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AUP HIGHLIGHTS On Campus
AUP Expands with New Campus Hub on Rue de l’Université
Significant campus transformations are underway, highlighted by AUP’s upcoming move into a newly leased building at 127bis–129 rue de l’Université later this year. This exciting development follows renovations of the AMEX Café and redesigned and repurposed lobbies in both the Combes Student Life Center and Quai d’Orsay Learning Commons and reaffirms AUP’s commitment to remaining rooted in the 7th arrondissement.
Continuing AUP’s ongoing investment in campus renewal, which notably included acquiring the Quai building in 2019, the move aims to significantly enhance the student experience through a new Academic Success Center while modernizing the working environment for employees. In addition to offices and spaces for collaboration, the new site includes AUP’s first on-campus student dormitory, offering housing for 20 students in a central, university-owned space.
“Our focus has always been functional, welcoming spaces,” notes David Horn, Director of Campus Planning and Facilities. “We’re prioritizing dedicated areas where students feel comfortable spending time.”
The new facility will additionally host a Welcome Center to warmly receive visitors, alumni, prospective students and families exploring campus. Make sure to visit the new campus on your next trip to Paris!
AUP’s Center for Critical Democracy Studies Creates “Care and Democracy” Series
“What if democracy began not with the vote, but with the act of care?” This question, deceptively simple yet deeply disruptive, lies at the heart of the Care and Democracy seminar series, launched this year at AUP. If democracy is the name we give to the fragile art of cohabitation, then care is what renders that art possible.
The series was conceived by the Center’s scholars, including Professor Stephen W. Sawyer and Lecturer Zona Zarić, in collaboration with philosopher Sandra Laugier (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), whose long-standing work on the ethics of care, ordinary language philosophy, and democratic pragmatism provided a conceptual anchor. The series seeks to interrogate how care—understood both as an ethical imperative and as a political practice— could serve as a diagnostic and reparative force in the face of democratic disaffection.
The transdisciplinary, intergenerational and bilingual series is not a passive lecture sequence; it offers an experimental space turning the classroom into a site of collective reflection and practice. Students not only attended the seminars but co-facilitated discussions, conducted interviews with speakers and produced analytical responses to major questions facing our societies today. Looking ahead, the 2025 program will expand the scope of the conversation, with confirmed sessions featuring Carol Gilligan, Pascale Molinier, Stephen W. Sawyer and Vanessa Nurock, in continued collaboration with Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
World’s Fair Welcomes First-Year Students
World’s Fair remains a beloved AUP tradition that celebrates the University’s rich cultural diversity. Each year, students come together to represent different countries and cultures through food, drink, music, dance and other performances.
“With over 100 nationalities represented on campus each year, World’s Fair is always a huge success and has become one of the University’s most important and longstanding traditions,” explains Dean of Student Development Kevin Fore, who played a key role in shaping this year’s edition.
For the first time, the event was integrated into the First Year Success program, AUP’s advising and mentoring initiative that supports students in their transition to university life. First year students were given the lead in organizing the Fair and thus the opportunity to found crucial bonds with their incoming class. The result: 17 countries were represented, including 15 tables led by first-year students and two by upperclassmen. Participants showcased the cultures of Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Egypt, France, Greece, Haiti, Iraq, Italy, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Spain, Thailand and the USA.
AUP Hosts Major International Surrealism Conference
Last fall, AUP welcomed over 500 scholars, researchers, artists and graduate students from around the world for the Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Surrealism—one of the largest academic events ever held on campus. The three-day conference was led by Art History Professor Iveta Slavkova and co-organized with Julia Drost (Centre allemande d’histoire de l’art), Fabrice Flahutez (Université Jean Monnet Saint-Étienne) and Olivier Penot-Lacassagne (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle).
Experts on Surrealism and the avant-garde gathered from prestigious institutions to present research and exchange ideas. The AUP Fine Arts Gallery hosted a special exhibition curated by Professor Stéphane Treilhou, featuring selected works from conference artists, fine arts faculty and AUP staff, including a collage by Aube Elléouët Breton, daughter of André Breton, whose sale supported student conference participation.
The AUP Library also contributed with a Surrealism-focused book display and partnered with Librairie Tschann to host 500 titles on Surrealism, including books authored by conference participants. The event underscored AUP’s commitment to the arts and international academic collaboration.
AUP Launches MFA in Creative Writing
AUP has launched Europe’s only two-year, interdisciplinary MFA in Creative Writing, combining the American liberal arts tradition with the outward-looking, cross-cultural nature of the University and its prime location in the heart of Paris. Welcoming its first cohort this fall, the program connects students with writers, translators and artists from across the globe while offering full immersion in the literary life of Paris.
MFA students will join AUP’s already rich literary community and engage with the city’s vibrant networks of publishers, bookstores, archives, libraries and cultural institutions. The curriculum broadens students’ perspectives through the study of translated literature, the practice of translation, eco-politics and intermedial approaches to cultural exchange. Taught in English, the program offers workshops in Fiction, Poetry and Creative Nonfiction, while encouraging work that challenges boundaries between genres.
As Program Co-Director Biswamit Dwibedy puts it, “the focus is on storytelling—you will be trained in any genre your story needs to be told in.”
Alumnae Honored for Sustainable Entrepreneurship at 2025 Commencement
Entrepreneurs Shannen Kaylia Henry ’19 and Alix Lebec ’02 received the Distinguished Alumni Award at the 2025 Commencement Ceremony for their exceptional contributions to building the sustainable and creative economy of tomorrow.
Fueled by rigorous research in biology, Henry’s groundbreaking regenerative fashion enterprise and luxury label Bottega Kaylia help to foster climate resilience and empower vulnerable communities as the next generation of creators. As she puts it, “developing bespoke garments and limited edition collections is fun, but it is also necessary for a much greater cause.”
Alix Lebec worked for the World Bank, the Clinton Global Initiative and Water.org before co-launching WaterEquity alongside Gary White and Matt Damon, the world’s first
impact investment manager dedicated to ending the global water crisis. As the founder and CEO of her firm LEBEC, she combines creativity and philanthropy to address global challenges alongside entrepreneurs and investors to maximize value for underserved populations.
“The greatest entrepreneurs are driven by solving a problem and being creative thinkers,”
Lebec says. “The more we fuel them with the financing that helps bring those ideas to life, the better.” The AUP community commends these alumni on their drive and success.
