Through IFE you’ll find that France today is much more than just a nation-sized museum, and Paris more than "old stones". Enrolling in one of IFE’s programs, you come to Paris not simply to study in France but to study France.

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Mother Tongues

"When I was five years old I visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Hawaii with my Russian-born mother. At the end of the exhibit we watched a film entitled "The Second World War". I was both totally absorbed and confused by the battle scenes, first-hand accounts and long narration of the war in the Pacific accompanied by a short sequence on the war in Europe, and at the end I turned to my mother to ask ’who won the war?’. Furious at a presentation of WWII so given over to the role of the US, my mother responded, in a loud voice and to the great shock of the other visitors, ’the Soviet Union won the War!’"...

Is Everything Culture?

For some years IFE has included in its preparatory curriculum some instruction on the role of the State in culture and the importance of cultural policy in French society. Part of culture is memory, and this year France remembers that fifty years ago the newly formed Fifth Republic of France instituted a Ministry of Culture, etablishing in modern administrative form the art-supporting role the State has played in France since the Rennaissance. ...

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Twenty Years Out

With an ardent belief in the theories of Christopher Columbus, IFE is certain that IFE alums have not fallen off the edge of the world, but rather that they are somewhere on its round and wonderful surface... but where? Doing what? As increasing numbers of post-dot-e-d-u email addresses are identified, a wealth of fascinating detail emerges : ...