A Review of the Question: What has France Given the World and to You

Two semesters (Spring FIU & Summer abroad), 32 days, 4 cities

From $5,600 $4,400 (airfare not included) | Payments as low as $1,950

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FIU Honors France selfie on the Champs-Élysées. Photo by Dr. Castellano-Sanchez
Maya Rylke-Friedman of the FIU Honors College in Paris. (Photo by JW Bailly/CC BY 4.0)
Christopher Montejo of the FIU Honors College in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. (Photo by JW Bailly/CC BY 4.0)
Jake Meyer and Isabel Brime of the FIU Honors College at Musée de l'Orangerie (Photo by JW Bailly CC BY 4.0)

   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
Map of the 2025 Honors France study abroad program itinerary
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

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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.

Contact Professor Castellano-Sanchez

2025 Payment Schedule

1st Payment (Deposit)*

2nd Program Payment*

Spring 2025
In-State Tuition

3rd Program Payment*

Education Abroad Fee*

Summer B 2025
In-State Tuition

Deadline
1 Week After Interview

Payment
$500

Deadline
December 1

Payment
$1,950

Deadline
January 14

Payment
$616.71

Deadline
February 1

Payment
$1,950

Deadline
March 1

Payment
$195

Deadline
June 24

Payment
$616.71

*Payments are non-refundable & non-transferrable

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