J-Term Seminar: Great Cities

Italy • France • The Netherlands • Czechia

December 28, 2023 - January 14, 2024

IAU’s Great Cities J-Term Traveling Seminar is designed for students interested in an academic and cultural experience in Italy, France, The Netherlands, and Czechia. Students explore major cities across Europe using literature and the arts as a guide to understanding the rise and establishment of the urban setting. Through readings and media studies, students examine the artistic process from inspiration to creation. Site visits and guided tours then allow students to experience the historical, geographical, and demographical foundations that inform the fictional representations of European cities and their impact on perceptions of those cities today. Students have the opportunity to learn from and exchange their observations with experts from IAU as well as distinguished on-site scholars and local guides in order to frame their own perceptions of the cities and these cities’ representation through the arts.

Please note: IAU reserves the right to cancel programs due to low enrollment. Itineraries are tentative and subject to change at the discretion of IAU. Students should consult with an IAU advisor prior to purchasing their flights.

Academics

Students can choose one of the following courses:

• European Studies 303: Europe and the Urban Space
• Anthropology 301: The Artist and the City
• Literature 375: The European City in Literature
• Communications 375: The European City in the Visual Arts
• Geography 201: Europe and its Cities

View the syllabus here. All content and the itinerary is subject to change.

Itinerary

View the itinerary here. All details are tentative and subject to change. IAU reserves the right to alter the itinerary.

About the Professor

Dr. Leigh Smith has lived in Provence since 1999 and has worked in the field of study abroad since 1998, beginning with his first work with the University of North Carolina’s Paris program while still a graduate student. While working there as on-site assistant to the program director, he met his future wife and eventually returned to France. He and his wife settled in Provence where their three children were born. He completed his dissertation while abroad and received his Ph.D. in comparative literature. He has since gone on to teach at the Université de Paul Cézanne and at the Université de Provence in Aix and in Marseille. His first position in Aix was as academic advisor with the American University Center of Provence. He has taught courses in literature and French culture at the IAU since 2005. He served as interim director of The Aix Center over the 2008-2009 academic year and assumed the role of Academic Director at IAU in April 2011. He has served as the Vice President of Student Affairs at IAU since 2022.

Program Fees

Please view the Program Fees page for details. 

Did you know? Students who enroll in a January Term Seminar and the spring semester at one of IAU's campuses consecutively are eligible to receive a $2,000 grant credited to their spring semester invoice. In order to be eligible to receive the grant, students must participate in the Early Start Program during the week between the end of the January Term Seminar and the start of the spring semester. The Early Start Program allows students to move in with their hosts a week before the semester begins, receive language instruction, and participate in local cultural activities! Visit IAU's Scholarship page for additional details.