This is a picture of Montpellier

English Departments at the University of Iowa and l’Université Paul Valéry in Montpellier, France have held a faculty exchange program since 1980. The exchange provides an opportunity to add an international perspective to each department, to diversify the voices and approaches received by the students in each department, to internationalize the outlook of both faculty, and to facilitate individual faculty development. The exchange is solely between faculty in these two departments and, at Iowa, is self-funding.

The current UI English Department coordinator of exchanges is Professor Alvin Snider. The current Montpellier English Department chair of exchange commission is Professor Philip Carr.

Selection of exchange professors

Each fall, a faculty exchange member is chosen by each of the departments to participate in the exchange the following academic year. Iowa selects its exchange colleague according to the criteria for selection available on another page. Montpellier makes its selection through their own exchange commission.

Montpellier Exchange participants

The Montpellier Exchange began in 1980 and was instituted by Professors Bob Kelley (at the University of Iowa) and Joe Dobrinsky (at l’Université Paul Valéry). 

YearMontpellier professoriowa professor
2019-2020Raphael RicaudAnne Stapleton
2018-2019No ExchangeNo Exchange
2017-2018No ExchangeNo Exchange
2016-2017Claire OmhovereClaire Fox
2015-2016No ExchangeNo Exchange
2014-2015Julie SauvageDoris Witt
2013-2014Laurence PettitMarie Kruger
2012-2013Vincent DussolJonathan Wilcox
2011-2012Denis PapineschiEric Gidal
2010-2011Anne-Marie MotardJeff Porter
2009-2010Joseph ZitomerskyRobin Hemley
2008-2009Jean-Marie MaguinJonathan Wilcox
2007-2008No ExchangeNo Exchange
2006-2007Gérard SiaryFlorence Boos
2005-2006Catherine DelyferBarbara Eckstein
2004-2005Denis PapineschiFlorence Boos
2003-2004Judith Misrahi-BarakEric Gidal
2002-2003Pascal RobertPatricia Foster
2001-2002No ExchangeNo Exchange
2000-2001Denis PapineschiFlorence Boos
1999-2000Yves CarletJonathan Wilcox
1998-1999Jean-Pierre DormoisRuedi Kuenzli
1997-1998No ExchangeNo Exchange
1996-1997No ExchangeNo Exchange
1995-1996No ExchangeFlorence Boos
1994-1995Wendy HardingAlvin Snider
1993-1994No ExchangeNo Exchange
1992-1993Jacky MartinCarol de St. Victor
1991-1992Tony LattesJonathan Wilcox
1990-1991Claude ThomasJohn Harper
1989-1990No ExchangeNo Exchange
1988-1987François LaroqueValerie Lagorio
1987-1988Ronald CreaghHarry Oster
1986-1987Joe DobrinskyAl Stone
1985-1986Jean-Marie MaguinCarol de St. Victor
1984-1985Claude RichardDavid Chamberlain
1983-1984Jean VachéBob Sayre
1982-1983Jean-François CaméAlan Nagel
1981-1982Pierre VitouxRuedi Kuenzli
1980-1981Claude RichardFred McDowell

Teaching exchange

The visitor from Montpellier typically teaches in Iowa during a fall semester. He or she teaches two courses (for a total of 6 semester hours of classroom time) arranged where possible on a Tuesday/Thursday schedule. The exchange professor works closely with Iowa’s coordinator of exchanges on selecting and designing appropriate courses and these are added to Iowa’s fall schedule early in the spring. The Iowa coordinator also works closely with the visitor on all aspects of developing and teaching the courses, including advising on and approving the syllabus, advising on expectations for grading, and reviewing and maintaining teaching evaluations. A list of courses taught by recent exchange professors is included in the history of the exchange.

The visitor from Iowa typically teaches in Montpellier during the following spring semester. He or she teaches two different courses, one of which may be taught twice, for a total of 6 semester hours of contact time. All teaching is in English. Previously visitors have taught a second-year broad survey course and two sections of a more advanced license course, but this may vary with recent restructuring of the English major at Montpellier. Montpellier works to make sure that the visitor teaches classes on only two days a week. The chair of the exchange commission at Montpellier advises the visitor on all aspects of teaching.

Funding and payment

The visitor from Montpellier is paid by the University of Iowa for the semester of the visit as a visiting professor and funded through the salary given up by the colleague from Iowa. The rank and salary level is based on the experience and seniority of the visitor as determined by Iowa English Department’s chair and coordinator of exchanges and is approved by the associate dean of faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Arrangements for the practicalities of payment and visa are handled by the Iowa English Department administrative assistant and the Office of International Students and Scholars in the International Center.

Iowa’s exchange professor to Montpellier gives up half of his or her nine-month salary from Iowa. In its place, he or she is paid by the French government for the one semester of teaching at Montpellier. The rate of pay is generally based on the equivalent of a “Professeur première classe, première echelon,” and will often be more modest than an Iowa salary. The visitor will work with Montpellier’s chair of the exchange commission on getting a visa and other practicalities.

Note to Iowa Faculty: Following clarification in May 2004 from the UI Office of the Provost and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Iowa faculty should recognize that the semester on exchange in Montpellier will not count towards Career Development Assignment (CDA) eligibility or for CDA payback.