Once you have completed the online application/acceptance forms, paid the $250 deposit, and we have received your passport-sized photo via conventional mail you have secured your place in the Prague Summer Program. Writers will receive an e-message regarding their placement in workshops; others will be in the classes per their application choices. If you wish to make a change in your courses or housing requests, notify us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . In the spring, we will post or e-mail more detailed information regarding in-country facilities and schedules. Program payments may be made online or through the mail, as desired. All balances due must be paid in full by May 15, 2009.

If you haven't applied for your passport yet, do so IMMEDIATELY! Before you leave, make several copies of your passport. Send one to the PSP, leave one in the U.S. with a parent, spouse, close friend, etc., and bring the other copies with you. Keep the copies in a separate place from where you carry your passport. If you happen to lose your passport, it is always easier (though still a frustrating process) to get a replacement if you have a photocopy of your passport to show the American Embassy. It is best to leave your passport in a safe place in your room while traveling around the city, unless you know you will need it for checking into a hotel, cashing traveler's checks, etc. Foreign visitors to the Czech Republic must have a passport VALID AT LEAST 90 DAYS BEYOND the time of their planned stay in the Czech Republic. Immigration officers may require a foreign visitor arriving in the Czech Republic to produce a certificate of travel health insurance (see below) for the intended time of stay.

If you have an American passport, you do not need visas for the Czech Republic provided you stay for fewer than 90 days. However, some other nationals do need visas, which may be obtained from Czech embassies or consulates. If needed, PSP will provide you with a letter stating the purpose of your visit. Please, contact the in-country coordinator, Dominika Winterova, at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , if you need such a letter. More information is available on the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs website: www.mzv.cz.

Participants make their own travel arrangements. In June, the PSP coordinator, via e-mail, helps participants make contact with others arriving in Prague on the same flight to arrange sharing rides to accommodations.

Check-in for the program will be conducted all day at the Komenskeho dorm and Pyramida Hotel on Saturday, July 4. Please be sure when making your travel arrangements to plan to arrive in Prague on July 4, which will likely mean a departure on Friday evening, July 3 for participants traveling from the United States.

Participants enrolling for two weeks are encouraged to attend the first two weeks of the program and may stay in the dorm until Saturday morning, July 18. Though a two-week enrollment is possible July 18 to August 1, program services and amenities are reduced due to PSP staff being engaged in ongoing activities. For details write: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The PSP suggests that participants wishing to stay in alternate accommodations during the program conduct a Web search to identify choices based on your budget. Once you have narrowed a list to 2-3 choices, the PSP in-country staff can assist you via e-mail to finalize your selection based on their knowledge of the neighborhood and the going prices for rentals. Please e-mail choices to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The weak dollar means that you should probably think twice before purchasing an Audi or Mercedes, or before committing to a month this coming summer in London, Madrid, Paris or Munich. But even if the dollar weakens further, the cost of living in Prague will still likely be less than it is in any major U.S., or other European city. A hearty meal, with two large drafts of beer, may still be purchased for about 200 crowns (about $12), but say you splurge and spend 300 crowns: last year that would have been about $18. If you're thinking of attending a relatively new study-abroad program, say, in Paris or Madrid, where the cost of living is at least ten to twenty-percent higher than in Prague (and where the average temperature and humidity are more than ten percent higher, and there is virtually no air conditioning!), well, that difference is significant as well. So don't let the talk of a weak dollar dampen your desire to spend two weeks or a month in Prague, Europe's most elegant, temperate, and one of its least expensive major city!

PSP participants will be covered by travel health insurance provided through WMU's Haenicke Institute for Global Education for the duration of the program and for a few days before and after. Health insurance coverage information will be disseminated in spring 2009 and will be included in the orientation packet you will receive in Prague.

Family members may join you in Prague and reserve a room/s in the Pyramida Hotel at the PSP-discounted rate. They may attend the open events of the program such as the lectures, films and readings. However, they are not enrolled participants and as such they will not be covered by the WMU health insurance, and will not receive tram passes and other program amenities. Click here to view rates.

Course syllabi and reading lists will be posted on the web in early spring 2009. Creative writing workshop participants will be contacted in early May to submit work.

These are the key dates of the PSP 2009:

• Scholarship/fellowship deadline February 1, 2009
• Official Deadline for Applications May 1, 2009
• Payment in Full Deadline May 15, 2009
• Arrival Date July 3, 2009
• Orientation & Opening July 5, 2009
• First Day of Class July 6, 2009
• End of First Two-Week Session July 17, 2009
• Last Day of Classes July 31, 2009
• Dorms must be vacated: Sunday, August 1, 2009 (July 18 for participants attending the first two weeks)