Japanese Language & Culture
Dates:
May 10, 2025 – June 08, 2025
Group Leader:
Prof. Kumiko Tsuji ku.tsuji@northeastern.edu
This Dialogue program in Japan is an immersive program in language and culture, designed for students who have completed Elementary Japanese II or a higher-level Japanese course at Northeastern, or who have equivalent language skills and a basic knowledge of Japanese culture and society. This program is especially beneficial for students planning to pursue a minor in Japanese, as all 8 credits earned from this program can be applied toward the minor requirements.
The program will take place in two major cities, Kyoto and Tokyo, with visits to Nara, Himeji, Hiroshima, Miyajima, and Osaka. Our first destination is Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, where students will explore well-preserved historical temples and shrines. At Doshisha University, students will participate in intensive language course, lectures on related topics, and cultural workshops such as tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and calligraphy. Daily conversation sessions with Doshisha students will provide students the chance to practice Japanese and gain insight into the lives, thoughts, and interests of Japanese college students. During the stay in Kyoto, the group will visit Nara, another ancient capital, and Himeji, renowned for its UNESCO World Heritage site, Himeji Castle. The group will also travel to Hiroshima, where they will visit the A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Museum. This visit offers students an opportunity to reflect on the importance of peace in society. Additionally, we will visit Miyajima, a small island famous for its beautiful shrine gate in the ocean. Tokyo, the modern capital of Japan, offers a glimpse into both the traditional and contemporary aspects of the country. In Tokyo, students will attend another intensive language course and engage in discussion sessions with Waseda University students, exchanging thoughts and ideas on relevant topics. Students will also have the unique opportunity to visit a Japanese family in Tokyo, providing them with firsthand experience of Japanese customs and culture.
Students will receive a detailed program itinerary after acceptance into the program.
For information including courses, tuition, information sessions and more, please click here.
From West to East: Chinese Language and Culture
Dates:
May 06, 2025 – June 15, 2025
Group Leader:
Prof. Ann Cai q.cai@northeastern.edu
The 2025 Summer I China Dialogue program takes place in exciting Chinese communities and offers practical introductions to Chinese history, culture, ancient wisdom, politics, and businesses. Students will spend 2 days in Hong Kong, 5 weeks in Changsha (China’s most ‘up-and-coming’ city), and 3 days in Beijing. All cities are famous international cities in East Asia for its economic successes. Hence, within this one program, students will have the opportunity to experience multiple variations of Chinese culture across 3 distinctively different regions and different Chinese cultural customs. This program will be based in the Chinese Study Center of Changsha University, situated in Hunan Province. In this program, students will attend 100 hours of Chinese Language study and 50 hours of cultural classes that offer an intriguing introduction to the longest-surviving ancient civilization in the world. This includes such activities as Chinese Martial Arts, Chinese Tea Ceremony, Calligraphy, Chinese Paintings, Paper cutting, Chinese knotting, Chinese Folk Dance, etc. So that students may learn more about traditional Chinese culture—an essential part of understanding contemporary China. On weekends, students will visit world-famous nature wonders as well as interesting historical and cultural sites. To help students understand the daily lives and customs of the Chinese people, each student will be also accompanied by a Chinese local student to discuss authentic topics daily.
Students will receive a detailed program itinerary after acceptance into the program.
For information including courses, tuition, information sessions and more, please click here.
À table: French Language and Culture through Food
Dates:
May 05, 2025 – June 06, 2025
Group Leader:
Prof. Austin Hancock a.hancock@northeastern.edu
À table! : French Language and Culture through Food “Dis-moi ce que tu manges et je te dirai qui tu es.” The culinary arts have long been understood as essential to French culture, as chefs such as Marie-Antoine Carême and Auguste Escoffier helped make France a global standard bearer of refinement and good “taste.” Since 2018, the country has boasted another distinction, when it was ranked number one in the world according to the Economist’s Food Sustainability Index. As President Emmanuel Macron has observed, French efforts, both local and national, to develop more ecological methods of production and consumption have constituted nothing less than a “cultural revolution.” This French Language Immersion program seeks study this culinary revolution and its relationship to French culture and identity. By engaging in a series of workshops, cooking lessons and visits to markets, restaurants, bakeries, artisans, retailers, farms and cooperatives, students will examine how tensions around the environment, gender, race, and socioeconomic status inform changes in French consumption habits in the face of a world that is at once increasing fractured and more connected than ever. Students earn credit for two courses. One a cultural studies course taught in English by Professor Hancock and the other French course between Intermediate or Advance level taught at the Institut Catholique de Toulouse.
The program will include a number of cooking classes and tastings in Toulouse including workshops hosted by the Escoffier culinary school. In addition to tasting the some of the best cuisine France has to offer, students will also visit and interview local restauranteurs, market vendors and business owners about sustainable food and agriculture. In addition, the program includes two trips. One, an overnight trip to the town of Auvillar, located on the Garonne river, where students will tour a local beefarm and vineyard. And a second to the department Arièges, where students will speak with local goat farmers about their production of cheese and wool and explore the Château de Foix.
Students will receive a detailed program itinerary after acceptance into the program.
For information including courses, tuition, information sessions and more, please click here.
España: muchas y diversas (Spain: Many and Diverse)
Dates:
May 12, 2025 – June 15, 2025
Group Leaders:
Prof. Cristina Pérez-Arranz c.perezarranz@northeastern.edu
Prof. Gorka Basterretxea-Santiso g.basterretxeasantiso@northeastern.edu
À table! : French Language and Culture through Food “Dis-moi ce que tu manges et je te dirai qui tu es.” The culinary arts have long been understood as essential to French culture, as chefs such as Marie-Antoine Carême and Auguste Escoffier helped make France a global standard bearer of refinement and good “taste.” Since 2018, the country has boasted another distinction, when it was ranked number one in the world according to the Economist’s Food Sustainability Index. As President Emmanuel Macron has observed, French efforts, both local and national, to develop more ecological methods of production and consumption have constituted nothing less than a “cultural revolution.” This French Language Immersion program seeks study this culinary revolution and its relationship to French culture and identity. By engaging in a series of workshops, cooking lessons and visits to markets, restaurants, bakeries, artisans, retailers, farms and cooperatives, students will examine how tensions around the environment, gender, race, and socioeconomic status inform changes in French consumption habits in the face of a world that is at once increasing fractured and more connected than ever. Students earn credit for two courses. One a cultural studies course taught in English by Professor Hancock and the other French course between Intermediate or Advance level taught at the Institut Catholique de Toulouse.
The program will include a number of cooking classes and tastings in Toulouse including workshops hosted by the Escoffier culinary school. In addition to tasting the some of the best cuisine France has to offer, students will also visit and interview local restauranteurs, market vendors and business owners about sustainable food and agriculture. In addition, the program includes two trips. One, an overnight trip to the town of Auvillar, located on the Garonne river, where students will tour a local beefarm and vineyard. And a second to the department Arièges, where students will speak with local goat farmers about their production of cheese and wool and explore the Château de Foix.
Students will receive a detailed program itinerary after acceptance into the program.
For information including courses, tuition, information sessions and more, please click here.