On the Banks of the Seine: Rutgers partners with the Louvre Museum

By Ashanti M. Alvarez
Published: Sep 6, 2004

This summer, study abroad students in France learned art history and museum studies straight from experts at the Louvre Museum. It was the beginning of a unique and somewhat serendipitous partnership between the Louvre and Rutgers.

The discussions with the Louvre began nearly a year ago when Seth Gopin, director of global programs at Rutgers, came up with the idea of partnering with the Louvre during the six-credit summer session abroad in France. Gopin teaches a course on the historical development of Paris. He thought that rather than recruiting a local instructor to team-teach with him, he might call upon the world-renowned museum.

"I went to the Louvre, told them my story, and asked if they would be interested in this project," Gopin says. "The previous week, the new Louvre administration decided to reach out to the Anglophone community."
Anglophones - English-speakers from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada - make up a majority of visitors to the Louvre.

So for the first time this summer, Louvre administrators contributed lectures on museum studies to Gopin's course dealing with the historical development of Paris, taught to the 19 undergraduates who traveled to Paris.

Holly Smith, executive dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, traveled to Paris in June to sign the formal agreement along with Louvre director Henri Loyrette.

"Under the inspiration of Henri Loyrette, the Louvre is expanding its educational and outreach programs, and Rutgers - actually the older of the two institutions - has been chosen as its sole educational partner,"
Smith said.

The course was developed by the staff at the Louvre along with Gopin and Professor Tod Marder, the chair of Rutgers' art history department.

"It means that instead of just getting art history from a U.S.
perspective, students also received training in museum collections and administration from a very different viewpoint - the French and the Louvre," said Stephen Ferst, director of Rutgers Study Abroad.

For next summer, in addition to the museum studies course, the Louvre and Rutgers are developing a special course aimed at high school French teachers.

"The jointly taught course this past summer was a great success, and we look forward to exploring further opportunities to bring the riches of the Louvre not only to our students, but also to New Jersey high school teachers," Smith said.

Situated in one of the largest palaces in the world, the Louvre opened as a public museum on the banks of the Seine River in 1793 - 27 years after Rutgers was born on the banks of the Raritan. It is home to some of the world's most celebrated artworks, including the Mona Lisa. The Louvre also has important collections in Egyptian antiquities, Mesopotamian and Islamic art, and Greek, Roman and Etruscan works.