The Future of Community Stories at AUP

For more than two years, the AUP Community Blog has been a platform for articles written by community members and for community members, ensuring stories that forefront our close-knit, intimate learning environment have dedicated space on our website.

Community is a central element of AUP’s unique position at the confluence of French, American and international models of education. As we rethink how to tell the AUP story most authentically, we are looking closely at all our platforms to see if they best represent the experiences of students, staff, faculty and alumni.

What we discovered is that community stories are fundamental to the way we talk about our University. Community voices need to be front and center, so we may stand up proudly, as one, to declare that “We are AUP.” That’s why, from now on, we will be giving these stories equal billing alongside our main University news coverage.

The AUP Community Blog began during the first lockdown period of the Covid-19 pandemic, in Spring semester 2020. Then named AUP at Home, it aimed to share tips and tricks on remote work practices and ways to protect your health and wellbeing while confined to your home. We saw great engagement from our worldwide community, who came together to support each other through difficult circumstances, despite being so far apart.

It grew into a platform for sharing common resources, opportunities and experiences between community members, strengthening AUP’s ability to implement innovative teaching and learning policies and to contribute to community spirit. Guest writers from across the world discussed the topics that were most important to them. That’s not changing – those stories just have a new home.

You’ll now see great, community-focused coverage, written by global explorers, on the main media page of the AUP website. This is part of a wider initiative to harmonize our coverage and make it easier to find the AUP stories that most interest you. These stories are an integral part of what makes AUP unique – we’re thrilled to give them the pride of place and attention they deserve.