Five high school students from St. Joseph’s Academy in Dijon, France will wrap up a four-week UNC Asheville exchange program July 20. The program, now in its fifth year, is made possible with funds from the Florence Gould Foundation

"We have had a delightful group of students with us this year," said Cathy Pons, UNCA Foreign Language Department Chair. "And the program has allowed us to continue a rich cultural exchange among faculty, students and host families in Asheville and Dijon."

Entitled "Asheville and Beyond: A Sense of Place," the program introduced students to the art, religion, history, geography and ecology of the Southern Highlands. Taught by UNCA faculty members and community experts, studies included classroom work coupled with field trips and visits with Western North Carolina residents.

A signal feature of the program each year is the home stay experience. Students are housed with carefully selected families to absorb the full American experience. Among the activities host families offered for the group this year were a traditional Independence Day picnic and an Asheville Tourists baseball game at McCormick Park.

Next year, five UNCA students will spend six weeks in Dijon as part of the exchange program. Students will live with French families while studying French culture through coursework, site visits and their own field research at the Lycee Saint-Joseph.

For more information, contact Pons at 828/232-2440.