Lyon's Cultural Heritage: Living the Present in the Shadow of the Past

FAIN: ES-50145-06

Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Ames, IA 50011-2000)
Linda Quinn Allen (Project Director: March 2006 to September 2008)

A three-week institute for thirty school teachers of French to deepen their language skills while studying the historical legacy and contemporary culture of Lyon through readings, lectures, visits to museums and sites, and dialogue with the city's residents.

The proposed institute is for secondary school French teachers. We will investigate the cultural heritage of Lyon from its founding as a Roman colony to its current status of the second city of France. Participants will study selected texts, attend lectures by guest scholars and master teachers, take excursions to major historical sites, and take part in symposia with invited residents of Lyon. The institute’s goals are that the participants will develop an appreciation of Lyon’s rich cultural heritage, gain an increased awareness of the city’s prevailing way of life, and enhance their proficiency in French. The intended outcome is that the participants will use the understandings gained through the institute to strengthen the world language education that they provide in their own classrooms in the United States.