Two semesters (Spring FIU & Summer abroad), 32 days, 4 cities
From $5,600 $4,400 (airfare not included) | Payments as low as $1,950





Structure: Two Semesters
Activity Level: Extreme
Travel Portion:
2025:
Start: Monday, June 30
End: Thursday, July 31
Price (airfare not included): $5,600 $4,400
Overview
Why participate?
This interdisciplinary course examines France’s widespread, sustained and continued influence our individual and worldwide scenarios. Such profound and sometimes unrecognized legacy stems onto political, intellectual, linguistic and cultural portions of our lives.
Students will experience French civilization by learning while on campus about France’s history from its beginning to contemporary times, stressing certain periods that will be experienced first-hand upon out summer visit. We will also visit topics such as society, citizenship, sociopolitical structures, culture, ideologies and through various resources; we will be exposed to art, literature, cinema, music and of course gastronomy.
Based in Paris, the class navigates Francois I’s Renaissance in the Loire castles, Marie Antoinette’s final trek through Paris to the guillotine, and Hemingway’s walk through the streets of the Latin Quarter. Students engage in debates about absolutism, nationalism, revolution, and human rights in the country that saw the most radical, idealistic, and brutal revolution in Europe. They encounter the personalities that have shaped world history–Voltaire, Rousseau, Maximilien Robespierre, Olympe de Gouges, Napoleon Bonaparte, –as well as the figures that revolutionized art history: Pierre Rodin, Monet, Van Gogh, Matisse, and Picasso. The class visits the Louvre, Orsay, Invalides, Sainte-Chapelle, Eiffel Tower, and other museums and monuments of Paris. Included in the program visitation are the castles of the Loire, Normandy, Alsace, Fontainebleau, Versailles, and Lyon.
Course focus
- History, Culture, and the Arts
- Philosophy and Religion
- Politics and Society
- Global Issues
- Literature
- COURSE SYLLABUS: 2025 Syllabus
Program information
- Spring 2025 (on campus): IDH 4007 (3 credits) - MMC, Wednesdays, 1:00PM-3:30PM
- Summer B 2025 (abroad): IDH 4008 (3 credits) - June 30-July 31, 2025
Program highlights
- Climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower
- Viewing art in the Louvre Museum
- Exploring the grounds of Mont-Saint-Michel
- Walking the Palace of Versailles
- Strolling through La Petite France in Strasbourg
What is included
- Individual dorm in Paris university for entire program
- 5 nights in handpicked accommodations outside Paris
- Local transportation in Paris
- Train tickets to Rouen, Lyon, and Strasbourg
- Private coach bus for day trips to Fontainebleau & Loire Valley
- Breakfast included in hotels outside of Paris
- Expert Faculty Director
- 24/7 support from Faculty Director
- Admission to Basilica Saint Denis, Saint Chapelle, Carnavalet, and so much more
What is not included
- International airfare to/from Paris, France
- $195.00 Education Abroad administrative fee (OEA Fee)
- FIU in-state tuition (6 credits, $205.57 per credit)
- Passport, visa, and other necessary documents
- Personal expenses, including meals

Key:
(#) = number of nights
Itinerary
Itinerary is subject to change. It is a “living document,” meaning that scheduled "Free Time" may be utilized for in-person quizzes, class meetings, and/or class days.
Students should always consult with their Faculty Director prior to scheduling plans during "Free Time"
Day 1: Travel Day
Students should be traveling overnight, arriving the next day in Paris, France
Day 2-7: Paris
The program is based in Paris, France. For the entire program, students have housing in Paris. While in Paris, highlights include walking lectures, Eiffel Tower, Sainte-Chapelle, Louvre Museum, Cluny Museum, and more
Day 8: Rouen
Travel by train to Rouen. Highlights include walking lectures
Day 9-16: Paris
Travel by private coach bus to Paris with a stop at Mont Saint-Michel. Highlights include the Orsay Museum, Cartier Foundation, Atelier des Lumières, and more. Plus day trips to the Loire Valley and Versailles
Day 17-18: Lyon
Travel by train to Lyon. In Lyon, activities include walking tour of Lyon, Hotel de Ville, and more
Day 19-24: Paris
More activities in Lyon, including Montluc Prison. Then travel back to Paris by train. Highlights include Petit Palais, Hotel de Dieu, Musée de la Vie Romantique, and more
Day 25-26: Strasbourg
Travel by train to Strasbourg. Highlights include walking lecture of the city. Day trip to Mulhouse-Colmar
Day 27-32: Paris
Travel by train back to Paris. Highlights include Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, Panthéon, and Musée du Luxembourg. End of the program
Faculty Director
Amilcar Castellano-Sanchez

Amilcar Castellano-Sanchez has been Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) since its inception. Dr. Castellano-Sanchez trained in Anatomic & Clinical Pathology at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach and served two additional post-doctoral fellowships in Neuropathology at Emory University in Atlanta and Hematopathology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital/University of Saint Louis; since his return to south Florida, he has been the Coordinator for Teaching and Research at the Department of Pathology in Mount Sinai. Currently he teaches to the Pathology residents at Mount Sinai Medical Center and during the first three years of medical school here at FIU. He was honored by HWCOM’s first class to receive the Teacher of the Year Award and as Co-Director also received the Best Pre-Clinical Course Award from the same class. Beginning Fall 2016, he will be teaching a Global Learning rated course titled: “History of Medicine through Art” for the Honors College. His research interest includes neoplastic hematologic and non-hematologic diseases, brain tumors and particularly lymphomas in brain tissue. In addition, Dr. Castellano-Sanchez is a volunteer Docent at the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum at FIU and is passionate about anything that combines goodness, enrichment, personal growth / community growth and community engagement. He enjoys teaching and hopes to convey and exchange ideas with his students.
2025 Payment Schedule
1st Payment (Deposit)* |
2nd Program Payment* |
Spring 2025 |
3rd Program Payment* |
Education Abroad Fee* |
Summer B 2025 |
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*Payments are non-refundable & non-transferrable