While Barnard’s location in New York City puts it at the epicenter of one of the world’s most dynamic cultures, its reach is worldwide. The College offers more than 100 study abroad programs in a range of disciplines throughout the academic year — and summer, which is why a number of students pack their bags for international educational adventures as soon as classes end.
Here’s a peek inside the programs and memorable moments that happened across the Atlantic Ocean this summer.
Dance in Paris | France (June 1 – 30)
Since 2011, professor of professional practice in dance Colleen Thomas-Young has taken students to Paris for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live and dance in one of the most vibrant cities in the world. This year, 10 dancers joined her for the four-week intensive course, which is open to Barnard and Columbia students.
Each day, students took master classes, workshops, and seminars in contemporary, ballet, hip-hop, and African dance led by an international collective of teachers, choreographers, and creators. They attended a lecture on the history of dance in Paris and nearly a dozen performances over the course of the trip. By the end of the summer, students debuted solo works that they created, with performances at the dance studio Micadanses.
“During the month of June, students experience artists, culture, and dance like they have never imagined. The support and value of the arts in Paris is sometimes beyond our comprehension as Americans,” said Thomas-Young. “In 13 years, we have built such a strong network of alumnae from the Paris program that now students can speak with them and understand the pathways of working and living as an artist in Paris.”
Though Thomas-Young organizes — and attends — the trip annually, there was a surprise for her this year. “This group actually got me down by the Seine for salsa dancing. All videos of me have been confiscated,” she said, jokingly. After 13 years, a twist was bound to happen.
Practicing in Paris
Astroparticle Physics Summer School | Blois, France (June 24 – June 28)
The Helen Goodhart Altschul Professor of Physics and Astronomy Reshmi Mukherjee coordinated an introduction to astroparticle physics and very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy for Barnard students, in Blois, France. Over the course of four days, four first- and second-year STEM enthusiasts took part in the Astroparticle Physics Summer School (APSS) with students from the Lycée Dessaignes in Blois. (The exchange program first launched in 2019 with French students from the Lycée Descartes in Tours.)
Visiting Blois, France
“This was an intense program where students explored cutting-edge topics in astroparticle physics while being immersed in French culture,” said Mukherjee.
During the program, students attended lectures on dark matter, binary systems, and compact objects and took part in cosmic-ray experiments, such as working with a cloud chamber, a device used for the study of ionizing radiation. Students also toured laboratories and learned about the local history in science and astrophysics.
Visiting Barnard
The trip was also a chance to reconnect with five French students who visited Barnard and Nevis Labs June 3-8, through the exchange program.
“The [goal] of this exchange was to discover the field of astroparticles at very high energy, which has developed significantly in recent years, and to immerse [students] in the research world,” said Christian Mariaud, the coordinator for the French part of the program and a high school physics teacher at the Lycée Dessaignes. “French students, during engineering formation [at the beginning], don’t have the necessary fundamental research, [as] our training is more academic and centered on mathematical methods. During this exchange, students saw another way of teaching, and they developed their adaptation capacity. Finally, they also discover another culture, Paris and New York, which are magical cities.”
The Vienna Experience: History, Culture, Language | Austria (July 8 – August 2)
Irene Motyl-Mudretzkyj, senior associate professor in German and the coordinator of the Barnard Language Program, traveled with eight Barnard and Columbia students to Vienna — who completed at least two years of German language study at the College or the equivalent — for a monthlong, fully funded study abroad course that immersed them in the German language as well as in the history, politics, and culture of their host city. The curriculum for The Vienna Experience included visits to “different sites of memory” that have defined the city — such as political and literary — as one way to engage with Vienna’s past and present.
Each week, students were assigned a unique location in Vienna to report on and were expected to explore their areas, interview local Viennese residents, and discover how the area contributed to Viennese culture and identity, said Billy Hughes CC’25, German literature and cultural history major.
“In class, students presented their findings and learned from their peers about the locations other groups have visited,” said Motyl-Mudretzkyj.
The ability to collaborate with local professionals was also a plus, and this year Motyl-Mudretzkyj co-coordinated the course with history professors Nikolaus Reisinger and Michaela Tassotti of the University of Graz. “Professor Reisinger taught about Viennese ‘mentality history,’ including the city’s monarchical, socialist, and fascist history, and Professor Tassotti created lessons integrating the history of immigration in Vienna with the history and evolution of Austrian German,” said Hughes.
Voices From Vienna
Motyl-Mudretzkyj likes that the lectures and presentations gave students “the opportunity to hone their listening skills in German and broaden their understanding of [the culture].”
Students experienced Vienna both inside and outside of the classroom. Four times a week, they met for German language instruction, site visits, guest lectures, integrated excursions, and research projects. Locations visited included Schneeberg Mountain, the Hofburg Palace, the Karl-Marx-Hof municipal housing complex, and the Wien Museum.
