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[dr_zack]

Hey there!

I'm new TT faculty (just accepted an offer this past April), and am planning to take summers "off" - to travel, research and write for myself.  I may do some on-line adjuncting work, too (which I can do from anywhere).  I've traveled a fair amount in my life, and would love to spend next summer (and many other summers) living and working abroad (while France is my favorite country on planet Earth, I'm open to other locales).  Does anyone know of any good resources for finding out about academic exchange programs or similar opportunities - in particular with other universities?

Thanks!

[expatinuk]

uhhh.... most European Universities do not have Summer classes like in the States. If you want to teach overseas in the summer you might look to American Universities that do a summer abroad program for their students. Of course you'd be competing with all their faculty who want the gig as well.

Good luck.

[secretweapon]

Ditto, although you might find summer schools in your discipline.  I've taught at a summer school in Europe that attracted international undergrads, high school teachers, and a few people in the non-profit sector.  I really enjoyed it, especially the opportunity to have a broad range of students in my class.  I knew the people in charge; if you don't know anyone who runs this kind of thing, you could send out some cold emails. 

Another way to get involved in a program like that is to chaperone a group of students from your university - although I don't know whether that would count as 'time off' for you.

[prof_tournesol]

Does your school offer students a study abroad option? If so you should look into offering a course on French Whatever-it-is-that-you-teach/research.

[notaprof]

Expatinuk is right, there are a lot of people looking for a sweet gig like this.  Good luck.

There is always a Fulbright option but extremely competitive in France and Spain.  Otherwise, you would need a work permit to be legally paid in France or Spain if you are not an EU citizen and you should look into their respective requirements for securing the right to work in these places.  The study abroad teaching suggested by prof_tournesol is one way to avoid the problem of the work permit if it is a US institution that is paying you. 

Probably the easiest gig to get (and not that is it necessarily easy, but easier than other options) is teaching English abroad since there are so many institutes doing this around the world but France and Spain are not the easiest places to find this, you'd have better luck in Eastern Europe, Asia or the Middle East.  Depending on the area of your PhD, you might be able to get this type of job even without training in ESL.  It usually doesn't pay that well, but often enough to cover basic expenses (and it is easier to cover your expenses in a developing country than anywhere in Europe.)  Google Dave's ESL Cafe for some resourses on this option.

You might want to check out the website for Transitions Abroad http://www.transitionsabroad.com/ for other ideas but you will need to invest quite a bit of time to finding something along the lines you might be imagining.  According to one of the links on this page, it is getting easier for non Europeans to get jobs in Europe but I don't know whether to believe that or not. 

[dellaroux]

Check out the Scholar Ship:

http://www.thescholarship.com/newsletters/200805/The-Scholar-Ship-Newsletter-May08.html

--dellaroux