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Information for the 2008-2009 Academic Year
 
 
Colby in Dijon offers incoming first-year Colby students an in-depth, language-intensive experience of cross-cultural study in the heart of France. Located in the famous wine-producing region of Burgundy, Dijon is a city of about 200,000 people and contains France's second largest art collection. Through a structured, demanding program of classes and cultural interaction, Colby in Dijon seeks to provide students with an understanding of the differences between the American and French ways of life, and to enable students to better understand the complexities of French culture.

The program is open to students with various levels of French, from two years in high school to advanced placement. Upper class Colby students are also part of the Dijon group. The program requires of students that they be open-minded and willing to speak French as much as possible while in Dijon. In this program, learning takes place as much outside the classroom as inside, for students will be "studying" about France sixteen hours a day, seven days a week.


The Resident Director
The resident director of the Colby in Dijon program is Jonathan Weiss, NEH Class of 1940 Distinguished Teaching Professor of Humanities. Jon holds degrees from Columbia and Yale universities, and has been in the French department at Colby College since 1972. From 1991 to 2000, Jon was associate dean of faculty and director of off-campus study. He is a published scholar, and his book, a biography of the best-selling French author Irène Némirovsky, was published in Paris in 2005 and in English in 2006.

Jon has directed the Dijon program since 2003 (with the exception of 2004). His responsibility in Dijon will be both academic and administrative. He will teach a first-year seminar on Contemporary France, will organize and direct all group excursions and activities, and will be responsible for the welfare and discipline of the group. He has the ultimate authority in matters of discipline, academic policy, and disbursement of Colby funds. Grades are submitted by French faculty members, and then evaluated by Professor Weiss before they are sent to Colby. In particular, Jon has the authority to lower grades if a student has missed classes without reasons, or even (in extreme cases) to give no credit for a course. If a student’s conduct puts the group at risk, or is inconsistent with Colby’s standards for behavior, Jon has the right, after issuing a warning, to dismiss the student from the program with no refund or credit.

Professor Weiss is also on hand throughout the semester to advise students and provide help. He will call group meetings from time to time, and will be available on a regular basis for student consultation. Some classes and events will be held in the director’s apartment.  The Colby director’s apartment is located at:
    8, Place Bossuet (a block from the rue de la Liberté)
    21000 Dijon, France
    Tel: 011-33-380-50 17 18
    Fax: 011-33-380-50 17 19
    Email:  jmweiss@colby.edu