French
First Course: Crepes
Day one in introductory French with Mary Jane Cowles culminates with crepes, which the students cook (and savor) themselves.
Study French Abroad
Off-campus study can be a deeply rewarding part of your academic career and a life-changing experience. About half of every junior class studies off campus, spending a semester or a year away.
French is the most popular language in American secondary and higher education after Spanish.
What accounts for this fact, given that the French-speaking population in the United States is relatively small? Two factors no doubt play an important role: the history of French influence over Western Culture, and the status of French as an official language for a large percentage of the world's population.
Since the fall of the Roman Empire and the gradual demise of Latin as a living language, French has arguably had the greatest influence of any language on European literature, culture, and politics. It is the native or administrative language not only of the almost sixty million citizens of continental France, but of over two hundred million more people in Europe, North and South America, Africa and the Pacific. Countries in the Middle East and Asia, such as Lebanon and Vietnam, are still profoundly influenced by their status as former French territories.