Knox Program in France Celebrates Anniversary

Knox College's off-campus study program in France recently celebrated its 40th anniversary with a ceremony at the University of Besancon.

The ceremony in December at the University's Centre de Linguistique Applique (CLA) brought together representatives from the American Consulate in Strasbourg and communities in the region, faculty from Knox and the University of Besancon, Knox alumni who have studied in Besancon, and families from Besancon who have hosted American students in their homes.

Since the program was founded in the 1966-67 academic year, it has sent more than 800 American students from Knox and other colleges to study in France. The students include 439 from Knox -- twelve this year -- as well as 400 students from other U.S. colleges. It has also brought a number of students from the University of Besancon to study for a year at Knox.

While other exchange programs with American colleges have come and gone over the past 40 years, Knox's program at the University of Besancon is a "durable partnership," said Serge Borg, director of CLA, quoted in an article in the Besancon newspaper, L'Est Republicain.

"Galesburg and Besancon are both human in scale, which helped us connect more quickly and more strongly," Borg told the French newspaper. Besancon is a city of just over 100,000 population in eastern France, approximately 200 miles southeast of Paris.

"Our goal is to help students understand the world, to notice that there is more than one way of thinking," said Carol Chase, professor of French at Knox, in her remarks at the ceremony. Chase credited the Knox faculty who founded the program -- professor emeritus Jay Paul Minn, who taught at Knox from 1964 to 1988 and now lives in Arizona; the late Elna Jeffries, who taught from 1947 to 1977; and the late Elisabeth Baylor, who taught from 1950 to 1970.

(Photos, above: Knox professor Carol Chase and CLA director Serge Borg speak at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Knox Program in Besancon; right, Carol Chase and Serge Borg in the Besancon newspaper, L'est Republicain.

The celebration included a "40th birthday cake," Chase said. "Serge and I blew out a candle on the cake, which we immediately relit, in anticipation of another 40 years of cooperation between Knox and the CLA."

The program allows students to study in Besancon for one term or for a full year. The students can take regular courses at the University, as well as courses at the CLA designed specifically for American students.