ACADEMIC STRUCTURE
COURSE APPROVALS AND REGISTRATION
SCIENCES PO REGISTRATION
CREDIT INFORMATION for DUKE STUDENTS
CREDIT INFORMATION for NON-DUKE STUDENTS
NOTE REGARDING DUKE IN FRANCE/EDUCO GRADES - ALL STUDENTS

HOT LINK to EDUCO COURSE LISTINGS

Academic Guidelines - Fall 2007 (subject to change)
Academic Guidelines - Spring 2008 (subject to change)

Each semester begins with a two-week orientation program. The orientation program includes an intensive language review, as well as special activities, lectures, cultural events, and local excursions to familiarize students with Paris. The orientation program is mandatory but does not earn academic credit.

Each semester, students have the option of selecting up to two of their courses from among those offered by the EDUCO consortium. In order to fulfill the necessary number of contact hours during the fall semester, any student staying only for the fall semester will be required to take two courses at EDUCO and supplement their Paris University courses with special tutorial sessions as assigned by the faculty resident director.

EDUCO courses are taught by the faculty resident director, usually a professor of Duke, Emory, or Cornell, and visiting professors from Parisian institutions. Each semester the program offers one French literature and one French art history course. Occasionally a third course, usually a French history course, is offered. Depending on the specialties of the visiting professors, the course line-up will vary.

In addition to the EDUCO courses, students are able to select courses from the offerings of the Universities of Paris I and Paris VII, and with special permission the Institut D'Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po). Advanced students may consider courses at Paris IV.

NOTE: Only Duke students will be allowed to study at Sciences Po through the Duke-Sciences Po exchange. Non-consortium students are excluded from this option.

COURSE APPROVALS AND REGISTRATION: The course listings for the Paris institutions are only available in the weeks immediately prior to the start of classes, making it impossible to announce in advance which courses will be available to students. When the French university courses are posted, students are aided in their course selection and registration by the EDUCO academic staff. Academic credit for a Paris university course is not guaranteed until the individual course is approved by the appropriate department at Duke University. A list of approved Paris university courses is available in the Office of Study Abroad. PRIOR TO DEPARTURE: To request approval for courses not found on the approved list, students should contact the Duke in France on-campus director. ONCE IN FRANCE: Please see the academic assistant.

SCIENCES PO REGISTRATION: Duke University students who would like to take courses at the prestigious Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) are required to submit a special application no later than March 1, preceding their semester/year abroad. Applications are available on-line at the Sciences Po website. Full-time applicants at Sciences Po are required to take 30 ECTS each semester, but will receive only four course credits towards graduation. All successfully completed courses, once transferred to the Duke transcript, will be eligible for major, minor, and coding requirements at departmental discretion. (Click here for more information about Duke student enrollment at Sciences Po.)

CREDIT INFORMATION for DUKE STUDENTS: For Duke students, Duke in France is a "hybrid" credit program. This means that EDUCO courses will earn full Duke credit and Duke grades, while courses taken in the Paris University system, including Sciences Po, will earn transfer credits.

Transfer credit courses may apply to major/minor requirements per
departmental discretion, and are eligible for Areas of Knowledge codes. You may also apply for Modes of Inquiry coding for transfer credit per the instructions found at the Office of Study Abroad website. You must earn the equivalent of a C- or better to transfer the credit, but the grade will not appear on your Duke transcript and will not be computed in your GPA. All course approvals should be routed through the EDUCO academic services coordinator, Valérie Herbunot.

As none of the Sciences Po diplôme courses are EDUCO courses, all courses taken will receive transfer credit. Duke students at Sciences Po must take 5 courses per semester to transfer four back to Duke. Students studying full-time at Sciences Po are required to take five courses per semester. All five courses will be listed on the Duke transcript and all five will count towards major/minor and curricular requirements as appropriate, but only four course credits will count towards graduation. All five courses must be taken for graded credit at Sciences Po and a minimum grade of C- or better earned. In place of a grade, <TR> will appear on the Duke transcript for each successfully transferred course.

CREDIT INFORMATION for NON-DUKE STUDENTS: For non-Duke students, the credit system will be "hybrid" credit system, but with a twist. EDUCO courses will earn full Duke credit and Duke grades, while courses taken in the Paris University system will earn transfer credits. These grades will be reflected on the Duke University transcript. However, in addition to the Duke transcript, the home institutions of non-Duke students will receive a copy of the professor's written evaluation (attestation*) for each course, as well as any Paris university transcripts issued on behalf of the student. Home institution representatives are free to contact us with any specific questions or requirements regarding the listing and transfer of credit.

*Attestations are generally available for each course. They feature a written evaluation by the French instructor of the student's performance, as well as a listing of semester grades and a final grade (usually on a scale from 1-20).

NOTE REGARDING DUKE IN FRANCE/EDUCO GRADES - ALL STUDENTS: Due to the manner in which French universities submit grades, final grades and credits may not be posted by the Duke University Registrar for up to four months or longer after the end of the semester. Students applying for summer internships and other employment or academic opportunities should keep this fact in mind. In addition, the program cannot guarantee that any participating seniors will graduate with their class, since grade reporting for courses taken in the program takes place significantly later than is common for courses taken on the Duke campus.

Last revised: 7 February 2008