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Lyon Courses – 2025 Summer Session I

Studying abroad can be a more meaningful and invigorating learning experience than at home—both inside and outside of the classroom. You may be more curious and alert than you usually are so use this heightened energy to enhance your studies as well as your cultural and geographical explorations. You may also encounter different teaching styles and course processes; be prepared to adapt and to learn.

Courses

In Session I, you may take a 3-credit French language course (intermediate through advanced) and a 3-credit elective taught in English or French. Language study is not required; however, all students must take a 1-credit French conversation course appropriate to their level. If you do not wish to take a 3-credit French language course, you may take a second 3-credit elective instead. 4-7 credits are possible in Session I.

In Session II,you may take either a 3-credit intensive French language course (intermediate through advanced) through the Catholic University of Lyon's Institute of French Language and Culture or a 3-credit USAC elective taught in English or French. All students are required to take a 1-credit French conversation course appropriate to their level and may add an additional 1-credit cultural enrichment elective for a total 5 credits.

At least one 3-credit course is required each session you are enrolled.

Course availability is contingent upon student enrollment and is subject to change.

Click the course title to view course details, description, and availability.

French Language

Summer language courses are intensive, with four credits of French taught in each session. Students will meet this requirement through a 3-credit language course plus the 1-credit French Conversation course. Language courses have a maximum enrollment of 15 students each.

Session I and Session II

  • Summer Session I
    French 200-level 3 credits Taught in French
    Summer Session II
    French 200-level 3 credits Taught in French

    Second Year French I is a three-credit course offered to students who have completed a year of college French or its equivalent. In this course, the students will learn to narrate in the main time-frames, as well as to recognize the different uses of the subjunctive mood in the expression of different degrees of certainty, the expression of wishes and advice.

    Prerequisite: two semesters of college-level French, or equivalent

  • Summer Session I
    French 200-level 3 credits Taught in French
    Summer Session II
    French 200-level 3 credits Taught in French

    Second Year French II is a course designed for students who have completed a year and a half of college French or its equivalent and want to learn how to use the language with increasing syntactic complexity and grammatical accuracy, paying special attention to the change of time-frames, as well as the expression of hypothesis and different degrees of certainty.

    Prerequisite: three semesters of college-level French, or equivalent

  • Summer Session I
    French 300-level 3 credits Taught in French
    Summer Session II
    French 300-level 3 credits Taught in French

    This is a third year course for students who have completed two years of French at the college level or their equivalent. Emphasis is placed in improving the students´ writing abilities with the analysis first, and the subsequent production of different types of texts. In addition, a number of grammatical topics are reviewed in order to enhance and improve learners´ grammatical competence. The extensive reading of a novel or short stories will accompany and strengthen the formal instruction.

    Prerequisite: four semesters of college-level French, or equivalent

  • Summer Session I
    French 300-level 3 credits Taught in French
    Summer Session II
    French 300-level 3 credits Taught in French

    The focus of the course is improving the learners´ writing abilities with the analysis and the production of different types of texts. In addition, a number of grammatical topics will be reviewed in order to enhance and increase learners´ grammatical competence. The extensive reading of a novel or a collection of short stories will strengthen the formal instruction.

    Prerequisite: five semesters of college-level French, or equivalent

  • Summer Session I
    French 400-level 3 credits Taught in French
    Summer Session II
    French 400-level 3 credits Taught in French

    This advanced level course of French has been designed for students who have completed three years of French and although they may manage in completing daily tasks and interactions, they still need to improve their control over different oral and written registers. In addition, this course offers the students the opportunity to enhance their vocabulary in specific and technical areas, and to improve their grammatical accuracy in oral and written production.

    Prerequisite: six semesters of college-level French, or equivalent

  • Summer Session I
    French 400-level 3 credits Taught in French
    Summer Session II
    French 400-level 3 credits Taught in French

    Fourth Year French II has been designed for students who have completed more than three years of French and although they may manage in daily tasks and interactions, they still need to improve their control over different oral and written registers. In addition, this course will offer them the opportunity to enhance the coherence and cohesion of their production, and to improve their grammatical accuracy.

    Prerequisite: seven semesters of college-level French, or equivalent

  • Summer Session I
    100-level 1 credit Taught in French
    Summer Session II
    100-level 1 credit Taught in French

    This is a course for students who have not taken any French language courses before. Its purpose is to provide the students with basic lexical, grammatical, and functional resources to manage in daily situations while studying in France.

