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The Education of a Renaissance
Prince:
the Rise and Rule of François I
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The site you are about to visit is presented
to you by six very thoughtful students who attend Franklin College: Libby
Allen, Megan Cummings, Kristen Hewett, Tasha Moores, Stacy Roe, and Annie
Wantz. In January of 2005, they travelled to Paris and the Loire Valley,
where they studied the life and times of Francois I, king of France from 1515
to 1547. This course of study was, however, undertaken within a broader
course of study. Prior to travelling to France, the students studied
the history of the liberal arts, from the time of the ancient Greeks until
the Renaissance. They asked themselves questions such as "What did
being liberally educated mean to the men and women of the ancient world and
of the Renaissance, and why was it important to them?" "What does it mean
to be an educated person today, and what does the liberal arts tradition have
to teach the modern student?" "Does pursuing liberal arts education
still make sense in this day and age?"
--Richard Erable, Ph.D.
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"If students choose to look at traveling
as an opportunity to experience new things and learn about new cultures,
travel can be an opportunity to accomplish one of the ultimate goals of liberal
arts education, which is to find out more about oneself. When I was given
the opportunity to travel to France I was also given the opportunity to have
countless new experiences. I believe that experiencing new things and situations
helped me to grow and find out more about myself by giving me a new perception
of both my culture and my own capabilities."
--Libby Allen
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"The history that I have studied from
books cannot compare with the living history that surrounded me every day
in France. Before leaving for the trip, I saw history as a subject
that was confined to pages of a text. In France, history is everywhere.
A walk down the street in Paris often revealed a building that housed famous
prisoners during the French Revolution. Another turn around a corner
led to an abbey that dated from the Middle Ages. Those kinds of structures
are rare in the United States because the country is relatively young.
For the French, history is not a thing of the past; it still exists in
the modern day. It cannot be confined to books as long as prehistoric
dolmens stand in the middle of farmers’ fields or gothic cathedrals rise
out of the Seine."
--Kristen Hewett
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I have never been out of the country,
never taken a single French course, and never experienced French cuisine,
but because I selected a liberal arts college, I not only survived France,
but fell in love with the country! It is amazing what can happen when
you take yourself out of your comfort zone and force yourself to adjust to
an unfamiliar environment. Going to France made me realize that the
opportunities that
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lie ahead are endless, and if you simply try something with your mind made
up that you are not going to enjoy it, then you have already denied yourself
pleasure you might have found. Leonardo DaVinci once said, "Wisdom
is the daughter of experience," which is the epitome of my travel in
France because the more you learn, the more you discover about yourself, which
is why I literally found myself in France!
--Tasha Moores
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I'm on the left and my best friend,
Megan, is on my right. We liked taking pictures in front of famous structures,
pretending to be that famous structure.
The Louvre was huge! It previously housed a few kings, and now is home
to many famous artworks.
While in the Louvre, we ran into another Franklin College professor, Ray
Begovich, who was on a separate France winter term trip! I had read The
DaVinci Code, which is based in Paris and the Louvre so it was even
more interesting to tour the Louvre and see all the famous works of art
that Dan Brown wrote about.
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I assigned the pose for our group in
this photo. We are all in first position, which I find appropriate
because ballet terms are in French.
There were lots of times in Paris and the Loire Valley that we got giddy
like this. Our group was lighthearted, which I think is essential
to enjoying a trip. If we took ourselves too seriously, it could be easy
to become discouraged at not knowing the language or getting lost, etc. But
since we kept our spirits high and our outlooks positive, we were able to
laugh at our discomforts.... Most of the time.
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Our last night in Paris, we ate
at this restaurant. I was feeling very ready to go home, but once I got
home I realized how much I enjoyed this trip. Two weeks can be a long
time to spend in a foreign environment and I found myself longing to look
at a menu I could fully comprehend! After having gone to France once, though,
I think the next times will be even more enjoyable because things will be
more familiar to me.
I don't know how many times since I've been back I've said, "Oh, that reminds
me of the time in France when...." I didn't realize it at the time, but
now I know my "world" has been enlarged by taking this trip. I can relate
lots of my France experiences to those I've had back here at home, and had
I never gone, I wouldn't know how much I would have missed out on.
--Annie Wantz |
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"Five days into our two-week stay in
France, I began a dialogue with Liberal Arts Education herself. I
began by questioning her name. 'Liberal Arts,' I asked, 'why do you
call yourself that? Do you somehow liberate people, by chance? And
are broad-minded and free-thinking, like most true artists?' Naturally,
she responded that she does, indeed, liberate people by way of her free-thinking
approach. Using this Winter Term course as a convenient guide, she
explained more to me. Being
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liberally educated, she and I finally decided after considering what
I've learned from this course, brings about a certain kind of person. Such
a person seeks to understand and appreciate differences between herself
and others; asks 'why?' with the frequency of a curious toddler; learns
to live a full life with a broad range of experiences; and contributes positively
to her world."
--Megan Cummings |
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Between the anti-French sentiments
often expressed in our country nowadays and my French classes accentuating
the differences between French and American culture, I expected to see more
of a difference between the two cultures. (In the picture at the left,
I found that the French didn't alway agree with our politics either. The
sign says, "Message from the dumbest president in the world: "We have
brought peace and democracy to Iraq.") However, I was happy and relieved
to find that the French culture is much more similar to American culture than
different. This just emphasizes my belief that we should treat everyone
in the world equally because deep down inside, we all are the same.
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Many of the differences I found
while in France were the difference between city life when we were staying
in Paris and my home life, living in a log cabin in the country. The
first time I rode the métro, I thought it was going to crash and we
were all going to die! However, by the end of the trip, I came to like
using the métro because it is a very convenient way to get around.
I can't wait to go back again!
--Stacy
Roe
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Franklin College 101 Branigin Boulevard, Franklin, IN 46131
Comments or Questions can be sent to:
rerable@franklincollege.edu
Created: 23-Feb-2005
Updated:
22-Mar-2005
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