Courses

Stroll the boulevards of Paris—past glittering salons and bustling cafés—and you can sense why it has long been a laboratory of ideas, art, and social change. This course traces the city’s cultural, artistic, and commercial transformations from the 18th to the 20th centuries, a period when Paris emerged as a leading center of modernity. We begin with the Enlightenment, asking what aspects of Paris and its cultures of sociability fostered the creation and circulation of new ideas. Moving into the 19th century, we will explore how the city itself became a literary character, as writers grappled with urbanization, industrialization, and the reinvention of a city in flux. Finally, we’ll turn to the defining artistic eras that followed—the Belle Époque, surrealism, and the avant-garde. Readings may include works by authors such as Mercier, Sand, Baudelaire, Zola, Colette, and Barthes. Through literary texts and films, participants will rediscover Paris as an enduring idea: a city where art, politics, and imagination converge to redefine modern life.