UMW in France

Summer 2026
May – July (depends on program option selected). Visit the IAU College summer calendar for details:

The optional Paris extension week (additional cost of $1000) will take place the week following Session B

Program Fee Options

OPTION 1 – 3 WEEKS: 1 3-CREDIT COURSE (session B): $5,798**
OPTION 2 – 6 WEEKS: 2 3-CREDIT COURSES (1 course in session B & 1 course in session C)
or 1 6-CREDIT COURSE (session A): $8,158**

CIE Registration and non-refundable deposit ($500) due to CIE: February 1, 2025
Final balance* due to CIE: March 1, 2025

PARIS EXTENSION: Following Session B, students are invited for a one-week extension in Paris with Dr. Di Lauro for an additional fee of $1,000 to be paid with the final balance.

*CIE will communicate each students’ final balance to them directly following an advising session;
it depends on the student’s program and course selections.

**A fee of $375 will be added to option 1, and a fee of $660 for option 2, if the student decides to take a Session B course other than HUM 301C: From Bordeaux to Lyon: A Trip Through the Cultural Landscapes of Southern France taught by UMW’s Dr. Brooke Di Lauro.

Use the Make a Flexible Payment option to pay any amount needed.

Online payees have the choice of either credit card or eCheck (ACH) payment. ACH transactions will be charged a flat fee of $0.50 per transaction. All credit card payments will incur a 2.95% service fee. For credit card payments, a minimum convenience fee of $3.00 will be applied to transactions over $20.00 and under $102.00.

Students can avoid fees by paying in-person at the UMW Cashier’s office by cash or check (made out to “UMW”). The Cashier’s office is located on the 2nd floor of Lee Hall.

IAU College Course Catalog

OPTION 1 – 3 WEEKS: 1 COURSE from Session B. Students will earn transfer credit for a 3-credit course from IAU’s Summer Course Catalog. UMW’s Dr. Di Lauro teaches “HUM 301C: From Bordeaux to Lyon” during Session B and it is highly recommended that UMW students participate in her course. However, a student is welcome to choose an alternate course in Session B offered by IAU and will pay an additional fee of $375 to do so.

Dr. Di Lauro’s Course Description – “From Bordeaux to Lyon: Cultural Landscapes of Southern France”

• Using southern cities as jumping off points, we will explore the culture—history, religion, arts, cuisine—of France. For example, Bordeaux and Béziers (Languedoc) will introduce students to France’s viticulture and Roquefort-sur-Soulzon will be our entrée into the country’s more than 250 cheeses.
• Grasse, the world’s perfume capital, will introduce us to another of France’s main exports. To explore France’s history we will begin with Nîmes (“French Rome”), continue onto Carcassonne (medieval fortified city), Lyon (the Renaissance capital), and then jump ahead to the twentieth century and Vichy and Périgueux which were central, respectively, to the Collaboration and the Resistance during the Second World War.
• To initiate a discussion of the France’s infamous separation of church and state and its current ramifications, such as the 1989 affaire du voile and 2016’s ban of the burkini, we will trace the country’s religious history, beginning with embarkation points for the Crusades (Clermont-Ferrand, Aigues-Mortes) and Toulouse’s place on the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimmage route and continuing with Avignon’s crucial role as the seat of the papacy in the 14th century and the Catholic/Protestant struggles which followed.
• As for the arts, Montignac, Angoulême, site of the international comics festival, will introduce us to French classics such as Tintin and Astérix, and the international film festivals in Cannes and Clerment-Ferrand will provide an entrée into France’s role in world cinema, particularly the Nouvelle Vague.
• Arles’ International Photography Festival, which we will visit, will allow us to explore France’s role in the development of photography, beginning with the daguerreotype and the Lumière brothers and following through to the popular Robert Doisneau.
• Poitiers, known for its Romanesque art, and the gothic cathedral in Limoges will serve as introductions to medieval architecture while our base of Aix-en-Provence, the hometown of childhood friends Cézanne and Zola, will begin our discussion of the art and literature of the nineteenth century.

OPTION 2 – 6 WEEKS: 2 3-CREDIT COURSES or 1 6-CREDIT COURSE – Students may choose to stay in Aix for six weeks to earn a total of 6 transfer credits. Students will enroll in either one 6-credit Session A course or two 3-credit courses from IAU’s Course Catalog (one from Session B and one from Session C). A student who selects a course in Session A or an alternative course to HUM 301C for Session B will pay an additional fee of $660 to do so.

The program satisfies the Beyond the Classroom or Diverse and Global Perspectives general education requirement by contract with the Faculty Director.

There are two housing options for students participating in this program in Aix-en-Provence:

OPTION ONE: Residence hall or aparthotel accommodations, which include:

• Shared or Individual rooms
• Access to laundry facilities (extra fee)
• Access to shared kitchen space. Kitchen is furnished with pots/pans/dishes/cutlery/etc.
• Access to Wi-Fi
• Bed linens and towels
• No meals are included
• No cleaning service is included. Students are responsible for all cleaning and associated costs

OPTION TWO: Homestay accommodations, which include:

• Daily breakfast
• Five evening meals per week
• Access to laundry facilities or laundry service once per week
• Access to Wi-Fi
• Cleaning
• Bed linens and towels
• For homestay accommodation, ACM-IAU reserves the right to place students with allergy and dietary restrictions in semi-independent housing where students will be responsible for providing their own meals.

Students must maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA in order to participate. This program is open to all UMW students regardless of major; UMW students must have completed 12 or more UMW course credits. French language knowledge is NOT required. As per UMW credit transfer policies, a C grade of above is required for courses taught abroad to transfer back to UMW.

Enrollment documents are due to IAU College by March 15, 2026. Enrolled students will be provided additional details following acceptance.

Included in the program fee:

• Accommodations
• Tuition & Fees including IAU College Transcript
• Airport pick-up on arrival day
• IAU College Orientation
• Entrances/fees for all scheduled cultural activities and academic visits
• UMW Education Abroad Fee
• International medical insurance

Excluded in the program fee:

• International airfare
• Local transportation
• Passport, travel authorization, and/or visa fees
• Souvenirs and other personal expenses
• Personal health costs (ex. vaccination fees, COVID-19 testing, etc.)
• Independent site-seeing and entrance fees
• Textbooks

This program requires a moderate to high level of activity, including significant city walking and lengthy hours.

International travel may require immunizations or preventative medicines. Please refer to the US Center for Disease Control’s Traveler’s Health Information Page for recommendations. The UMW Health Center provides free travel consultations by appointment, as well as travel information for UMW students. The Center for International Education recommends that each student have a personalized medical consultation prior to international travel.

Visit CIE’s Scholarships & Funding webpage to learn more about financial options as it relates to education abroad including Financial Aid, 529 Plans, etc.