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Introduction to Lyon

The third largest city in France, Lyon is home to over 1.5 million people. It is located in a dramatic setting surrounded by hills at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers. Its location on a major trade route between Northern Europe and Italy made Lyon an important city of the Roman Empire. During the Renaissance it was a center for humanist scholarship, printing, banking, and the newly-established silk industry. Lyon continues to grow as an industrial, cultural, and gastronomic center. Today it is one of France’s most prominent centers for European business.

The Lyon program facilitates student exchange between four different French universities located in Lyon and students from any of the Oregon University System (OUS) universities. The program allows students to enroll in either French language courses or in regular university courses, in almost any field of study, taught entirely in French. The program is suitable for all students who have completed second-year college-level French or the equivalent. In addition, the Lyon program offers a fall semester program, ending in December, for undergraduate business students, to facilitate study of business in an international context while also offering French language courses at every level.

Highlights:

• Encompassing four different French universities with various specialty areas, the Lyon program offers a wide variety of disciplines and courses
• Participants have access to courses in unique fields, including sports sciences, encoding and cryptography (Lyon 1); human rights, development studies, anthropology, women’s studies, theory of art and music (Lyon 2); business, territorial planning, and philosophy (Lyon 3); and human rights, translation studies, ethics, and theology (FacCatho).
• Business students may also select a fall semester option, with business courses offered in English at two different Lyon universities.
• Participants have the option to complete one of several one-year diplomas (diplôme) offered by the various Lyon universities, while continuing to earn credits toward their home campus degree
• A large, busy metropolitan area and major port-of-entry for immigration into France, Lyon boasts everything from the ruins of a Roman amphitheater to interesting postmodern architecture, and several dialects of French (and other languages) can be heard on its cosmopolitan streets and squares
• Lyon is considered by many to be the culinary capital of France, with exquisite cuisine in every price range
• Lyon is in the romantic southeastern region of France, in close proximity to the Côte-d'Azur (Mediterranean coast); Monaco; Marseilles; the Swiss, French and Italian Alps; and just a few hours from Paris by train

The Oregon University System International Programs are cooperative programs to which all students in public universities in Oregon and select private partner universities have access. The programs are predominately reciprocal exchanges that not only send students abroad, but also bring students to Oregon campuses. It is through these direct relationships that students and faculty connect with partner institutions abroad and bring diversity to Oregon universities.