Four Fridays: May 12, 19, 26, and June 9 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET Online
Discussion Based
“The old Paris is no more (the form of a city changes faster, alas! than a mortal's heart),” wrote Charles Baudelaire in the nineteenth century. In this class we will explore the evolving shape of Parisian life in the 21st century, with occasional dips back into the past. We’ll start by looking at Paris through the eyes of two of its most lively and engaging contemporary personalities, people who exemplify a contagious kind of Parisian energy.
We will begin with Parisian Life: Adventures in the City of Light, by Edith de Belleville, a French lawyer and licensed tour guide with an unsurpassable passion for the city of her birth, and for its current realities as well as its historic past. Next we’ll read Paris On Air, in which Australian Oliver Gee tells the story of how his passion for Paris led to his career as a world-famous podcaster extraordinaire, as host of The Earful Tower. Journalist Lindsey Tramuta’s book, The New Parisienne: The Women and Ideas Shaping Paris profiles 50 women activists, creators, educators, visionaries, and disruptors who are shaking things up, diversifying and enriching today’s Paris. We’ll round out our exploration with Cathy Yandell’s tribute to The French Art of Living Well: Finding Joie de Vivre in the Everyday World which celebrates French art, life, and culture in Paris—as well as elsewhere in France—from the Renaissance to rap. We'll also be privileged to have all four of the authors drop in for visits to the class.
Four Fridays: May 12, 19, 26, and June 9 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET Online Class.
Discussion Schedule:
May 12: Parisian Life: Adventures in the City of Light, by Edith de Belleville 9781667831985
May 19: Paris On Air, by Oliver Gee 9781098301996
May 26: The New Parisienne, by Lindsey Tramuta 9781419742811
June 9: The French Art of Living Well, by Cathy Yandell 9781250777980
Required Texts:
Parisian Life: Adventures in the City of Light, by Edith de Belleville (9781667831985)
Paris On Air, by Oliver Gee (9781098301996)
The New Parisienne, by Lindsey Tramuta (9781419742811)
The French Art of Living Well, by Cathy Yandell (9781250777980)
Janet Hulstrand is a writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher who lives in Essoyes, a village in southern Champagne, on the border of Burgundy. She writes frequently for Bonjour Paris, France Today, and France Revisited, as well as for her blog, Writing from the Heart, Reading for the Road. She created and has taught “Paris: A Literary Adventure” for the City University of New York since 1997, and has taught literature and culture classes at Politics and Prose since 2011. Janet is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France. Her perspective, developed over more than 40 years of extensive time spent in France, much of that time in Paris, will enrich our discussions.
REFUND POLICY: Please note that we can issue class refunds up until seven (7) days before the first class session.