Nantes - Study in Nantes

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Overview

Quick Facts

City:

Nantes [1]

Country:

France [2]

Program credits:

15-19 per semester (5-6 courses)

Language(s) of Instruction:

French

Language prerequisites:

4 semesters of college-level French

Nantes is well-known for being a charming city in which to live in France, and it’s quite easy to see why. Home to many young professionals and students, there are plenty of new friends to make and an active nightlife waiting for you in Nantes. Once the capital of Brittany, Nantes has a rich history, which you can see firsthand by visiting the Cathédrale St-Pierre et St-Paul and the Château des Ducs de Bretagne. It’s also easy to walk around and explore the city by foot.

The IES Abroad Nantes Program has two important goals: to improve your written and verbal proficiency in French through language and area studies courses and teaching internships, and to introduce you to contemporary France and its role in the European Union. Founded in 1965, the program is small enough to welcome you into the community, yet large enough to allow for a variety of academic and extracurricular activities. We offer you the opportunity to integrate fully into French society and function completely in French, due to the program’s focus on full immersion and the fact that there are few Anglophones in Nantes.

This program enjoys a close relationship with the Université de Nantes. You have access to the school’s libraries, computer labs, cafeterias, and sports facilities, and are welcome to join student clubs and other social and sports organizations. You also have many opportunities for enrolling in university courses. IES Abroad courses are taught in French by native French faculty, many of whom are professors at the Université de Nantes. You select from IES Abroad language and area studies courses, and can add a teaching internship and university courses to complete your schedule.

Nantes will also be your classroom. Visit some of the IES Abroad student hot spots, such as La Beaujoire Stadium to watch soccer games or Ile de Versailles to people-watch and explore. Tour the museum and home of Nantes’ own, science fiction author Jules Verne. Practice your French while ordering crepes in the region where they were first made. Welcome to study abroad!

We want you to feel at home in France, so we will do everything we can to help you integrate into life in Nantes. During your time there, you’ll stay with a local family, many of whom have been welcoming our students into their homes for years. Living with your host family will help you practice your Frenchspeaking skills and get to know what daily life in Nantes is truly like.

Program Dates

These dates are preliminary and are subject to change. Students should not book flights according to these dates.

Academics

Our mission is simple: to provide you with the best study abroad program possible—which includes the highest quality academic and cultural experiences.

We offer unique courses that explore French Language, History, and Culture, as well as other topics, through an in-depth and hands-on approach. Our world-class professors and course options at prestigious local universities enhance your academic experience and provide you with new perspectives each day in class.

While in Nantes, you take 15–19 credit hours per semester, and all courses are worth 3 credits unless otherwise specified. All courses are taught in French.

You will create your own academic experience by selecting from the following required and optional components:

IES Abroad French Language Course (required)
French-taught Area Studies Courses
French-taught Courses at a Local University

Courses

This is a list of planned course offerings. After you are accepted, you will see a list of final course offerings in your MyIESabroad account.

To learn more about IES Abroad’s innovative theoretical and pedagogical approaches to teaching language abroad, refer to the IES Abroad MAP for Language & Intercultural Communication [3].

Partner Institution(s)

Université de Nantes
www.univ-nantes.fr [4]
IES Abroad students have been enrolling in courses at the Université since the IES Abroad Nantes Program opened in 1965. As an IES Abroad Nantes student with advanced French-language proficiency, you are eligible to enroll in courses at the Université de Nantes.

You may choose to enroll in just one course or in the majority of your courses at the Université in addition to your IES Abroad French Language & Grammar course.

Courses
Most university courses are assigned 3 credits for a semester. At the Université de Nantes, most courses consist of the cours magistral (lecture course) and the travaux dirigés (discussion sessions). The lecture course is taught by a professor or a maître de conférences, and the travaux dirigés are generally taught by an associate professor.

