The first five weeks of the Paris Field Study and Internship Program form an intensive training session intended to equip student-interns for entry into French professional life. Lecture/seminar in the morning, followed by workshop in the afternoon which serves to reinforce lecture material through oral presentations, debates, press reviews and structured discussion, complemented by site visits, films and documentaries...

In order to take advantage of an internship, students need to arrive at their placements already well-grounded in French social realities, politics, recent history and other elements of contemporary life indispensable for functioning in a professional environment. For 5 weeks preceding the internship, students spend all day in lectures, workshops, films and documentaries, and site visits. The curriculum is an integrated pluridisciplinary approach to understanding contemporary French issues and their sources. In addition, students complete a research project, working with an IFE faculty advisor on a subject of intellectual interest and/or professional appeal, related to the work of their host organization. In total, IFE students can expect during the 18-week semester to spend 110-120 hours in class, and well over 400 hours engaged in professional activity and research.

The IFE Curriculum is composed of four principal elements:

1. Two required courses that comprise the Preparatory Session
2. Wednesday late-afternoon seminar on European Affairs, which meets during the Internship period
3. 30 page Mémoire de Stage

The Preparatory Session meets from Monday to Thursday during the first four and a half weeks of the program:

A maximum enrollment at IFE of 20 students means courses are designed as seminars. Classes meet Monday – Thursday from 9AM to 12:30PM and 2PM to approximately 4:00PM with site visits, films, etc. in the late afternoon.

The morning period during the first two weeks is devoted to Course I, The Political Life of France, and the last two and one half weeks to course II, French Society.

THE WORKSHOP Afternoon classtime throughout the preparatory session is devoted to a workshop designed to reinforce morning lecture material through debates, press reviews, student presentations, and discussion. The IFE student group is broken into two smaller groups for the afternoon workshop, with each group led by one professor throughout the session.

1. FRENCH POLITICAL LIFE YESTERDAY AND TODAY: A pluridisciplinary and linguistic approach
2. FRENCH SOCIETY AND ITS RELATIONS WITH THE WORLD
3. SEMINAIRE SUR L’EUROPE: A weekly seminar meeting every Wednesday late afternoon throughout the 12-week internship period
4. MEMOIRE DE STAGE: The culminating element in the IFE curriculum

IFE LECTURE SERIES A series of monthly lectures throughout the school year by practitioners and researchers invited by IFE to address contemporary issues in politics, culture, social policy, and the like. Participation in this series is mandatory but ungraded for all students in IFE internship programs.