The University will be closed December 19, 2024 to January 5, 2025. If you need assistance during that time, please call 1-855-OWU-1842 and leave a detailed voicemail along with your contact information. One of our colleagues will respond to your call as soon as possible.
If you would like to make a 2024 gift, please make your gift before midnight on December 31.
By mastering the French language, students can take advantage of the many transformative experiences that await them throughout the French-speaking world. Students in OWU's French program discover exciting and compelling ways to combine their French studies work with other fields of study, especially through OWU Connection grants, Travel-Learning Courses, study away opportunities, international internships, and more.
The French program at Ohio Wesleyan University trains students to understand, read, write, and speak the French language; appreciate the language's role and place throughout the world; analyze and interpret cultural documents with rigor and precision; pursue meaningful educational and professional opportunities throughout the French-speaking world; and communicate effectively across cultures and differences.
The French program at OWU excels in both French-language and cultural training. Language and culture are taught in tandem at beginning, intermediate, and upper levels alike. Furthermore, the French studies program works closely and personally with students to design personalized and guided experiences throughout the French-speaking world.
Every student in French at OWU can pursue OWU Connection experiences combining their interest in the French-speaking world and with another major by the fifth semester of language and cultural study.
Undergraduate research, performed under the mentorship of expert faculty, is a central component of The OWU Connection.
We emphasize intellectual curiosity, creativity, initiative, and synthesis. OWU provides opportunities, including traveling abroad, for you to explore an existing problem or develop a totally new avenue of exploration. You can work with a faculty mentor and apply for grant funding—and present your research at the Student Symposium in the spring.
Arrival at the Aimé Césaire International Airport in Martinique (Creole Cultures in the French West Indies Theory-to-Practice Grant, Spring 2014)
Travel-Learning Courses combine classroom study with travel to areas of the world where you may study the issues discussed in class in the settings where those events are occurring. French classes have traveled to Paris, France to expand their study of French literature.
Other travel-learning options include semester-long programs and Theory-to-Practice Grants.
Dr. Lewis Cusato studies immigration in Marseille, France, in 2016
Build your experience and connections to the professional world with internships and OWU-funded grants that help you put theory into practice.
Every French major spends a semester in a French-speaking country, where they deepen and refine their language skills.
Julia Stone '16 lived with a host family while studied abroad for a semester in Aix-en-Provence.
French Students present at the Spring Symposium in 2016.
French students meet with Martinican Artist Laurent Valère in 2014.
OWU faculty are outstanding scholars and researchers—and passionate teachers. They will push you, challenge you, inspire you, and work with you on your own research and creative projects.
They can even pack a 3-minute lecture with ideas, insight, and imagination. Check out our unique I³ lectures.
Students can apply to live in two different Small Living Units that focus on learning languages and celebrating international cultural diversity. In the House of Linguistic Diversity, students can explore and share their interests in language, diversity, and culture. The house hosts language talks and other cultural events on campus. The Citizens of the World House provides international, social, and cultural events and discussions from members who are from both near and abroad.
Enjoy performances and sample foods representing different parts of the world at Ohio Wesleyan's annual Culture Fest, hosted by Horizons International with support from the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs.
The Language Learning Center (UN 213) offers language students a space to read, study, work on projects with classmates or attend language tutoring sessions supported by the WLC department. Advanced students and/or native speakers can apply to become language tutors with faculty endorsement.
The French Program has hosted several Tournée Film Festivals, featuring films from the Francophone world with English subtitles. Admission is always free and open to the public. Post-screening discussions with OWU faculty and students follow the films.
After graduating, Raissa was accepted into the Graduate Institute of Geneva (IHEID) in Switzerland. While at OWU, Raissa had an internship with the Borgen Project, received several OWU Connection grants on topics ranging from imperialism in France to spatial justice after Apartheid in South Africa, and conducted research on the redlining system between Chicago and Paris.
Ohio Wesleyan Students Learn from University's International 'Leaders Across Borders' Program
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Ohio Wesleyan Students, Faculty Attend Conference Focusing on Black Women's Healthcare Issues
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Dr. Lewis Cusato studies immigration in Marseille, France, in 2016.
French students meet with Martinican artist Laurent Valère in 2014.
French Students Present at the Spring Symposium, 2016
Museum of Immigration, Paris, France, 2018
Arrival at the Aimé Césaire International Airport in Martinique (Creole Cultures in the French West Indies Theory-to-Practice Grant, Spring 2014)
Dr. Lewis Cusato Leads Trip on French Culture and the History of Imperialism, Theory-to-Practice Grant, 2018
Dr. Mary Anne Lewis with Onyinye Okoli (honors student in French and Genetics, 2016).
