GCIP-Paris 2013

GCIP-Paris 2013 is well underway - we are into week 2 and students have begun their internships!  This is the fourth group of SG students who has participated in the Paris program.  This year's students are :  Hayley Durudogan '14, Wendy Huang '14, Mary Keith '14, Maggie Maloy '14, Maddie Parker '13 and Lilly Scheibe '15.  This is a highly motivated, curious and fun group to be with!  They can`t get enough of Paris and have been taking advantage of as much as they can every day.

Week 1 was a whirlwind tour of Paris and the sights. We had long days that included a mix of culture, history, gastronomy and transportation.  We visited the Place des Vosges, the Marais, the Champs Elysées, Ile Saint-Louis, Ile de la Cité, St. Germain des Prés and the Latin Quarter.  Cultural and historical visits have included Victor Hugo's House, Musée Carnavalet, the Musée d'Orsay, Notre Dame Cathedral and its crypt, the Pantheon and a glorious day at Versailles where we were enchanted by the gardens and especially Marie Antoinette's "hameau" -- where the picture above was taken.  We also took a cruise along the River Seine which offers another beautiful perspective of Paris and its architectural beauty.

In the midst of our cultural immersion last week, we also took the time to visit all the internship companies.  This year, we have four students interning at the Curie Institute:  Wendy Huang is interning in the Génétique de la Suppression Tumorale lab; Mary Keith is interning in the Structural Motility lab; Maddie Parker is interning in the Stem Cells and Tissue Homeostasis lab; Lilly Scheibe is interning in the Notch Signaling in Stem Cells and Tumors lab.  We are very lucky to be back with both Anne Houdusse (Structural Motility) and Silvia Fre's (Notch Signaling) labs for the third year and Allison Bardin's (Stem Cells and Tissue Homeostasis) lab for the second year. 

Maggie Maloy and Hayley Durodogan are each working for French companies, NLB Conseil (Executive Search and Talent Management) and Tg Communications (PR agency) respectively.  Both companies have welcomed SG students into their offices in the past and have graciously imparted their expertise and professional wisdom to the interns. 

Stay tuned for some posts from the students themselves about their work and experience in their internships, as well as their experience "living like Parisians"!
 

Connecting academics to the Paris immersion experience: 

If you are a Hemingway fan, this photo was taken at one of Hemingway's favorite Paris bistrots - The Dingo - which is mentioned in his book A MOVEABLE FEAST.  It's said to be where Hemingway first met F. Scott Fitzgerald! 

We went to famous English bookstore, Shakespeare and Co. (across the street from Notre Dame) last week to get copies of A MOVEABLE FEAST which recounts Hemingway's time in Paris in the 1920s.  While we were at Shakespeare and Co., the students noticed that author Barbara Kingsolver was going to be there for a book signing that night.  She is the author of the POISONWOOD BIBLE which is on the senior English summer reading list.  Three of the rising seniors in the group - Maggie, Hayley and Wendy - all purchased their books right then and there and had the author sign them.  I told them I thought they definitely deserve extra credit for that!