Take a look at what students in the Oxford Academia at the American University of Paris seminars have been exploring. Through hands-on activities, site visits, and discussions across the city, each major is helping students deepen their knowledge while experiencing all Paris has to offer.
Bonjour tout le monde,
Hard to believe we are halfway through our first week of classes. Final projects are already underway, and the students are enjoying more freedom around Paris with their new friends under lightened supervision.
Yesterday, Wednesday, was the students’ second Major Class day as well as our first day of evening activities. As you’ll see, there’s always something new to discover in this beautiful city of lights!
Streets of Paris
We headed to the Bastille area and walked along the Coulée Verte—a park built on an old railway—to marvel at French architecture. Then we tried different cheeses and charcuterie at Marché d’Aligre. Later, we explored Canal Saint-Martin, Place de la République, and the nearby Marché des Enfants Rouges, the oldest covered market in Paris. The students enjoyed some refreshments while doing French exercises at the iconic café Chez Prune.
History of Art & Architecture
Art history majors considered two main themes today. Firstly, we continued examining the question of how patronage has shaped the production of art with a focus on the Middle Ages in France. We began the day at the Musée de Cluny, first looking at the building, which is both an ancient Roman bathhouse and medieval mansion. Inside, students explored the museum’s collection of medieval art, conducting a formal analysis of works of their choosing. We then pondered the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries and discussed how their symbolism and aesthetics exemplify how patronage defined art in the Middle Ages. We ended this theme with a look at Notre Dame cathedral, considering it’s architecture and historical importance.
In the afternoon, we began our theme on artistic modernism with a visit to the Musée Montmartre. We enjoyed a guided tour of the Adya and Otto van Rees exhibit, learning about how they experimented with modernist techniques in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Finally, we discussed the history of Montmartre as an important site of artistic creation and visited the museum’s permanent modernist collections.
Photography & Digital Storytelling
Investigating concepts and practices in the genre of portraiture, Photography and Digital Storytelling majors began class at the Petit Palais. The exhibit ‘Visages d’Artistes: De Gustave Courbet á Annette Messager’ presented a dynamic variety of portraits ranging from the 19th century to the contemporary period and across photography, painting, and sculpture. Comparing presentation of subjects, expression, and quality of light, students began to recognize important influences. We were excited to experience images by renowned photographers such as Cindy Sherman, Sophie Calle, and Nan Goldin. Collaborating with Paris and the Creative Imagination, we enjoyed lunch at Pink Mamma while reviewing camera settings and possibilities in perspective. After our Italian cuisine, we travelled to Montmartre to experiment with the notion of the self-portrait in vintage photo booths and the portrait with our digital cameras.
History of Paris
Today, History of Paris majors retraced the history of Paris from its Roman origins to the Middle Ages. We first explored the iconic cathedral of Notre-Dame (built on top of a Roman temple!) before wandering to the Roman arena of Lutetia where plays and gladiatorial combats were once enjoyed. For lunch, we headed into the Latin Quarter and enjoyed baguette sandwiches on the pretty Place de l’Estrapade. In the afternoon, after a pit stop for cold drinks in a typical French café, we walked down the Rue Saint-Jacques (the Roman cardo maximus) and past the old Sorbonne buildings (at the heart of the student revolts of May 1968). We visited the Musée de Cluny, which houses beautiful medieval art and tapestries in the former Roman baths as well as a 15th-century abbey.
Law & Society
In our morning session at AUP, we explored the differences between the American and French political and legal systems, discussed models of government, and considered different forms of democracy. In the afternoon, we went to the Sorbonne neighborhood, walked around French institutions, stopped in front of the Panthéon, and walked by the Senate.
French Cuisine
Students took part in a guided cheese tasting on the Île Saint-Louis, learning how to compare cheeses by flavor, texture, aging, and regional origin. Some of them were very pungent! Afterwards, we explored the Marais to visit an artisanal jam producer and discussed some of the historical influences that have shaped French cuisine.
Students participated in a hands-on macaron workshop to learn about the precision and techniques required to create this iconic French pastry. The results were very yummy!
Business & Entrepreneurship
Business continued with another lecture on the fundamentals of economics, followed by a jaunt around town to see how these concepts played out in the real world. We conducted SWOT analyses of several local business and began our journey as make-believe consultants. Of course, the afternoon was not complete without another photographe emblématique!
Fashion Design & Culture
In the second class, fashion majors ventured out for a day of design inspiration.
After a discussion in the studio about the experience had and knowledge gained at La Galerie DIOR, the students began the day out in the city at the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation in the Marais. In the original building where Alaïa lived and worked during his career, the students observed work from the archives that drew primarily from African influences. They were even able to see through a window to the atelier where it all happened!
After lunch the students traversed Paris by metro and foot to the Palais Galleria. Here, they had the opportunity to gather inspiration from 18th century fashion as well as contemporary fashion inspired by 18th century dress in an exhibition focused on embroidery, embellishments, and textiles. The shapes, colors, and textures were a starting point for designing their own final project work.
Paris & the Creative Imagination
Paris & the Creative Imagination majors immersed themselves in the exhibition Visages d’Artistes at the Petit Palais, examining how artists from the nineteenth century to today have used portraiture and self-portraiture to construct, challenge, and reinvent identity. Through guided questions, students considered the artist’s public persona, the evolving idea of the atelier as both a physical and psychological space, the importance of creative communities in Paris, and the ways contemporary artists subvert classical traditions to redefine portraiture. Afterward, we enjoyed lunch at Pink Mamma—known for its striking antique decor and lush greenery—before heading to a vintage black-and-white photo booth in Montmartre to create their own modern self-portraits! Wandering the historic streets that once inspired generations of painters, writers, and musicians, they reflected on how place, memory, and community continue to shape creative expression, connecting their own experiences to the enduring mythology of Paris as a city of imagination.
Evening Adventures
After class, students regrouped in the Jardin de Luxembourg and broke for evening activities: the famous Catacombes; sketching and drawing in the Jardin de Luxembourg before a crêpe dinner; exploring the Marais; and attending a screening of a film about the making Nouvelle Vague cinema.
To learn more about our Oxford Academia program at the American University of Paris, click here!