Recasting the foreign language requirement through study abroad: A cultural immersion program in Avignon

Given the decline in French majors and enrollments in French junior year study abroad programs, educators have increasingly turned to short-term study abroad for first- and second-year students. These programs can motivate students fulfilling the language requirement, while also internationalizing the curriculum through interdisciplinary and experiential learning in a foreign environment. This article examines a pilot program in which study abroad in Avignon, France, was an integral part of a third-semester course. Student evaluations were overwhelmingly positive. Many students subsequently continued with French, applied for the junior year Paris program, and found innovative ways to integrate language and study in other disciplines. Drawing on this experience, this article addresses the value of such programs to foreign language curricular development and to the internationalization of the liberal arts curriculum generally.