Tufts in Talloires 2025 Course Listing
NOTE: For course distribution and SHU information please visit "Browse Course Catalog" in SIS.
CEE 59 - The Emerging Global Health Crisis (David Gute)
The Emerging Global Health Crisis Discover why combating global disease demands more than just science—it requires smart public policy and savvy politics. This dynamic course dives into the urgent health threats posed by emerging and reemerging diseases linked to environmental damage, climate change, global travel, and shifting human behaviors. From COVID-19, Ebola, Mpox, anthrax, avian flu, H5N1, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), to drug-resistant tuberculosis and malaria, we’ll unpack the science by understanding the pathologic basis of these diseases and explore how they are distributed and addressed around the globe. This course is designed for students from a variety of disciplines ranging across arts, sciences, and engineering. Each participant will have the opportunity to select a disease and global region and then identify and critique interventions for prevention, surveillance, and control. We will provide opportunities for class participants to meet and visit with practitioners working at the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). These professionals face many rising challenges including the “infodemic” and the increased distribution of information known to be false. Such interactions deliver a “hands on” appreciation of how global intervention strategies are conceived, implemented and assessed as to their efficacy.
CHBE 194 Wine Chemistry and Engineering (James Van Deventer)
Modern vinification (winemaking) is both an art and a science; moreover, having a basic understanding of important chemical engineering principles is essential to the successful production of quality wine, especially on a large commercial scale. This course will introduce students from all backgrounds to the basic chemistry underlying the biochemical conversion of sugars into alcohols via fermentation, as well as the various processing and purification steps required to transform grapes on the vine into bottles of grand vin. Fundamental chemical engineering concepts, including: material and energy balances, reaction equilibria, mass transfer, and thermodynamics will be discussed in the context of winemaking, using both conceptual and numerical examples. With its many celebrated growing regions (Bordeaux, Champagne, Loire, Provence, etc.) and rich winemaking history, France provides an ideal setting for deeply immersing oneself in discovering the many fascinating aspects of wine production. An excursion to a local Savoie winery will provide a firsthand experience with many of the course concepts. À votre santé!
CLS 149 Roman Gaul: The Origins of France in Antiquity (Bruce Hitchner)
There is perhaps no better place at Tufts University to teach a course on the ancient roots of France as a nation-state than Talloires. Talloires's origins as a community date back to the Roman period when it was a way station and small lake port on the route from Rome through the Alps into Gaul. The priory itself lies on a Roman site, probably a villa, and it is from Talloires that the course offers tours of archaeological sites related to the history of Gaul under the Roman Empire. French culture and identity traces its origins in large part to the introduction of Roman-Mediterranean culture, and its impact on Gallic society, and in turn the ways in which the peoples of Gaul influenced the formation of Gallo-Roman society. The course begins with the history of Gaul in the first millennium BCE and extends down to the Frankish conquest in 5th through 7th centuries CE.This class is an exploration of the ancient past of France, with a particular emphasis on its history in the long Roman period (c. 200 BCE to 700 CE). Our particular interest will be on the question of how the peoples and cultures of what is now France engaged with, were transformed by, and in turn transformed their conquerors, creating in the process a unique historic and long-lasting identity.
ECS 1 - The Dynamic Earth (Noel Heim)
Talloires sits on the western edge of the French Alps, and will serve as our laboratory for exploring the dynamic Earth and its history! By the end of the course you will look at the landscapes and the environment around you differently, and appreciate the evidence for the active processes that have shaped our Earth. As we progress from the study of minerals (the tiny building blocks of rocks) to the study of the major types of rocks and how they form, to how continents have moved about the face of the Earth, you will sharpen observation and interpretation skills. The course topics are arranged to take you step by step to our current understanding of the “architecture of the Earth”. We will use facts and observations that we develop through the first part of the course to provide evidence for the paradigm of plate tectonics, and then apply all that we have learned to interpret the spectacular geological history of the region around Talloires. Nearly weekly field trips with easy to moderate hikes are required.
