Paris: Creating the 2024 Olympics

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In 2024, Paris will host the Summer Olympics. What does that mean in a city and world shaken by a pandemic and the growing reality of conflicts that can threaten the spirit of unity fostered by the Olympics? How will Paris’s approach to the Olympics compare with other cities that, in efforts to chase the highly coveted role of Olympic host, neglect the residents of the city, especially those most in need? Paris last hosted the Summer Olympics in 1924, a quite different world. How do Parisiennes co-exist with the planning and ultimate realization of the Olympics? These are among the questions we will pursue in this Course Abroad during spring semester 2023 and a 10-day trip to France in May 2023. The Olympics is entwined with everyday politics, media, and general French culture. All these subjects will be part of our studies.

Students will have many opportunities to take in the iconic sights of Paris, but we will use the making of Olympics 2024 to understand how the global sporting event exists alongside other city challenges, from immigration to the economy. Visits with Olympic planners, French journalists and officials, and interviews with everyday citizens will help us gain the local perspective. We will also examine how France will draw on its culture to stage the Olympics. To experience French culture beyond the familiar tourist spots, we hope to visit Lyon, the gastronomical capital of France, for a day or overnight stay. Europe’s center for silk weaving since the 16th century, Lyon has Renaissance-era architecture that many will find enchanting.

The department will set aside funds from its annual Sigrid Schultz Scholarship contest to assist majors with travel costs.