"Studying at Reid Hall was a deeply enriching experience; I was able to see in person the monuments, paintings, statues, and sites I was reading about and discussing within the classroom."

Sunset in the streets of Paris
The Columbia Summer Core in Paris: Art Humanities and Music Humanities program was a deeply meaningful and formative academic experience that has forever changed my global, life, and academic perspectives. As a first-generation and low-income student, I did not previously have the opportunity to study abroad. However, the support of the Global Learning Scholarship enabled me to travel to France and take classes at the Reid Hall Center this summer.

Studying at Reid Hall was a deeply enriching experience; I was able to see in person the monuments, paintings, statues, and sites I was reading about and discussing within the classroom. Reid Hall and my dorm, Foyer International des Etudiantes, was also situated in the Latin Quarter, home to numerous historically significant sites like the Luxembourg Gardens, The Panthéon, and The Sorbonne. The convenient location of my education made these sites extremely accessible. More importantly, the cultural, intellectual, and historical richness of Reid’s locale made my learning experience one complemented by meaningful and abundant contexts.

Looking out of large windows in a museum in Paris
As an Ethnicity and Race Studies major, I am always eager to approach my learning with a critically racial and historical lens, an approach particularly shaped by my location of learning. I was interested in studying in France as a Vietnamese immigrant due to how the country’s colonial legacy has shaped my own experience of immigration and transnationalism. This legacy is deeply intertwined in the contemporary imagination, represented by the enclaves of Vietnamese migrants who have settled in France amidst post-colonial emigration. Living and studying in Paris, especially at the same time as the 2024 Olympics, allowed me to use the movements, events, cross-cultural exchanges, and historic moments within the city as a discursive resource to interrogate its colonial, historical, and political intersections at the juncture of art and music.

At the same time, my study abroad experience allowed me to connect with some of the largest communities of the Vietnamese diaspora I have ever encountered. I met Vietnamese immigrants everywhere I went—kinfolk who gave me secret discounts from their businesses, advice on the best bánh mì in Paris, and heartfelt conversations when I missed home the most.

This summer supported my academic and personal interests by equipping me with the knowledge necessary to develop global perspectives and understandings of my education while also paving the way for me to make connections with communities I would not have been able to find elsewhere.