Students Gain Greater Appreciation for History and Literature Through Small Group Excursions

We're now at the end of week 1 and students are out on their first excursion either to the Domaine de Thoré, a nature resort filled with hiking and interactions with the great staff of facilitators at the camp, or to Carcassonne, a city  that was likely first settled close to 5000 years ago, but that gained importance in the first few centuries AD when Romans took an interest in it. But, before we get to those events and while we wait for them to wrap up, we had even more small group excursions at the end of week 1 as well as our first project presentations! Let's take a look at how students ended their first week of classes

Musée de la Résistance

The Musée de la Résistance (Museum of the Resistance) is a space dedicated to the memory and continued research into the Resistance movement in France during World War II. Students were able to view several original manuscripts of people who were organizing and participating in the movement while also seeing several profiles of specific resistance fighters and their backgrounds. We were accompanied by one of our local CIEE staff who was able to provide context to both the region and the history of the Resistance. Students walked away from this solemn visit with a deeper understanding of the importance of the Resistance movement and a greater appreciation for why it's important to continue studying such movements into the present day.

Médiathèque José Cabanis

A public library is a space not only to sit and read. It's a window into a cultural values and an opportunity to be introduced to new ideas. A group of student went to the public library (la Médiathèque José Cabanis) of Toulouse to participate in a literature workshop led by one of our local Program Leaders, Jade. Each of the student picked a french book and explained to the others why they thought it would be interesting. The students that were interested in creative writing used a quote from their chosen books as inspiration and wrote a short creative text in French. This somewhat guided introduction to both French literature and the French public library system was a way for students to begin to learn how they can continue their learning and exploration outside of the classroom. The library is available to students for the duration of their stay in Toulouse and has selections of books, comics, music, and movies available. There's something for everybody at the Médiathèque!

Reflection journales and project presentations

Every Friday, students present a project they've been working on throughout the week based on a theme. While all three levels work on slightly different projects, the theme generally remains the same. Students worked on the theme of "identity" this week and compared their life and family in the United States to their new one in France. These comparisons, based on level, ranged from simple family compositions, dynamics, and personalities to comparisons of deeper cultural values and initial impressions of cultural differences. Each student makes a slideshow and presents this in front of the class, so that hopefully gave family back in the States to see pictures of students' new homes and host families.

Students also complete reflection journals throughout the week based on prompts given in Canvas and discuss them in small groups after presentations on Friday. This is a time in the week to step back and consider larger questions about the experience itself like how to make the most out of this month and how to avoid burnout and also gives students a chance to share things that were difficult for them from the week and receive support.

After finishing up a week of many new friends and lots of hard work, half of the students departed Friday afternoon for a nature weekend at Domaine de Thoré and half on Saturday morning for a historic visit of Carcassonne. We look forward to telling you all about it in the coming couple of days!