One of the most familiar and imposing landmarks in Paris, the 12th-century cathedral of Notre Dame on the Ile de la Cité has survived the Revolution, the Commune, the Occupation and several generations of Junior Year in France visitors.
PHOTO BY MARTHA RUNDLES '99
Remembrance of Things Past
Alumni recall the Junior Year in France, now 50 years old
It was the year of Sputnik, West Side Story, the Civil Rights Act and the '57 Chevy. It was also the year in which Hamilton College began a bold new program in cross-cultural learning: the Junior Year in France. The plan was straightforward, the logistics anything but. A group of students, from a variety of disciplines but sharing a working knowledge of French, would travel to France — primarily Paris — for an academic year to immerse themselves in one of the world's most vibrant cultures, to live with host families, to learn about the world and — presumably not as an afterthought — to study at some of Europe's most prestigious institutions, in French.
The program's first director, Professor of French Marcel Moraud, defined the task: "Our program is to offer a challenging intellectual experience. Students living in a new intellectual, social and political atmosphere can acquire international understandings and appreciations and broaden their cultural backgrounds. They can satisfy the curiosity and interest of youth, and lose insularity and provincialism."
A half-century later, Hamilton juniors and students from other schools who enroll in the Hamilton program are still doing much the same thing in much the same way. When the Alumni Review asked former participants in the Junior Year in France program to offer their memories of the program and the March Cinquantenaire that commemorated it, the responses were as varied as the experiences themselves. But there was a clear common theme: gratitude for a thrilling, life-altering experience.
Entrance to a student apartment on the rue Raynouard, 16eme arrondissement, Paris, looking toward the Seine.
FOR A FRENCH PROFESSOR, being with students in Paris is the ultimate teaching experience in the most superbly appointed multimedia classroom imaginable. Every event—whether guiding a group through the Bibliothèque Nationale, tasting wine in a cave in Burgundy, or accompanying a bewildered student to the doctor's office—is a moment not only to hone the finer points of French style, but also to observe French attitudes toward education, the family, the body, politics, art, film, music and, of course, the table. I have become spoiled: I can't imagine teaching without Paris. It is truly a privilege to help students achieve the proficiency they need to study abroad, to witness their transformation in Paris, and to teach our fluent, bright seniors after they return to the Hill. —Bonnie Krueger, Burgess Professor of French