ENV 105 - Flowers of the Alps (George Ellmore)
“Flowers of the Alps” presents the spectacular and deeply memorable floral richness of alpine spring. The course offers counterpoint to what ecologists call "Nature Deficit Disorder". In it, I demonstrate the value of scientific names for identifying plants throughout the world, and for opening the way to track changes in patterns and health of alpine ecosystems. Landscapes erupting in full flower are the crucial foundation for any successful plant taxonomy course, including ours. The timing of Tufts in Talloires coincides with world-renowned spring wildflower season in the Haute Savoie. Having personal experience with native floral diversity in this alpine landscape and biodiverse hotspot is a life-affirming event for our students, one they communicate with their French families, and take with them for years. Based on student evaluations, the course is rigorous, mastered by patience and practice, and leaves students with the up-beat environmental message that "flowers are everywhere". Native flowers have been newly recognized to support native bees (2023), in turn the most efficient crosspollinators on the planet. Alpine communities cover more than 25% of the earth’s land surface, and have captured about one-fourth of the world’s pool of soil carbon. Today, alpine species are called upon to make climate-proof landscapes and urban pollinator gardens. In this course we devote at least six hours per week studying the Talloires region's world-class display of montane and alpine floral diversity. Lectures (two per week, each 1.5 hrs) are devoted to plant structure and life history in enough detail to make use of professional dichotomous keys for identifying plants. Sessions highlight salient features of major plant families, important representatives of those families, human foraging of edible plants, pollinator ecology, and the design of dichotomous keys. Outdoor (field) sessions (4-5 h per week, including travel time) involve recognizing alpine species in their native environment, evaluating shifts in alpine vegetation, keying out new plants to the family level, and visually celebrating the alpine Spring.
FMS 13 - Documentary: History and Practice (Natalie Minik)
This course will look at how documentarians have approached themes commonly explored within the genre. By looking at still and moving images, students will gain an understanding of how advancements in technology, the arts, and culture have come together to tell the stories of our world. This class will focus on how each documentarian has found a distinct point of view through the lens of their camera. Through engagement with the works of photographers, filmmakers, and media artists, students will accomplish three things: Gain an understanding of documentary history Grasp the theories at work behind documentary practice Find inspiration for their work through engaging with the Talloires community. This documentary production class emphasizes hands-on nonfiction fieldwork. By combining theory, history, and practice, students will gain an understanding of how documentarians find a distinct point of view in addition to gaining technical skills and inspiration for their own work. Using an assortment of cameras and audio gear provided by Film and Media Studies, students will work individually and in groups on assignments that examine different aspects of the documentary fieldwork process using the environments and communities of Talloires as their subjects.
FR 21 / FR 22 - French in the Alps (Marie Pierre Gillette)
Experiencing full immersion in a French-speaking region is the best way to improve rapidly and discover a new culture. The course aims to promote oral and written fluency in French. Thus, careful preparation of written assignments for the course and active class participation are essential. Consistent application in spoken and written French is the focus of the continuing grammar review at this level. Students will cover the grammar lessons of French 21 or French 22 separately but will work together on readings, discussions, and projects. For insight into contemporary France, the readings will come primarily from the local media to highlight the historical, social, and cultural aspects of the Alps region as well as the rest of the country and nearby Switzerland. Through weekly writing assignments, students will report on their experience and reflect on their observations. The term project will be to produce a newspaper, magazine or auto- fiction work, based on the students’ study of the various newspapers and materials discussed in class. Other course work includes reading articles and a short novel, written and oral grammar exercises, weekly papers, occasional short oral presentations, a mid-term exam, and a final exam. Taught in French. French 4 prerequisite.
