On Monday September 23, 2019 St. Edward’s University and Université Catholique de l’Ouest (UCO), St. Edward’s sister school in Angers, France, celebrated their 10th anniversary with a ceremony at UCO.

Angers is sixty miles from where the Congregation of Holy Cross started, in the northwest part of France.

In 2009, St. Edward’s University launched a first-year-in-France program attracting students from all over the world. Through the St. Edward’s-Angers program, over 50 professors have had the opportunity to teach for a summer, semester or year abroad. Communications professor Lori Peterson has traveled to and taught in Angers three times and says she has had memorable experiences.

“I have enjoyed teaching in Angers, it has been the highlight of my career. Taking students to Angers three times for semester-long studies and watching them step outside everything familiar to them has been an incredible experience. I see these students 10 years later now doing exciting things all over the world. I think this has to do with their experience at St. Edward’s in Angers,” Peterson said.

Over the past 10 years, Angers has partnered with St. Edward’s to educate and bring a global experience to over 500 students.

Lupe Gamino is a senior finance major who studied in Angers Fall 2017 and Spring 2018. He says that “the community in Angers is unmatched. I always had something new to look forward to, from watching a French TV show with my host mom, interning at a company to help prepare for an international event and volunteering at the English language library.”

“The Angers program helped me grow to become an independent individual who isn’t afraid to go out and explore a new city, try new foods with interesting names, and learn from those around me,” she added.

Caroline Morris, JD, MFA Center for Applied Learning, Social Impact and Global Initiatives at St. Edward’s University, said, “10 years ago St. Edward’s set up its own campus in France, in the Loire Valley, a center of French wine and food. Angers has been a university town since the 1400s and is home to 40,000 students, including ours.”

“Hundreds of students have learned the French language and culture and built lasting ties with their French host families and through their internship experiences. Students adore the time in Europe and gain such independence,” she added.

When asked about the current program in Angers, Morris said that it’s “now led by Dr. Rebecca Loescher, whose expertise include multiculturalism in French-language literature and film. The current courses focus on issues of sustainability, migration and social identity in contemporary.”