Years ago, as a graduate student shuttling between England and France, I spent a lot of time at Reid Hall in Paris, Columbia's footprint in the city of lights. It was and is at 4 rue de Chevreuse, near the corner of boulevards Montparnasse and Raspail, an easy walk from the Vavin and Notre-dame-des-champs metro stops. Reid Hall served as headquarters for many junior year abroad students. (I am pretty certain that Jacqueline Bouvier spent time at Reid Hall in her year in France.) When I got the news that the buildings are getting a make-over, I excitedly phoned Oscar Hammerstein, who evoked the time and place, the romance of being young in a foreign tongue, and suddenly we were at a nearby cafe. "No matter how they change her, / I'll remember her that way."
<<<
The 18th-century rue de Chevreuse building has a new roof and facades, and the repurposed southwest corner building is now home to Columbia's Institute for Ideas and Imagination. The institute, a presidential initiative led by Columbia Professor Mark Mazower, aims to promote collaboration across the arts and academia through fellowships, workshops, conferences, exhibitions and events. Plans are being finalized to create new gardens and restore the Grande Salle.
>>>
For more, link here: https://news.columbia.edu/news/fresh-start-reid-hall-paris
Comments