Chloe Elder ’14

When I moved to Paris in 2010 to start my bachelor’s degree at AUP, it was the first time I had lived anywhere other than my family home in Boynton Beach, Florida.  

Explaining to friends and family how I decided to attend AUP, I say that I was looking for a small, urban, liberal arts university – and that it just happened to be in Paris. Of course, moving to Paris was an enticing idea on its own, but I also felt that AUP would be the right environment for me to explore and learn within a supportive and familiar American university setting.

Once I arrived, I wasn’t sure what to choose as my major. So, I started by taking some of my required classes, including an English class with Daniel Medin and a FirstBridge philosophy class with Oliver Feltham. I was hooked. By the end of my first year, I had declared Comparative Literature as my major, complemented with a minor in Philosophy.

Not only did AUP’s small class sizes and encouraging academic environment help me to engage with literature in a meaningful way, but being in Paris opened opportunities to explore beyond the book.

I loved AUP’s study trips. Where else could I have had the chance to follow in the footsteps of Flaubert in Paris? Or reimagine Romanticism in Heidelberg? And how many can say they’ve not only studied Shakespeare’s scenes but seen them on the stage in London and Stratford-upon-Avon? 

I also had the chance to work closely with materials related to the life and work of Samuel Beckett through an internship with The Letters of Samuel Beckett, co-edited by Professor Dan Gunn. Notably, my experience with Beckett’s letters introduced me to the archives at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and sparked my interest in working with archival material. I love the way primary material imbues the past with an immediacy that can illuminate literature and history.

My professors were enormously supportive while I considered my next step after graduation, always available for advice and to write references. I am especially grateful to Dan Gunn for his continued support and encouragement – and for keeping me in the loop on all things Beckett.

After AUP, I received my MSc in Book History and Material Culture at the University of Edinburgh. In Edinburgh, I’ve been lucky to work at such institutions as the National Library of Scotland and UNESCO Edinburgh City of Literature Trust, and I look forward to continuing my career in archives management. I am excited to begin a postgraduate diploma program in Information Management and Preservation (Digital) at the University of Glasgow in September 2017.

Overall, my experience attending AUP has encouraged me to be more adventurous when looking for new opportunities, and living in the city of Paris made it possible for me to immerse myself in culture and history in a way that has ultimately shaped both my academic and professional interests.