STUDY ABROAD: INFORMATION AND POLICIES

ALL PROGRAMS

The Programs

The Department of Romance Languages sponsors semester and year long abroad programs, in the fall in Dijon (France), in the fall and spring in Salamanca (Spain), and intensive summer language institutes in Queretaro (Mexico) and in Venice (Italy). As Wake Forest programs, these study abroad opportunities are evaluated in accordance with Wake Forest guidelines, fall under the Wake Forest Honor Code, and are administered as a regular Wake Forest study program. As part of these academic programs, and included in their respective costs, a number of group excursions and trips to places of cultural interest are offered.

The Director

The Director of the study abroad program is a faculty member in the Department of Romance Languages who is authorized to supervise all aspects of the program. The Director remains with the group throughout the length of the program, accompanies students on group excursions, and is available to aid, advise, and attend to students and their concerns during the stay abroad. In Dijon, Salamanca, and Venice the Director teaches one course. In Querétaro, the director may on occasion teach SPA 213.
NP. The Salamanca program also has an on site Assistant Director whose responsibilities are, in general, to be liason between the Wake Forest Director and group and Salamanca, and to make local arrangements for the program. The Assistant Director may teach 2019 Intensive Sapnish.

The Faculty

Except for the course taught by the Director, all courses are taught by professors from universities located in the respective study abroad sites. The Department of Romance Languages considers this collaboration with native professors an asset to its programs. Their European or Latin American background and perspectives provide students with a more international and global approach, an essential goal of the study abroad experience. Students should expect their professors to offer a different approach to the discipline, not only in perspective, but also in terms of course plan and evaluative tools. Students should not expect the teaching style of their Spanish, French, or Mexican professors to replicate the style of the professors on the Wake Forest campus.

Courses

Courses taken as part of the Romance Languages study abroad programs are Wake Forest courses and are evaluated as such. All courses are taught in the target language by the Director and/or the faculty from the local university. Course content is presented either in a syllabus or in a general description of the course.

Grades

As part of the Wake Forest curriculum, courses taken as part of any of the Romance Languages study abroad programs are evaluated in accordance with the grading system on campus. Native professors are provided with a translation into the respective language of the description of grades published in the Wake Forest undergraduate bulletin. When the grading system used is that of the country of the study abroad site, grades are translated into the American system before they are reported to the Office of the Registrar.

Cultural Activities

Participants in the Romance Languages study abroad programs are encouraged to explore the culture of the country where they study. Program monies underwrite many cultural activities, including group trips and excursions. During such trips, students must remain with the group and follow its itinerary. A student may not separate from the group to visit other cities. The program will pay for cultural activities under the following circumstances: when the group is together; when, in the judgment of the Director, the activity is related to the Program or to a course; and when the Director organizes the activity. In the event that a student declines to participate in a cultural activity sponsored by the program (and not obligatory), s/he will not be reimbursed for the cost of that activity.

Books

The program will pay for books and other materials (e.g. newspapers) that students need for their coursework while studying abroad. The Director will inform the group of where texts may be picked up or purchased. Students may receive some of their textbooks at Wake Forest before leaving the U.S. while other texts may be purchased after they arrive at the study abroad site.

Meals

For students participating in the Salamanca and Queretaro programs, all meals are provided by their respective host families. Host families participating in the Dijon program offer students a daily breakfast and two evening meals per week; they receive a daily allowance from the Director to pay for the cost of other meals, available in cafes or restaurants in town or at student cafeterias at the university.
Breakfast and dinner are included during all excursions and trips that are a part of the academic program in Salamanca and Dijon; during these, students also receive a daily allowance for lunch. Students will receive no reimbursement for meals they miss either with the host family or during group excursions and trips.

Transportation

The Dijon and Salamanca programs pay for students' roundtrip transportation costs to and from the foreign study site. While the program will pay transportation costs for group excursions and trips, when students travel on their own during weekends and other breaks, they must pay their own way. Because Dijon and Salamanca pose different local transportation needs, policies pertaining to local transportation are different at the two sites. Participants in the Dijon program will be provided funds to purchase the bus passes they will need to get to their university classes. In Salamanca, no travel allowance will be provided for transportation unless a student is housed outside a nonnal radius from the town center.

Schedule

To give students participating in the Dijon and Salamanca programs time to travel on their own, the academic program allows for three-day weekends (except when group excursions and trips are scheduled) and other breaks, as the calendar permits.

E-mail

Students participating in the Dijon and Querétaroprograms should not expect to find the same technological infrastructure and on-demand access to e-mail and the Internet that they have on the Reynolda Campus. Arrangements will be made, however, for them to have access to e-mail accounts while they are in those sites, although, this may be on a more limited basis than what they are accustomed to. The Salamanca center and the Venice House are fully wired and they function as any other campus facility. All Wake Forest students participating in a study abroad program are required to complete forms on which they state their intent to leave, store, or take their computer with them. They must also sign computer liability and insurance forms.

Medical Insurance

Students enrolled in the Salamanca program receive insurance, paid by the Program, through the Office of International Studies at the University of Salamanca. Students must be prepared, however, to pay for any medical expenses not covered by the insurance and then to present receipts for those expenses to their insurance company in the United States. Students enrolled in the Dijon program must confirm with their insurance company that their policy will cover their medical expenses while they are abroad. They will then be expected to pay their own medical expense and present receipts to their insurance company once they return to the United States.

