Study Abroad
Study Abroad
II. Exploration Seminar: Surrealist Paris! 8/24-9/18, 2008
II. Summer Program in Chinese Film History and Criticism
For Fall Quarter 2008 (October 4 to December 6), the Department of Comparative Literature will organize an interdisciplinary program of study in Paris. This program offers students a unique opportunity to earn 15 UW credits while living and studying in one of the most vibrant and beautiful cities in the world. The program is open to all UW students with an interest in the humanities and arts.
The program includes three courses: Introduction to Theory and Criticism, taught by Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen (French and Comparative Literature); "The French New Wave and After" taught by James Tweedie (Comparative Literature); and a French conversation course (instructor TBA). Coursework will be supplemented by lectures and field trips to cultural activities in Paris.
French home stay and board will be arranged in Paris. Classes will take place in the Saint-Germain des Prs area, in the very heart of Paris.
Students in the program will maintain their UW residency and any established financial aid eligibility. Students must take all three courses in order to meet concurrent enrollment requirements. Participation in the program will earn 15 UW credits. Credits will be recorded on students UW transcripts and apply directly to UW graduation requirements.
Download the full brochure click to download
Application click to download
Read more about the Paris program in the Arts & Sciences newsletter. CLICK HERE
Exploration Seminar -- Prof. Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen
SURREALIST PARIS
2008 Exploration Seminar in Paris, France
Dates of instruction: August 24 – September 18, 2008.
Program Director: Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen, French and Comparative Literature
Surrealism, which emerged in Paris in the early 1920s from the social upheaval of post-WWI Europe and more especially from Dadaism, is arguably the most influential avant-garde movement of the 20th century. It rejected social, moral and logical conventions and sought to revolutionize art, literature, politics and life in the name of freedom, desire and the unconscious. Surrealist art, which was viewed by the surrealists as a means of liberation beyond purely aesthetic considerations, is characterized by a diversity of forms of expression: writing, painting, drawing, photography, film, collage, found objects, sculpture, theater; and of practices: automatic writing, hypnosis, and somnambulic strolling in the streets of Paris. The influence of surrealism extends well beyond the surrealist group itself and can be seen in painting (Picasso, abstract expressionism), in literature (Char, Bataille, Leiris), in politics (Situationism, the May 1968 student revolt), in theater and performance art (Artaud, Living Theater, Bob Wilson) and in psychoanalytic theory (Lacan).
In this Exploration Seminar, we will study surrealism in the city where it was born and which provided the stage for so many of its experiments. Readings and lectures will be complemented by field trips to museums which have holdings of surrealist and Dada productions (Centre Pompidou, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Musée Picasso, Halle Saint Pierre), and by screenings of surrealist movies at the Bibliothèque du Film (Cinémathèque Française). In addition, we will visit the sites of Paris and its vicinity evoked by the surrealists in their texts and photographs. In order to recapture the poetry of the modern city that the surrealists created, students will be sent scouring Paris for odd, ‘surrealist’ objects and asked to bring back photos, videos, drawings or descriptions of their wanderings and encounters, which they will be expected to share with the rest of the group in the form they choose to adopt. In the spirit of surrealism, creativity, imagination and humour will be encouraged at all levels. The ‘Surrealist Paris’ that we will explore is not the Paris of tourists and guides, but a poetic and artistic experience that everyone can partake in.
The course will be conducted in English and host local guest speakers.
Dorm-style housing with kitchen area will be arranged at the Cité Universitaire Internationale, a campus for international students located in the 14th arrondissement (district) of Paris. Classes will take place at the same site.
Participants will receive five credits in: C LIT 320, or EURO 490, or ART H 309, or FRENCH 418, or CHID 471. Participants should check with their advisors to determine how these credits can count towards departmental requirements.
Student costs:
$ 2,600 Program Fee
$ 200 IPE Fee
Additional costs include: Round trip airfare to Paris, insurance, food, course materials and personal spending money.
For more information, contact Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen: mbj@u.washington.edu
Summer Program in Chinese Film History and Criticism
This program is organized by Dr. Yomi Braester, and will take place during July, 2007. It is one of the most intense and dynamic offerings available for summer study. The program acquaints upper-level undergraduate and M.A. students with the history of Chinese cinema, with critical terms for discussing formal, institutional and ideological concerns, and with the Asian and global contexts of Chinese filmmaking. The intensive program includes eight mini-courses by leading Western and Chinese scholars as well as meetings with Chinese filmmakers. Other activities include weekly excursions in Beijing and vicinity. All classes are taught in English, to a student body from around the world. No knowledge of Chinese language is required. CLICK HERE for more information.