MUS 29 - French Popular Music (Melinda Latour)
Édith, Johnny, Serge, Booba. These popular music icons are household names in France, but are virtually unknown in the U.S. This course offers an accessible and engaging exploration of French culture through a survey of commercial popular music produced in France and the francophone world from the 1930s to the present–––with an emphasis on the links between landmark musical genres, cultural trends, and critical socio-political issues at stake in each era. Topics include the relationship between French language and cultural identity; protest and change after May ‘68; transnational influences and the authenticity debate; public and private negotiations of race, immigration status, and religious difference; colonial and postcolonial transformations; evolutions in conceptions of gender and sexuality; and the role of technology in shaping musical values and communities. Students will develop a critical toolbox for analyzing French popular music in its cultural contexts through a close reading of primary sources (songs, albums, lyrics, music videos, music journalism) and secondary literature drawn from the interdisciplinary field of French Studies. Over the course of the semester, students will become better listeners–––for understanding popular music and the richness and diversity of French culture. No Prerequisites. The course will be taught in English.
SCP 153 - Ephemeral Objects: Art, Nature and Time in the Alps (Megan McMillan)
The breathtaking landscape of the French Alps surrounding Talloires will serve as our studio for exploring the dynamic relationship between art, nature, and time! By the end of the course, you will see the landscape not only as a natural environment but also as a collaborator in your creative process. As we progress from gathering materials like rocks, flowers, and other natural elements, to creating temporary, site-specific artworks, you will sharpen your ability to observe, interpret, and respond to the environment. Course topics will take you step by step through various approaches to ephemeral art, from material studies to the exploration of walking as art, where movement through the landscape becomes integral to the creative process. You will gain insights into how artists like Andy Goldsworthy, Ana Mendieta, and Richard Long engage with the natural world to create works that reflect transformation, impermanence, and sustainability. Through weekly fieldwork and hikes, you will create and document your own sitespecific artworks that interact with the unique history and beauty of Talloires. No previous experience in creative practice is required, making this course open to all students interested in exploring the relationship between art and the environment.
SOC 191 - The Sociology of Food: A Memoir in Talloires (Freeden Blume Oeur)
This course examines what Don Yoder called the “the cookery complex,” or that universe of habits, attitudes, ethics, and meanings we attach to food. In traveling to Talloires, we’ll travel along with food items as they’re produced, distributed, marketed, cooked and consumed, to think more generally about food in crosscultural perspective. What does food tell us about who we are and our relations to other humans, animals, and the natural world? About where we're from and what we care about? How does food nourish but also hurt us? How does food bring people together and drive people apart? Your introduction to food cultures and eating in the Haute-Savoie region will allow you to see and taste something new, and at the same time give you a chance to see your taken-for-granted food cultures and eating habits back at home (and in school in Medford) in a new light. A range of materials, writings by authors based in the U.S. and France, and observations in and around Talloires will whet our appetite for investigating issues including how the French encouraged everyone to eat local in a globalized world; what makes a nation’s food “authentic”; the importance of deconstructing romanticized notions of French food and dining; how food media caters differently to male and female consumers; and the problem of food waste. We’ll be sensitive to how foodways are stratified along racial, gender, social class lines and more within these respective locations, while also being attuned to their similarities as former colonial and settler colonial nations whose legacies have profoundly shaped the lives and foodways of peoples of former colonies. We’ll address these questions using several important methods for sociologists. As participant observers, we’ll carefully watch and listen to others in assorted environments (local markets, cafeterias) and situate our observations in their broader social and historical contexts. As interviewers, we’ll chat with our host families about what food and eating means to them, to learn more about the residents and history of the region. Above all, our course invites everyone to think deeply about their own relationship to food and to see food issues as central to more equitable communities and futures. Having watched how others eat, dine, and shop in France, for the final assignment you’ll turn that analytic eye on yourself and write a critical autoethnography: a sociological memoir where you’ll use your new experiences in France to reflect on your own social location and how that shapes what, how, and why you eat what you eat; and how you see your relationship with food evolving into the future. Bon appétit!