Visits from Family

Students are encouraged to invite their families to visit them while they are abroad. Such visits should take place after students have settled into life with their host families; it is recommended that families from the United States not visit during the first three weeks of the program. Visiting family members and friends should not expect to stay in the home of the host family. It will not be possible for anyone not enrolled in the Program to participate in group trips and excursions.

Spain (Salamanca)

Students wishing to study in Spain may apply for a semester's or year's instruction at the University of Salamanca. Under the direction of a faculty residential adviser from the Department of Romance Languages, courses are taken at the University of Salamanca by student groups of varying levels of preparation. A major in Spanish is not required to participate in the program, but all students are required to takeone course beyond SPA 213 prior to going to Salamanca.

Internship Summer Program ( Salamanca)

Wake Forest's Department of Romance Languages offers a summer program of internships in Salamanca, Spain, the site of the semester/year-long Wake Forest study abroad program. This is an ideal program for students wishing to apply their knowledge of Spanish to a variety of professional fields, such as medical and healthcare professions, teaching, and translation. The immersion setting provides the best environment for improving language skills, furthering cultural knowledge, and learning about the functioning of agencies in different professional settings. Students live with Spanish families selected by Cursos Internacionales of the University of Salamanca, the sponsor of the Wake Forest study abroad program. The curriculum includes two levels of internship courses and a course on Language Study in the Context of an Internship (SPN 31691). As Wake Forest courses, they all earn Wake Forest credit.

France (Dijon)

Students wishing to study in France may apply for a semester's instruction at the University of Burgundy. Under the direction of a faculty residential adviser from the Department of Romance Languages, courses are taken at the University of Burgundy by student groups of varying levels of preparation. (A major in French is not required, but French 220 or its equivalent is recommended.)

Italy (Venice)

Students wishing to spend a semester in Italy may apply to study at Casa Artom, the University's residential center on the Grand Canal in Venice. Under the direction of various members of the faculty, approximately twenty students per semester focus on the heritage and culture of Venice and Italy. (Courses offered usually include Art 2693, Venetian Renaissance Art; Italian 2213, Spoken Italian; Italian 215, Introduction to Italian Literature 1; Italian 216, Introduction to Italian Literature 11; and other courses offered by the faculty member serving as director.) Students selected for the Venice program are required to have completed elementary training in Italian. Limited scholarship aid is available to one or two students each semester to assist with expenses. Further information may be obtained in the Office of International Studies.


Summer program in Queretaro, Mexico

The department sends students wishing to learn Spanish in an immersion setting to the prestigious Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey at its campus in Querétaro , Mexico . Students live with Mexican host families and take 6 or 9 hours of coursework. Except for SPA 213, which earns Wake Forest credit and is taught by a Wake Forest faculty member, courses earn transfer credit. The curriculum includes courses in Spanish language and literature at all levels, and will be particularly attractive to 1) students of intermediate Spanish and beginning Hispanic literature; 2) advanced students of Spanish; 3) students wishing to learn Spanish to use it in the healthcare professions.

Students wishing to take intermediate Spanish and SPA 213 concurrently may do so in Querétaro by taking 6 hours of intermediate language in conjunction with the 3 h-hour SPA 213.

Summerprogram in Cuba

Six weeks in Cuba at the University of Havana

Our Cuba Summer Study Program is sponsored by Wake Forest University's International Studies Program and
licensed by the US Government.

Semester in Spain

The department offers a semester or year in Spain at Salamanca, the site of a well-established Spanish university. Students go as a group in the fall and spring semesters, accompanied by a professor from the College.

No particular major is required for eligibility. However, students must have completeted one course beyond SPA 213, and should be approved by both theirmajor department and the Department of Romance Languages.


Semester in France

The department sponsors a semester in France in Dijon, the site of a well­established French university. Students go as a group in the fall semester, accompanied by a departmental faculty member.

No particular major is required for eligibility. However, a student (1) should be ofjunior standing and (2) should have taken as prerequisite French 220 or its equivalent orat least one French course beyond the intermediate level. At least one semester'sresidence in the French House is strongly recommended.

Students are placed in language courses according to their level of ability in French, asascertained by a test given at Dijon. Courses are taught by native French professors. Theresident director supervises academic, residential, and extracurricular affairs and hasgeneral oversight of independent study projects.
 

Burgos Exchange Scholarship (copy description in bulletin p. 55)

Intensive Summer Language Institute (ISLI) in Italy.

Venice Exchange Program. Established with the University of Ca’ Foscari in Venice, Italy, this exchange program may assist one or two students for two semesters. Respective students pay tuition and room to their respective institutions. Applicants must have completed at least two years of college Italian or the equivalent. Application is made through the Department of Romance Languages.

Semester in Venice

Each fall and spring semester, a group of Wake Forest students and a Resident Professor live and study together at Casa Artom. Many returning students cite the close relationships formed not only among students but also between students and the Resident Professor as a highlight of the program. All students take three courses taught in English and an Italian language course. All classes are held at Casa Artom. Italian professors teach the language course and either a Venetian Art or Italian Literature course. In addition, the Wake Forest Resident Professor teaches two courses from his/her discipline. Classes are scheduled Monday through Thursday, leaving a three-day weekend to explore Venice or travel to other destinations.