Wellesley-in-Paris: Colonialism and Its Legacies
The new Wellesley-in-Paris program focuses on understanding France's colonial and decolonial history. Students will study at the American University in Paris, and through a partnership with the West African Research Center, will also take a 2 week Field Study trip to Dakar, Senegal. The program's core course, Understanding Colonialism and Its Legacies, will be taught in a hybrid fashion by Wellesley Professor Anjali Prabhu. The inaugural program will take place in Spring 2023, and will be open to the Wellesley classes of 2024 & 2025.
English will be the language of instruction, though students are expected to either have taken at least one semester of French before the program, or take a beginner level course while in Paris.
Students will take one core course plus three additional courses with the American University of Paris.
Core Course: Understanding Colonialism and Its Legacies
This course will be taught by Wellesley College Professor Anjali Prahbu, in a hybrid (remote + in person) format.
Broad subject areas of interest include Art History, Computer Science, Media Arts & Sciences, Psychology, and Environmental Studies, but students are free to select courses from the full curriculum.
Research opportunities are available to qualified students in one of AUP's Research Centers.
The field study trip to Dakar, Senegal will take place over the course of two weeks in mid-May.
Wellesley students will get a crash course in local Wolof culture. They will also have a few instructional sessions to understand the grammar and phonetics of Dakar Wolof as our course work takes us deeper into the functioning of the language alongside French today. Possible discussion and workshop leaders include Fatou Sow, the renowned feminist sociologist who taught at Cheikh Anta Diop University and Diana Ndiaye, long-time curator for Smithsonian’s Center for Folk Life and Cultural Heritage, both of whom will bring perspectives on women’s changing roles in Senegal and in Dakar in particular.
Students will discover food, filmmaking, music, painting, sculpture, digital art, and fashion design in Dakar through a series of explorations in the city, each guided by a local practitioner. Students will gather perspectives to understand to what extent Senegalese intellectuals and creators of different kinds in Dakar engage with traces of the nation’s colonial past and how inherited legacies are reclaimed and remade to reflect contemporary engagement with the world.
Wellesley will cover the cost of one mid-semester study trip as part of the American University of Paris's cultural program. Students are advised to choose a program that corresponds to the courses they are currently taking. See offerings from 2022.
Students will be housed in modern well-equipped double-occupancy apartments with private bath and kitchenette. Accommodations will be self-catered: students will receive a meal allowance to cover the cost of groceries and the occasional meal out. Students will be expected to shop and cook for themselves.
The Wellesley comprehensive fee (same as for a semester on campus) includes
- Group flight from NYC-Paris-NYC
- Airport transfers
- Wellesley orientation in Paris
- Tuition
- Housing
- Meal allowance
- Local transportation pass
- One AUP study trip
- Two-week study tour in Senegal
- Passport & visa fees
- International health insurance
Financial aid applies, so the final cost to you should be the same as for a semester on campus.
Tentative dates for 2023
- January 3, 2023: Students arrive in Paris
- January 4-8, 2023: Wellesley Orientation
- January 9-14, 2023: AUP Orientation
- January 16-mid May: Spring Semester
- Late May: Field Study trip to Dakar, Senegal
This program is open to students who will be in their 4th-6th semester in spring 2023 (class of 2024 & 2025). Students must be in good academic and disciplinary standing.
Class of 2024: Sophomore applicants will need to submit a Proposal to Study Away in MyWellesley by March15 and the Wellesley-in-Paris Application by April 1.
First year students need only submit the Wellesley-in-Paris Application.
Am I still eligible to apply if I've traveled abroad previously?
No - while the program is designed to be accessible to students with no prior international travel experience, all students are eligible to apply and prior travel will not negatively impact your application.
When will decisions be released?
OIS will notify students in early April, ahead of fall registration, so that students may plan their course schedules accordingly.
Can pre-med students join this program?
Yes - the program is certainly feasible. Though you will NOT be able to take any required pre-med courses in Paris, you can take courses for major or distribution requirements.
Can I take STEM courses at AUP?
AUP offers a wide range of STEM courses than can be applied to non-lab STEM requirements subject to the permission of the Wellesley department chair. Lab courses are generally difficult to transfer back to Wellesley.
How do courses taken in this program appear on our transcript?
The core course "Colonialism and Its Legacies" is a Wellesley-taught and graded course. It will therefore appear on your Wellesley transcript and be factored into your GPA. The additional courses that you take at AUP will be considered transfer credit - you will need to take the course for a grade and earn a "C" or higher to transfer back to Wellesley. These courses will appear on your Wellesley transcript as "credit" with no grade and no bearing on your GPA.