You may select French-taught courses in:

Art History
Business and Economics
Education
Geography
History
Humanities
Languages and Literature
Political Science
Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy
Sciences: Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics

Location & Commute Time
The main campus, called Tertre Campus, hosts the colleges of Language, Literature, Geography, History, Art History, Humanities, Political Science, Business, Economics and Management, Education, and Psychology. Tertre campus, situated on the Erdre River, is located in the outskirts of Nantes, in the northern part of the city. The Tertre Campus of the Université de Nantes can easily be reached by tram and buses. It is only a 20-minute tram ride from the city center and approximately 25 minutes from the IES Abroad Center.

The Lombarderie Campus hosts all courses in the sciences, and is a 10-minute tram ride from the city center and the IES Abroad Center, in the same direction as Tertre Campus.

Ecole Supérieure des Beaux Arts (ESBA)
www.erba-nantes.fr [5]
Fall and Academic Year IES Abroad students with prior training in studio art are eligible to enroll in one to two courses at ESBA, as space allows. As registration takes place in September only, spring students may enroll only if a spot becomes vacant.

Courses
ESBA courses are practical workshops - you work alone with advising from the class instructor. Your evaluation and grade is based on your work and progress in class. ESBA offers you opportunities in:

Drawing (i.e. pencil, pastel, ink, etc)
Life Drawing
Painting

Courses typically earn 2 credits.

Location & Commute Time
ESBA is located in downtown Nantes, a 10-15 minute walk from the IES Abroad Nantes Center.

Internships

While adding study abroad to your resume is impressive enough, adding an international internship is even more powerful, and can help distinguish your application for graduate school or a job opportunity in today’s competitive job market. An internship provides an invaluable cultural experience, and helps you develop professional and personal skills.

Teaching Internships
You are given the opportunity to teach in French écoles primaires (elementary schools), collèges ( junior high schools), and lycées (high schools). The work requires at least four hours of supervised teaching each week. Interns are evaluated by both the teacher and the school principal. You are required to prepare a research project in connection with the accompanying seminar course. Previous teaching experience is not required.

Housing

Our job is to make sure that your greatest challenge is deciding what landmarks to see first or discovering the best café—not finding a place to live where you feel comfortable. We do our best to locate housing that is reflective of how the local students are living. Our goal is that when you leave Nantes, it will feel like home.

Homestays - You live in a private room with a local family in a homestay. Many host families have been welcoming IES Abroad students into their homes for decades. Only one student is housed with each family. You receive breakfast daily and five evening meals per week.

Student Life

Part of making you feel at home in Nantes is doing our best to help you feel safe and cared for. Whether it’s the orientation program that prepares you for what’s ahead, your housing that is well-located and comfortable, or the field trips that take you to places off the beaten path—we’re all about our student services. This is just one of the things we’re known for.

Orientation

The program begins with a 10-day orientation and language-intensive session that introduces you to the IES Abroad staff, your fellow students, and the city of Nantes, and prepares you for full French immersion.

Additionally, CORE™, IES Abroad’s Comprehensive Orientation & Re-entry Experience, begins during orientation and continues throughout the semester with activities focusing on cultural adjustment, goal achievement, and preparing for the return home.

A portion of your orientation takes place off-site in coastal resort towns, such as Caen, Quimper, or Vannes in the fall, and tours in the Loire Valley in the spring.

Extracurricular Activities & Cultural Events

Redefine the way you live and learn in Nantes through our cultural events, such as:

Receptions for French students from other institutions in Nantes
Student theater productions
A reception at the City Hall
Attendance at local opera and theater productions
Visits to museums, factories, and exhibitions
Cultural and social activities with French students
A weekly conversation club for French and IES Abroad students

University Clubs & Events
Upon enrolling in the IES Abroad Nantes Program, you are automatically registered at the Université de Nantes and have access to join student clubs such as the University Choral Society and other social and sports organizations

Field Trips

Although your adventure begins in Nantes, our field trips take you to other great sites and cities in France to provide contrast and context for what you are learning in Nantes. The cost of the field trips is included in the cost. Past destinations are listed below.

Mont Saint-Michel and Saint Malo
1 Day | Fall & Spring
Visit the famous abbey on Mont Saint-Michel and explore Saint Malo, a walled port city on the English Channel.

Normandy
2 Days | Spring
Visit the historic D-Day beaches of Normandy.