  • Summer Session I
    French 300-level 1 credit Taught in French
    Summer Session II
    French 300-level 1 credit Taught in French

    Mandatory one-credit course that complements the development of the linguistic skills facilitated in French courses, emphasizing the oral mode of the French language. It aims to improve students' ability to maintain a sustained monologue as well as oral interactions.

    Prerequisite: two semesters of college-level French, or equivalent

    Required if taking intensive French language.

French and European Studies

Session I

  • Summer Session I
    Art French History 300-level 3 credits Taught in French

    This course explores the artistic, architectural, and urban shapes of Lyon's city and its representations through the historical point of view (from the Middle Ages until the Modern and Contemporary periods). Students will be analyzing public spaces through the ages and then classifying daily life scenes and social and cultural practices. Tours, field trips, field surveys, and visits to museums and galleries are a substantial part of the course.

    Prerequisite: four semesters of college French, or equivalent

  • Summer Session I
    Architecture Art History 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

    A chronological analysis of Western art and architecture will be approached by firsthand exploration of the art and architecture of France via field trips complemented by in-class student-led seminars consisting of presentations, discussions, debates, and activities. The metropole of Lyon’s rich artistic and architectural history will be our laboratory for exploring movements from the Classical to the Beaux-Arts. Beyond the ability to identify the works of these eras by appearance, the course aims to help students understand how art and architecture express civilization’s history throughout the industrial era. Tracing Lyon’s artistic and architectural history from ancient Rome through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and Neoclassicism and into the beginning of the modern era will expose how French art, architectural thought, and urban planning have affected how we live in France and far beyond its borders.

    Prerequisite: one semester of college level art history

  • Summer Session I
    Summer Session II

    This 15-hour workshop, held over five sessions of three hours each, is designed to guide participants in preparing classic French recipes that are quick and easy to recreate at home, using a minimal number of ingredients.

    With an emphasis on sustainability, the workshop features local and seasonal products and demonstrates how to adapt them to create a variety of both sweet and savory dishes. Participants will also learn techniques for reducing waste in food preparation, from efficient ingredient use to creative ways of repurposing leftovers.

    Hosted in a concept restaurant committed to sustainable practices, this workshop offers a practical and mindful approach to cooking, highlighting eco-friendly choices at every step, and it concludes each day with participants enjoying the meal they've prepared together.

    This workshop has an additional fee.

    This workshop requires a minimum enrollment of five students to run.

  • Summer Session I
    Political Science 400-level 3 credits Taught in English

    This course aims at showing the specificities of French politics. It will present balance of power and go into detail about each power. It will also go into detail about elections and political parties so the students can understand the roots of today’s political debates. A review of major policies by the Presidents of the 5th Republic will also be done in order to explain some evolution in the French society and illustrate the major difference between the everlasting gap between “gauche” and “droite”. Time will be spent in the beginning of each class to answer students’ questions.

    The objectives of this course are to increase students’ knowledge and understanding of:

    1. The political system and how it differs from others (with a focus on the American system)

    2. French political parties

    3. Major policies enforced since 1958 and the reasons behind them

    4. Today’s main political issues

    5. The role of France in the building of the EU and today

  • Summer Session I
    Gender, Race, and Identity Sociology 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

    This course will explore historical and contemporary social institutions' influence on various interpretations of sexuality and gender, such as marriage, politics, media, religion, family, and education. Over the past few years, as Pride has attracted supporters and allies across France, poetry, fiction, and theater have been published to articulate these often unheard yet critical cultural voices. Students will develop the skills to evaluate the evolution of French LGBTQ literature throughout history and analyze questions related to its influence on French culture.

    Prerequisite: one semester of college-level English composition

  • Summer Session I
    Art Journalism 200-level 1 credit Taught in English and French

    This course offers students the chance to develop personal perspectives of the city through photography. They will discover an urban environment, make it their own, and share their vision. Travel photography allows students to create different individual perspectives from shared views. Students will develop observation skills and master photography, both technically and creatively, and produce a collective work.

    This course had an additional fee

Session II

  • Summer Session II
    French Women's Studies / Gender Studies 400-level 3 credits Taught in French

    The question of identity, and its multiple belonging and affiliations in its profound complexity, is the fundamental theme of our course while studying a variety of texts of francophone women writers. We will study the concept of identity seen through the eyes of a selected number of women writers in different linguistic, historical, social, and psychological perspectives. The students will be invited constantly to take account of sociohistorical context of their work: how the colonial history of the past impacts the postcolonial writing, and how it comes out in the text through a particular use of language by these women writers.

