Internship placements
The heart of an IFE semester is a mission-focused internship, in French, with an organization, university or company located in the Marseille region, matching the student-intern's studies and goals.
Students during their internships
As a former IFE student, I can't think of a better place to study abroad than in France's oldest and most vibrant city. The same reasons that made me pick Marseille for my current home also make it an excellent choice for students open to experiencing a unique part of the world: multicultural, highly influential in French and European popular culture, bursting with life. I only wish Marseille had been an option when I was part of the program.
Meg Besser. IFE Paris alumna (Fall 2009), currently based in Marseille
Marseille: not only a world city, but a world-in-a-city. Big, bustling and cosmopolitan, Marseille has been filling its streets with the peoples of the world for millenia. One of the largest ports in the Mediterranean, Marseille is also - clearly and colorfully - the capital of Provence.
It is hard to imagine an area of interest that could not be pursued via an internship in Marseille and its region. Culture, cultures and contemporary arts abound, other languages (Arabic, Italian, Provençal...), environmental movements or agroecology in the diverse surroundings outside the city, grassroots social and cultural activism, urban experimentation and bold architecture, food and wine, a European-class university for research in the social and natural sciences, innovative start-ups, Mediterranean studies, Greek and Roman archeology, local and regional policy agencies,...
And a chance to work and make friends in a society with its distinctive ways and attractive savoir-vivre.