The Tufts Summit program is designed to offer a select group of rising high school juniors and seniors an opportunity to take a college-level course on International Relations while being immersed in French language and culture. Classes are complemented by excursions to Geneva and Lyon, and students also enjoy a host of extracurricular activities including hiking and swimming.
The Tufts Summit Program is a four-week immersive program on the shores of Lake Annecy, one of Europe's cleanest lakes.
Students enroll in two non-credit courses that introduce college-level study skills and provide a foundation for understanding the expanding field of international relations. The course in International Relations takes students on a journey through international conflicts and resolutions, past and present. In daily French classes, students develop facility with the language through class exercises and exposure to French film, theater, art, and song.
To ensure the best learning experience possible, Tufts Summit instructors bring enthusiasm and extensive knowledge of their individual fields into the classroom. Courses are tailored to an audience of high school students and to fit the short duration of the program.The International Relations course is taught by a Tufts instructor and graduate of Tufts' Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; La Langue et la Culture Française is taught by native French speakers who have been working with the European Center, and teaching French in the Summit program, for several years.
Students live with carefully selected host families, most often with another student. What students learn first-hand about French daily life and culture by sharing meals, conversations and outings with their host families goes well beyond what can be learned from a textbook. The home stay is an integral and memorable part of the Tufts Summit experience and results not only in improved language skills, but also enduring friendships with French host families.
Applicants must be rising high school juniors and seniors with at least two years of high school French.
