*Students must speak with Ashley Williard first before completing an application through the Education Abroad Office.*

Course: FREN 398

Dates: 03/07/2026 - 03/14/2026

Program Contact: awilliar@mailbox.sc.edu

Program Description:

This study abroad course immerses students in the cultural and environmental landscape of the French Caribbean for historical and ecological exploration. We will first engage in pre-departure reading and discussion about colonial history and present-day efforts related to social justice and the environment. During our immersive week in Guadeloupe, we will visit museums, nature preserves, monuments, agricultural sites, and cultural demonstrations. We will meet with activists, researchers, businesspeople, farmers, tourism professionals, and artists working towards different models of ecological justice. While abroad, students will carry out hands-on fieldwork to incorporate into the final multimedia project, a video interpreting an interrelated social and environmental issues impacting Guadeloupe today. Lectures and readings will address survivance, slavery, marronage, decoloniality, pesticides, food sovereignty, and biodiversity.

This is an 8-week course, with hybrid meeting schedule January 13-March 7, spring break intensive, and then time post-trip to complete final video projects (due March 25) and reflective assignments (March 27).

Instructional Methods: This course will be taught including multiple instructional methods including short lecture, group work, class discussion, and project creation. The course involves a required intensive study abroad to Guadeloupe during spring break (March 7-14, 2026, with additional travel days March 6 and 15).

Application Deadline: December 1