From our Resident Director

Dear prospective student,

I am glad you are interested in the Nice program, and thought that you might like to know some of the things you can look forward to next year.

As you probably already know you will be taking most of your classes at the University of Nice, which has a special program (with the complicated acronym of CUEFLE) devoted to French studies for international students . There are some exciting innovations planned at the CUEFLE for next year. Your ten-day “pre-stage” in preparation for the placement tests will be taking place at the University of Nice, possibly with other international/European students. It will include a more thorough introduction to the University of Nice system (which has several campuses in the city) so that you can feel part of a system that is larger than just the little Faculté de Lettres (at Campus Carlone) where you will take your French courses. This will be useful for students who want to do sports on other campuses, take advantage of the libraries, audit courses in other disciplines, or simply visit the occasional course, or meet students at other campuses. Our students were also promised wireless internet access on campus—so please think of bringing your laptop to Nice if you have one or can borrow one. Moreover, we make sure you get in touch with French students—as a start, a conversation exchange with French students who take English at the University is a required part of the UMD course I teach in Nice.

This course focuses on arriving at a better understanding of the complexity and richness of French culture and cultural relations between France and the United States. It is based on the textbook Laurence Wylie & Jean-François Brière, Les Français As part of this course, we’ll also go to at least two plays at the National theater of Nice, participate in the national “Journées du Patrimoine”, visit museums and other institutions in Nice, and take a couple of overnight excursions. (Prentice Hall, third edition), which you should acquire in the US before leaving for Nice.

The excursions are to places that are more easily reached as an organized group than by yourself. I hope, for example, that we can repeat a memorable trip we took two years ago to a site way up in the mountains of the Alpes Maritimes where there are remnants of a cult to thunder and lightning dating from the bronze age. That time we camped because we were a small group. This time we probably will sleep in a refuge—bring good walking shoes. I also hope to take you to the production site of a French soap opera in Marseille (of course, it will be required to view that daily soap opera, to which many of our former students got hooked). And since we’ll be in Marseille, we’ll try to take in Arles and Aix on the same trip. For excursions closer afield, I’ll give you all the information we need, and perhaps we can even do some together informally.

For the more motivated and enterprising among you (who are willing to stick to a regular schedule beyond your classes) there is a possibility to do internships in Nice, or at least to go visit places of employment—the latter might be more realistic if you will be in Nice only for one semester. I have some contacts in schools, archives, marine biology labs, the theater, orchestras, etc… but you are of course free to explore your own interests, as well. It is best to plan this even before you get to Nice, because once here time will fly and before you know it you’ll be at the midpoint of your stay with still a million things to do. So please contact me if this is of interest to you. Either I will be able to help you, or at least I can direct you (for example, by giving you the address of a website where you can find information about possible “internships’ on the French Riviera). Mind you, these are not paying internships, nor can you count them towards UMD credit, unless you can arrange this somehow with your own adviser. Even for a very informal visit to a French workplace, you’d be surprised how much paperwork is involved, so it is best to be prepared well in advance.

Now a few words about housing. Having been a resident director for three years in Nice, I know most of the families, and the apartments where you will be staying, and you can be sure I will do my utmost to help the family placement agency and our realtor make the best match for you. It is of course important that you let us know your preferences, and that you remember that this is not a perfect world where all our wishes can always be granted. But as the resident director I am here to help you make this a really meaningful and successful time abroad.

Last, let me briefly introduce myself. Since I have now been in Nice for four years (the first three as resident director of this program (2003-04, 2005-06, 2006-07, and this year on sabbatical leave), none of you will know me as a professor in the French Department at College Park. If you want to know about my scholarly interest, you can find out on the SLLC or Study Abroad websites. Here in Nice, however, I will not be teaching eighteenth-century French literature, but rather a more general French civilization course aimed at helping you gain cultural understanding in general (that you will hopefully be able to apply to all situations where you find yourself in a foreign environment). I am Belgian by birth (from Antwerp) I am married and we have an eight-year old daughter (Emma). My husband (Robert Adelson) is a musicologist and works for a museum here in town. Both my husband and Emma are usually very involved in the program and you will undoubtedly get to know them. We speak French at home and with you all, and we very much look forward to welcoming you in Nice next Fall. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Bien cordialement,

Jacqueline Letzter
Associate Professor of French
Jletzter@umd.edu