colleges study abroad program in Strasbourg, France. I learned a lot about Centre, but also about study abroad programs and their goals. Maybe this information can serve as in introduction and benchmark for comparison if your student is interested in a study abroad program, even if she/he is not interested in Centre. </p>
<p>DS and I had an interesting two days. On Sunday, we drove to Munich for an interview with a Grinnell alumnus, and then that night drove to Strasbourg to visit Centres study abroad program the next day. Ill call it CIS for short. Our timetable was tighter than I initially planned, but boogieing on the Autobahn tends to be faster then on the interstates. (More stressful too).</p>
<p>On the day of our visit, we left at 0900 on a field trip to a WWII concentration camp near Strasbourg. It is the only one that was on French soil. It was a solemn group that left the crematorium. Field trips dont occur every week, but the trip replaced their morning class. The typical CIS schedule is one class in the morning, sometimes some meetings, a two-hour break for lunch, and then two classes in the afternoon ending around 1700-1730. They attend classes Monday through Thursday and have three-day weekends for travel, work, etc. </p>
<p>My first impression was that CIS has a challenging schedule, so it's is not an extended vacation. Centre feels strongly that the study abroad programs are important for their students. The professor/director Dr. R said that Centre wants their students to expand their horizons beyond their roots, so they provide multiple opportunities to study abroad. He said that they really like Strasbourg for their base in France. Its a fair-sized city, has the EU Parliament, many beautiful and historic buildings, but its not a national capital and its not overwhelmingly large. He commented that kids from a small town in KY might be overwhelmed by 14 weeks in a town like Paris. It sounded like Centre is a little protective of their students, but he then made an interesting observation. In Paris, the students would always be able to find someone who spoke English. That isnt true in Strasbourg, so they are forced to use the language. I suppose the (theoretical) lack of a language barrier reduces the strain for students in the Centre-in-London program. </p>
<p>They try to plan the study abroad to allow exploration, trips, traveling, but also try to get the students to immerse themselves in their local town too. I thought a surprising comment from Dr. R was that he actually has higher expectations and a greater workload at the CIS campus than at the home campus. He said the students dont have all the distractions and activities (clubs, sports, boyfriends/girlfriends, visits home), so he figures they have more time for schoolwork. That was completely opposite of what I expected. Centre hires local adjunct faculty who speak English well to teach some of the classes, so hes not alone. The offer 5 or 6 classes and the students choose 4. </p>
<p>The students confirmed that there is a heavy workload at CIS and on the home campus. However, it was Monday and they were all talking about their different trips over their three-day weekend. Some had been to Normandy, others to Prague, and others to Venice. That was just one weekend, and they have a 10-day break coming up after 12 October. They said traveling by train can get them anywhere and the trains are usually good places to read and complete assignments over the weekends. </p>
<p>The physical facilities are in an older office building downtown. It was interesting to see CENTRE COLLEGE on the directory in the lobby of a Strasbourg office building. They have a large room for classes, two smaller rooms for student workrooms and Internet access, and office for the professor/director. Most of the students live in apartments with 4-5 students sharing. Some students interested in improving their language skills will stay with local families. There were around 22 students total, which I assumed is a normal-sized cohort. As I said earlier, sometimes the classroom will be a study trip, or visit to a museum or other site. Dr. R noted that Centre is able to afford to keep the CIS campus and apartments year-round because the expense is reasonable. By contrast, the Centre-in-London program is only 10-weeks and they rent space and apartments only for the length of the stay, not year-round. These modifications are directly due to the high expenses in London.</p>
<p>We spent the entire day with the students and professors, including the field trip, lunch, and DS attended two classes. Everyone ate together in a nice restaurant, which the students said is not their typical schedule. I think it was another method of getting the students to stretch, since CIS picked up the tab and the menu was pre-ordered. Most of the students enjoyed the excellent food. Among other things, they talked about how silly and restrictive the drinking laws are in the U.S. (as they had a beer with lunch :eek: ). For those concerned, the students were predominately juniors with a few seniors. The students said they usually return to their apartments to eat lunch. </p>
<p>Dr. R and the students were friendly and welcoming. The students made a point of introducing themselves to DS and talking with him. He enjoyed the classes and said the students were serious, prepared, took notes, had read the material, had good comments and observations etc. The students have a few choices in the classes, so they were not all in the classes at one time. Those outside the classroom worked, caught up with email, scheduled trips, or were bothered by me asking questions. </p>
<p>I think our visit went well and I learned a lot about how Centre runs their study abroad programs. I continue to be impressed by Centre, not only their warmth but also their commitment to the students. At the end of the day, Dr. R. said that he had talked with DS during the day and the class that he felt he would fit in well at Centre. He seemed quite positive about our visit, and we certainly felt that way.</p>