Loire Valley
2 Days | Fall
Visit five of the most famous castles in the region.

Clisson
1 Day | Spring
Tour this small, Italian-style town and the vineyards of the Nantes region.

IES Abroad field trip destinations, activities, and length of stay may vary according to term and availability.

Center

IES Abroad Nantes [6]

The IES Abroad Nantes Center occupies two floors of a gorgeous 19th-century residential building located just steps from the historic center of Nantes and the Passage Pommeraye—a narrow passageway of galleries that fill three levels and is covered by a canopied glass ceiling.

Features include:

Wireless Internet access
A computer lab and printer
A student lounge and TV room
Music practice room equipped with a piano and a guitar
Classrooms, offices, and a library
Two kitchens for student use

Center staff:

Thibaut de Berranger
IES Abroad Director
Thibaut de Berranger holds a master's degree in International Relations and European Law from the Université Paris 2, a master's degree in Public Law from the Université de Nantes, and a Doctorate in Public Law from the Université de Nantes. He has been Associate Professor of Public and European Law at the University of Nantes since 1993, and his association with IES Abroad Nantes dates to 1988. He has published several articles and authored several books on the constitutions of European Union member states and their policies.

IES Abroad Staff
Béatrice de la Bretesche
Senior Academic, Accounting & Administrative Assistant

Eugénie Fouré
Housing Coordinator

Nathalie Heinry
Associate Director

Julie Ouvrard
Academic Advisor and Registrar

Faculty
Dominique Beloeil,
History & Religion
Professeur d’Histoire-Géographie au Lycée N.D. de Toutes Aides ; Chargé de cours à l’Université ; Doctorat d’Histoire contemporaine ; Chercheur post-doctoral à l’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Section des Sciences religieuses)

Sylvie de la Foye,
International Relations
Docteur en Histoire, Université de Nantes

Jeanne de Pous,
French
Professeur de Français à l'IRFFLE (Institut de Recherche et de Formation en Français Langue Etrangère); Maîtrise de traduction spécialisée

Michel de Villiers,
Political Science
Professeur émérite à l’Université de Nantes; Doctorat d’Etat en Droit Public, IEP de Paris

Harald Delacour,
Economics
Directeur de l’Ecole Supérieure des Sciences de la Communication et du Management (ESSCOM); DEA de Sciences Economiques

Carine Deschanel Delacour,
Phonetics
Enseignante de Français Langue étrangère à la CCI; Licenciée d’anglais

Marie-Thérèse Duportail,
Teaching Internship Coordinator & Instructor
Professeur à l’Ecole Notre-Dame de Toutes Joies; Maîtrise de linguistique anglaise

Michel Feith,
Translation
Maître de Conférences, Département d’Anglais à l’Université de Nantes; Docteur en Littérature américaine

Marie-José Grenon,
French
Professeur certifié en Anglais au Lycée La Perverie

Catherine Josse-Molteni,
Art History
Professeur au Lycée St Dominique; Conférencière à l’Ecole Régionale des Beaux-Arts; Doctorat d’Arts Plastiques – Agrégée d’Arts plastiques

Marc Joyau
Politics and Economy
Professeur des Universités, Docteur en Droit public

Yann Lignereux,
History
Maître de Conférences à l’Université de Nantes; Doctorat d’Histoire Moderne

Laurence de Massot
Literature
Professeur au Lycée Guist'hau, Agrégée de Lettres classiques

Henry Mariel,
Theater
Comédien, auteur et metteur en scène, Théâtre de l’Entr’Acte; Cours théâtral Werler-Bouquet

Anne-Emmanuelle Murgier-Girard,
Economics & Sociology
Professeur d’Histoire-Géographie, classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles, Lycée Vial et Lycée Guist’hau; Agrégation d’Histoire – Géographie, DEA d’Histoire

Philippe Postel,
French Literature
Maître de conférences en Littérature comparée à l’Université de Nantes; Doctorat en Littérature comparée, Agrégation de Lettres Modernes, IEP de Paris

Caroline Urbain,
International Business
Maître de Conférences à l’Université de Nantes; Doctorat en Sciences de Gestion

Cost