Classes Duo
Language and Cultural Exchange
The objective of this program is to arouse the curiosity of young children about foreign cultures and give them the desire to discover other countries, interact with the children who live there, and learn foreign languages.
WIF is collaborating with the City of Paris’s CASPE (Circonscription des Affaires Scolaires et de la Petite Enfance) 6/14, the office which is responsible for after-school activities for school-aged children in the 6th and 14th arrondissements (districts) to bring Classes Duo to children ages 7-10 in the U.S.
Classes Duo Paris/Knoxville was the first of two programs to result from this bicultural collaboration. Based on the life and art of Knoxville native Beauford Delaney, it was featured in the scholarly journal entitled Theory and Practice in Language Studies. The highlight of this transatlantic collaboration was the voyage that 13 Knoxville students (accompanied by educators, parents, grandparents, and siblings) took to France to visit their Parisian counterparts.
On the heels of its success, WIF and CASPE embarked on a second program – Classes Duo Paris / New England. It is based on the life and music of Springfield, Massachusetts native, Carole Denise Fredericks.
