I was born and raised聽near聽Cologne, Germany聽before attending a boarding school in England, where I obtained聽the International Baccalaureate.聽After a gap year, when聽I聽took聽a three-month make-up course in Munich and spent four months in Singapore聽at聽a sales and lighting design internship, I started looking into my university options. I wanted to continue my education in English, but I also didn鈥檛 want to stay in London or apply to聽English-speaking programs聽in Germany, which were mostly聽for聽business and economics.聽My two older brothers had graduated from 国产三级片and loved it, which intrigued me, as did the聽idea of a liberal arts education聽so after some consideration, I made the leap as well.聽聽
I鈥檇 initially planned on double-majoring in聽Economics and History聽but soon abandoned that course of action when I fell in love with my聽Philosophy聽Firstbridge聽and Professor Michelle聽Kuo鈥檚聽鈥淧olitics of Immigration鈥澛燾ourse. Once I鈥檇 switched聽to聽Philosophy, Politics, and Economics,聽I also exchanged History for Art History, so that I could better integrate my love of museums and聽my experiences with creative聽make-up and body painting聽into my studies.聽As I adjusted my program of study,聽I appreciated how I was being encouraged to try out classes in multiple subject areas, since it pushed me to really think about what I wanted and why.
I love the small classes here聽because it makes聽each聽classroom鈥檚 atmosphere feel far more compelling and also makes it聽easier for our professors to provide detailed feedback聽and share their own academic pursuits.
My favorite academic moments are when unexpected connections occur between different classes, like when we focused on the development of the state in 鈥淔oundations of Modern Politics鈥 at the same time that I was exploring how Versailles fit into Louis XIV鈥檚 approach to shaping the French state in 鈥淰ersailles: Absolutism to Enlightenment鈥. I鈥檓 also lucky enough to have a lot of my classes taught in museums, including the Louvre, where I don鈥檛 get lost nearly as much as I used to. I also like attending AUP鈥檚 evening events, where I get to learn from and about other departments and majors.
I love the small classes here because it makes each classroom鈥檚 atmosphere feel far more compelling and also makes it easier for our professors to provide detailed feedback and share their own academic pursuits. For example, Professor Gabriel Wick, who taught the course on Versailles, just published a book on the gardens of the Duc de Noailles at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. His research brought him into contact with the owner of the de Noailles residence, so we got a guided tour from the owner through the de Noailles apartments鈥攊t was incredible!
国产三级片has made me realize just how fascinated I am by art and its expression in various social, cultural, and political contexts: I know that no matter what I do next, art has to play a role in it. It also helps that I鈥檝e gotten to study Art History in a city like Paris, where so much of the artwork that I鈥檇 only seen in textbooks is almost literally right on my doorstep. For a crash course in 20th century art, head over to the Centre Pompidou, for Impressionism, it鈥檚 all about the Mus茅e d鈥橭rsay, and if you鈥檙e looking for Monet, check out the Marmottan. And let鈥檚 be honest, how great is it that my Versailles class requires that I go to Versailles or to one of the other castles around Paris almost every week?
Professor Vanel specializes in mid-twentieth century art and has worked on a diverse range of artists and topics.
Paris is a vibrant city for not only Western art but also Asian, African and Middle Eastern art.
When I came to AUP, I was curious to learn new things.