    The students will be analyze and interpret the literary texts of different women authors coming from different sociopolitical contexts. Thus, one of the main goals will be considering the sociohistorical context of each text before and during their lecture. In order to achieve this objective, the students will be encouraged to consider the variety of French literary expression. The course broaching the question of identity will show that the first achievement of these authors is always to redefine their relationship with linguistic metropolitan material by using another cultural and linguistic baggage belonging to other territories.

    Prerequisite: four semesters of college-level French, or equivalent

  • Summer Session I
    Summer Session II

    This 15-hour workshop, held over five sessions of three hours each, is designed to guide participants in preparing classic French recipes that are quick and easy to recreate at home, using a minimal number of ingredients.

    With an emphasis on sustainability, the workshop features local and seasonal products and demonstrates how to adapt them to create a variety of both sweet and savory dishes. Participants will also learn techniques for reducing waste in food preparation, from efficient ingredient use to creative ways of repurposing leftovers.

    Hosted in a concept restaurant committed to sustainable practices, this workshop offers a practical and mindful approach to cooking, highlighting eco-friendly choices at every step, and it concludes each day with participants enjoying the meal they've prepared together.

    This workshop has an additional fee.

    This workshop requires a minimum enrollment of five students to run.

  • Summer Session II
    Political Science 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

    The aim of the course is to develop an understanding of international human rights, their conceptual and historical foundations, as well as the challenges faced when developing international human rights protection measures.

    Throughout the course, concrete case studies and guest speakers will exemplify the international human rights protection system at universal and regional levels with a focus on the European Union. Students will acquire key skills in the application of human rights protection in a variety of areas, including women, children, religion, LGBTQI+, and refugee law.

    The role of a range of non-state actors will also be discussed, including international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

  • Summer Session II
    English 300-level 3 credits Taught in English

    This course will focus on the artistic, sensorial experience of Lyon through the genre of travel writing and will helps students produce clear, expressive prose, sharpen their eye for travel detail, and cultivate their individual voice through the lens of art in Lyon.

    As celebrity chef Paul Boccuse said about France’s other city of lights; “Lyon is a city that makes you hungry.” This course will take on Boccuse’s concept of hungry in both real and abstract ways. Real in the sense that Lyon is the gastronomic capital of France and the whole city is engineered to coerce the taste buds into sitting down for a lengthy meal. Abstract in the sense that Lyon is not just a feast for the mouth but also for the eyes, ears, nose, skin, and mind. With Gallo-Roman ruins, art museums, sweeping cathedrals, mysterious passages, and hundreds of streets named for WWII resistance fighters, Lyon offers nourishment for a diversity of artistic appetites and sensibilities.

    We will take frequent short walking excursions and visits to artistic sites and museums in Lyon and its surroundings for inspiration as well as have guest speakers from the artistic community of Lyon.

To request a course syllabus: syllabus@usac.edu

U.S. Visiting Professors

While most USAC courses are taught by local faculty, the following U.S. professor will also teach in this program:

Summer Session II, 2025

Course: Francophone Women Writers

Michael Rulon, Ph.D., Northern Arizona University

Dr. Michael Rulon is Associate Teaching Professor of French in the Department of Global Languages and Cultures at Northern Arizona University. He specializes in women writers of former French colonies (writing in both French and Arabic). He teaches courses on global France, world cinema (with topics ranging from global horror to global queer cinema), and professional French.

Workshops

(Not for credit)

  • Summer Session II

    Students in this workshop will investigate a variety of approaches, techniques, and processes in the art of painting (watercolor) and drawing. Students will also take advantage of Lyon’s world-famous museums, monuments and public spaces to learn about the city as it is reflected in its architecture, landscape, paintings and sculpture, and its people.

    The workshop has an additional fee.

    This workshop has a minimum enrollment of five students to run.

  • Summer Session I
    Summer Session II

    This 15-hour workshop, held over five sessions of three hours each, is designed to guide participants in preparing classic French recipes that are quick and easy to recreate at home, using a minimal number of ingredients.

    With an emphasis on sustainability, the workshop features local and seasonal products and demonstrates how to adapt them to create a variety of both sweet and savory dishes. Participants will also learn techniques for reducing waste in food preparation, from efficient ingredient use to creative ways of repurposing leftovers.

    Hosted in a concept restaurant committed to sustainable practices, this workshop offers a practical and mindful approach to cooking, highlighting eco-friendly choices at every step, and it concludes each day with participants enjoying the meal they've prepared together.

    This workshop has an additional fee.

    This workshop requires a minimum enrollment of five students to run.

Apply