ACADEMICS AND INTERNSHIPS
A strong homestay network, mandatory service learning and optional internships are the keystones of the program, which provide excellent opportunities for cultural integration and language improvement. Students from a variety of disciplines will find academically challenging courses at one of our many partner universities.
Dickinson’s Toulouse program is language intensive and designed for students with an advanced level of French. Participants have the chance to study at one of the program’s partner institutions: Université de Toulouse 1-Capitole; Institut d’Etudes Politiques; Université de Toulouse 2 (Jean-Jaurès); and Institut Catholique. In addition to enrolling in the local universities, students take the Toulouse Colloquium and French Methodology courses to enhance their understanding of French culture and language at the Dickinson Center. Qualified academic year and spring students have myriad credit- or noncredit- bearing internship opportunities. Students who have taken FR 230 who are interested in deepening their understanding of the French language are eligible to enroll in the French Intensive Language Track. In addition to the Dickinson courses taught at the Dickinson center, students on this track enroll in courses through the Département Études du français langue étrangère at Université de Toulouse 2 (Jean-Jaurès).
Toulouse’s universities are highly respected institutions, some of which date back to the 13th century. Today, Toulouse is both the fourth-largest university center in France behind Paris, Lyon and Lille with approximately 114,000 students and the fourth-largest city in France but with a total population of 1,330,950.
Toulouse is noted for its many pink brick buildings, earning it the nickname “la ville rose.” The city is in the heart of southwestern France, a region rich in history, culture and geographic diversity. It is located on the Garonne River just north of the Pyrenees Mountains, which span France’s southern border from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. n a 2019 L'Etudiant study, Toulouse was ranked France's #1 student city, based on the quality of higher education, student life, standard of living, student housing, and employment opportunities.
ACADEMIC EXCURSIONS
As part of the Toulouse Colloquium course, the program organizes academic excursions and monthly cultural events to engage students outside of the classroom, from a local, national and even global perspective. The programs privileged relations with the cultural venues in Toulouse give students an inside look at the arts. Recent academic excursions have explored the themes of sustainability, immigration, gastronomy, and history through an overnight excursion in the Occitanie region, a four-day trip to Paris, a visit to the new Musée Soulages (Rodez), wine and cheese tasting and an excursion to a mountain village in the Pyrénées.
HOUSING AND MEALS
Homestays provide unique opportunities for Toulouse program participants to learn about French life and to practice and improve their language skills. Hosts and students are carefully matched for compatibility. Students share either three or five meals per week with families. A stipend is provided for the remaining meals. Limited independent student housing is also available.
STAFF
Julia Carnine, academic director, leads the academic program, advises, supports and teaches students. Administrative Director Laura Raynaud ’01, a Dickinson and Toulouse program alumna, manages program operations. The on-campus coordinator is Associate Professor of French Dominique Laurent.
