Hannah Geist, Historical Art & Architecture of Paris, Summer 2026
I participated in a program that was quite different from my declared major. I am beginning my Junior year at the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in Finance and Accounting. For my entire life, I have loved working with numbers and analyzing different logistical scenarios. However, for this program, I was tasked with diving deep into Parisian culture through the lens of architecture. Rather than data or numbers, it was on-site visits to museums and other incredibly beautiful landmarks around the city.
My study abroad cohort would begin our day by grabbing a coffee and a croissant before hopping on the metro to our classroom. In contrast to my experience at Pitt, we would not spend much time in the classroom itself. Our professor would go over key historical material and other vocabulary terms that we needed to know for our assignments each morning. This designated lecture time only took around an hour and a half to two hours per day, so the rest of our time was filled with excursions to the different museums that we had discussed. I loved that my time abroad was experience-based. We got to walk the streets of Paris, eat lunch at local cafes as a group, tour museums with the professor as our personal guide, and actually get to see what we were studying in person. I would say that the culture itself is a bit laxer, as the main focus was assimilating yourself into another culture while also successfully learning the program material. There was less stress on tests or exams and more emphasis on what it means to be a Parisian. The architecture of the city of Paris holds tales of its history dating as far back as the early 1500s, such as Versailles, so we truly got to see how the city and its people evolved.
I enjoy Pitt’s academic environment and find it to be nurturing and challenging at the same time. However, it was refreshing to see sort of the flip side to my everyday life. Being abroad showed me that not everything can be learned within the walls of a classroom; sometimes you simply need to go out and experience it yourself.
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