After last year's COVID-19 cancellation of their study-abroad programs, Lisa Bauman and Christopher Gregg, associate professors of art history, were thrilled to lead their new two-week study-abroad program to France during winter break 2023. The France program had the most applicants of any winter study-abroad program, and they took the maximum number of 24 students. The students came not only from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, but also from many other Mason Colleges and schools.
The program, From Roman to Parisian: Shaping the Urban Experience in France from Antiquity to the Modern Period, involved first spending a week in the south of France investigating the cities of Nimes, Arles, Orange, and Glanum where substantial remains of ancient Roman urbanism survive. Following a weekend in Lyon, the program continued to Paris, where students traced the development of the city from its Roman origins to its massive rebuilding in the 19th century. Per Mason's mission of providing opportunities for and emphasizing experiential learning, the program utilized the city as the classroom. Students participated in walking tours and visits to cultural sites and explored urban design through a variety of lenses - historical artifacts and their associations, technical skill, architectural style, and cultural geography.
Bauman and Gregg will also be launching a new one-month summer study-abroad program in 2023, Art and Memory in Rome and Florence. Applications opening in January, and the 6-credit program will take place in July. As always, Mason study-abroad programs are open to alumni and their friends.
April 01, 2023