Kent students studying at our Paris centre have been welcomed by Her Majesty’s Ambassador Sir Peter Ricketts GCMG GCVO.
Sir Peter, who is an honorary graduate of the University, hosted an evening reception at his official Résidence, the Hôtel de Charost, to mark the start of spring term for new MA students.
Students were invited on a tour of the Résidence, which was built in the early 18th century and once the home of Napoléon Bonaparte’s sister Pauline Borghese. The stately urban mansion – a few doors from the Presidential Élysée Palace – was purchased by the Duke of Wellington after Bonaparte’s fall from power.
Kent guests were invited to tour elegant reception rooms downstairs and were also offered a rare chance to visit the ambassador’s private study, the Duff Cooper Library, complete with trap door. After the tour, students were invited to a champagne reception hosted by the ambassador and his wife Lady Suzanne Ricketts.
Paris MA students were accompanied by University staff including Professor Peter Brown, Academic Director (Paris programmes), Professor Peter Read (School of European Culture and Languages), Professor David Welch (History), Professor Catherine Waters (English), Dr Carine Fréville (English), and Dr Derek Ryan (English).
Photographs from the evening are available on the University of Kent at Paris Facebook page.
The University of Kent offers a selection of innovative and cross-disciplinary postgraduate degrees in the Humanities at its Paris centre. Students can choose to begin their one-year MA in the world heritage city of Canterbury and relocate in the spring term to the heart of the Montparnasse district of Paris or spend the entire academic year at our Paris centre.