Brown in Paris marks 30 years of innovative, immersive study abroad

It's one of the keystones of Brown in Paris and something former program director and Senior Lecturer Emerita in French Studies Annie Wiart is most proud of.

"We give students the opportunity to study exactly what they want to study," said Wiart, who organized her first Brown in Paris semester in 1995-96 and was instrumental in helping to shape the program into what it is today.

Wiart recalled a chemistry concentrator who, while in France, wanted to study art history. Wiart was able to place her in a course on art restoration and conservation. Instructed by a faculty member who normally taught in the STEM field, the student got to put her scientific knowledge to use through a completely different lens.

More recently, in 2023, Brown junior Alex Tomkinson studied music in France - but back on College Hill, he concentrates in biology.

"That is really what makes the program extremely rich," Reeser said. "It's this mixing of different personalities amongst the students, but they all have that common interest in French language and culture."

Independence and impact through immersion

Students aren't just there to study: they're learning who they are, and who they could be, in a completely different cultural context. By doing so, program organizers say students illustrate their willingness to accept a challenge.

The program offers a substantial amount of autonomy for students, who are responsible for nearly every aspect of their everyday lives, from grocery shopping to going to the bank.

"I think that's quite surprising for most students coming from an American university atmosphere, who are used to the campus being kind of a liminal space between home and parental supervision and then adulthood afterwards," Reeser said. "And this experience really thrust them into adulthood, because they're required to do an incredible number of things on their own."

Speaking to the packed room in Rochambeau House, alumna Ivy Scott, who studied in France in 2019, said it was one of the best things about the program.

"I learned how capable I am," Scott said. "That's the beauty of doing this program in college: You have a lot of your regular growing-up moments, but you just happen to have them in French … I left thinking, 'If I could do all of this in French, I got this in English!'"

Tomkinson and Brown senior Tierra Peguero echoed that sentiment, agreeing that their confidence increased after conquering logistical challenges that at first seemed intimidating, like going to the doctor's office or navigating daily life during la grêve - labor strikes that have a long history in France's civil and political spheres.

The impact of the program on each student continues to last far beyond their semester in France.

Peguero shared an experience from the cinema while she was in Paris in 2022, where she sat next to a family with several children. During intermission, the kids were begging for candy, but the adults needed to use the restroom; so Peguero offered to take them to the concession stand. Her kind gesture turned into lively conversation, and Peguero later found herself in the family's kitchen, where they taught her how to make galette, a round pastry. She and the family are still in touch, and they plan on visiting California, where Peguero will be working after she graduates in May.

For Timone, the alumna who visited Paris in 1998, the impact was direct. After graduating, she spent a few unfulfilling years job-hopping in the finance and production industries. It wasn't until a volunteer opportunity that she realized she loved working with teenagers - so she went back to school for the proper certifications and became a high school French teacher, which she's been doing for 19 years.

"A few years into [teaching] - inspired by how much I grew as a person when I was able to study abroad - I started organizing travel for students," Timone said.

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