Academics
Students enroll in three courses at Reid Hall, including a mandatory language course* that corresponds with the student's current French level. In addition, students have the opportunity to take up to two courses as an exchange student at the Paris campus of Sciences Po.
At Reid Hall, students have the opportunity to take specially-developed courses, taught exclusively for the program, that draw on the rich urban fabric of the city.
*All English track students must enroll in a French language course adapted to their level. If you have completed at least four semesters of college-level French or the equivalent and are enrolled in a French language class the semester prior to attending Columbia in Paris, you are encouraged to apply for the French Immersion Program. No exceptions can be made for the English program's French language requirement.
Coursework
Confirmed Reid Hall content courses for Fall 2025 are listed below.
Issues in 19th Century Art. 3 points.
In this course, students will focus on a key artistic period that is full of upheavals. Students will particularly consider the affirmation of the individuality of the artist in relation to the institutions and great pictorial movements that have marked the history of French painting of that time.
Elites, Privilege and Inequalities: A Global History of Social Boundaries Building and Dismantling (18th-21st century). 3 points.
Economic and social inequalities are a structuring dimension of societies and are at the center of many analyses in history, economics and sociology. This course offers an in-depth analysis of how inequalities in access to economic resources, political power, and knowledge are justified in different societies by articulating barriers of class, gender, or race. Drawing on works on different historical configurations in Europe but also in America, Africa and Asia, the course encourages an epistemological reflection on the production of social barriers and the social construction of « elites ».
City Diplomacy (Global Core). 3 points.
Based on a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, the city diplomacy course is designed to offer a general introduction to the international role of cities. Through an innovative approach cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines (international relations, urban sociology, area studies, history, geography), the course will combine the emerging scholarly literature with a comparative accent linked to the analysis of primary sources from cities and international actors from all regions of the world. As a result, students will learn to connect global and regional macro-dynamics with micro-transformations at the local level, while gaining an in-depth understanding of city diplomacy's core features, management, tangible impact, and evolution.
Students in the English Program can supplement their studies at Reid Hall with coursework at the Paris campus of Sciences Po, a world-renowned institution in the social sciences. Sciences Po offers a full selection of courses in English across various disciplines.
Please note that students are only allowed to take a maximum of TWO courses at Sciences Po.
Click here for more information on the courses available to exchange students at Sciences Po Paris.
Academic Regulations
As a participant in a study abroad program administered by Columbia University, you are considered a member of the Columbia community and are expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity, civility, and respect. Students are therefore expected to conduct themselves in an honest, civil, and respectful manner in all aspects of their lives. Students who violate these standards of behavior interfere with their ability and the ability of others, to take advantage of the full complement of university life and are subject to disciplinary measures. For more details of what is expected of you during your stay, please review the program participation agreement you signed before leaving.
- Attendance and participation are mandatory.
- Medical absences must be justified by a dated medical certificate from a French doctor.
- Students are only authorized one unjustified absence per course for the duration of the program. However, these always have to be communicated in advance to the faculty member and the academic coordinator. Please be mindful of the ways in which you communicate both with the faculty and program staff.
- Each subsequent unjustified absence will lower the final grade by 1 point (i.e.: with one unjustified absence a 16 becomes a 15, etc.).
- In addition to attendance students should plan on being punctual. Please note that 3 tardies (10 minutes late or more) are equivalent to 1 full absence.
- Assignments handed in late without the authorization of the instructor will be penalized.
- In addition to punctuality and motivation, students should do their best to be engaged critics and scholars, by participating actively in class, producing original work, and taking pleasure in reading, writing and thinking.
- No eating or talking in class.
- No cell phones in class. No surfing the internet (e.g.: Amazon, Netflix, YouTube, Social Media, Instagram)
- Leaving the classroom once class has begun is considered very impolite in France.
The intellectual venture in which we are all engaged requires of faculty and students alike the highest level of personal and academic integrity. As members of an academic community, each one of us bears the responsibility to participate in scholarly discourse and research in a manner characterized by intellectual honesty and scholarly integrity. Scholarship, by its very nature, is an iterative process, with ideas and insights building one upon the other. Collaborative scholarship requires the study of other scholars’ work, the free discussion of such work, and the explicit acknowledgement of those ideas in any work that inform our own. This exchange of ideas relies upon a mutual trust that sources, opinions, facts, and insights will be properly noted and carefully credited. In practical terms, this means that, as students,
- you must be responsible for the full citations of others’ ideas in your research papers/ projects
- you must be scrupulously honest when taking your examinations
- you must always submit your own work and not that of another student, scholar, or internet agent
Students needing academic adjustments or accommodations because of a documented disability should contact the Program Director before the start of classes.
Tutoring
The Columbia in Paris program is able to provide methodological tutoring for students enrolled in courses in approved departments at Paris 1, Paris 4, and Sciences Po (see list of departments below).
Students in approved departments will be matched with a tutor in a discipline specific to the courses in which they are enrolled at French University. Students meet with these tutors based on need over the course of the semester. Tutoring focuses exclusively on methodology and academic expectations specific to the French university system.
If your French University class has only one graded assignment, you may be able to complete a supplementary assignment with your tutor that accounts for a maximum of 30% of your final course grade. You will discuss this option with your Program Coordinator.
If you are enrolled in a course in a department with no tutoring, please note that your final grade will only be determined by your course-specific evaluation at local university.
Departments approved for methodological tutoring
The Columbia in Paris Program is generally able to provide methodological tutoring for students enrolled in courses in the following departments:
History
Political Science
Art History
Literature
International Relations
Sociology
Philosophy
Cinema
Economics
Departments where tutoring may be possible but cannot be guaranteed
The Columbia in Paris Program cannot guarantee methodological tutoring for students enrolled in courses in the following departments. These subject areas tend to be wide-ranging, and the ability to find a tutor will depend upon the specific class.
Law
Musicology
Linguistique
Geography / Environmental Science
Humanities (specific to Sciences Po)
Archeology
Departments with no academic support or additional grades
The Columbia in Paris Program cannot provide methodological tutoring for students enrolled in courses in the following departments (please note that this list is not exhaustive):
Math
Business / Management
Visual Arts