OAFP 9755 - Exploring the City of Light through Urban Heritage and Cultural Tourism

Often described as an open-air museum, Paris offers an exceptional setting to study how cultural heritage is shaped, experienced, and interpreted. This course invites students to explore the city's tangible and intangible heritage through lectures, discussions, field observations, and guided visits.

Using Paris as a living laboratory, students will examine how heritage values are constructed, represented, preserved, and transformed over time. Through case studies ranging from UNESCO World Heritage sites and historic neighbourhoods to literary, gastronomic, and everyday urban heritage, the course explores the intersections between heritage, collective memory, cultural tourism, sustainability, and urban life. Students will develop a deeper understanding of Paris as a living and evolving heritage landscape.

This elective course is open to all undergraduate and graduate students interested in exploring the cultural heritage of Paris and the ways it intersects with cultural tourism. No specific prerequisite is required.

The course combines lectures, seminars, and field visits to key heritage sites in Paris. Using the city as a living laboratory, emphasis is placed on experiential learning, critical reflection, and active student participation through discussions, group work, and site-based observation.

• Class participation and engagement 20%
• Individual essay (midterm, after Session 6) 30%
• Group project and presentation (final, Sessions 11–12) 50%