CHARMED URBAN CAMPUS

A university center since 1409, Aix-en-Provence is home to the Université de Provence Aix/Marseille, four Grandes Ecoles, and a wide range of educational programs and research institutes.

STUDY SITE

The ISHA study site, La Maison des Palmiers, was built in the mid-1800's. Former home to a member of the French Parliament and leader of WWII resistance efforts in Provence, the townhouse is located just meters from the historically classified center of Aix. The house and its stately grounds offer convenience, comfort, and charm in an historic Provençal setting. La Maison des Palmiers is situated next to a spacious public park and just opposite one of France's leading grandes écoles of engineering; the quartier includes several other French schools for an authentic setting unspoiled by tourists.

The five-minute walk to the Institut d'Etudes Politiques takes students through the heart of the city and its historic monuments, bustling open markets, and sidewalk cafés.

RESEARCH FACILITIES

With a highly educated population of 134,000 and over 30,000 French university students, Aix-en-Provence offers countless student resources including the Bibliothèque Méjanes library with a collection of over 520,000 volumes, the Médiathèque de la Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'Homme (MMSH), extensive historical archives, and nine museums.

ISHA Students benefit from all privileges of the Institut d'études politiques, including access to the IEP library and research centers, periodicals, conferences and computer facilities for research purposes.

THE HEART OF PROVENCE

Founded by the Romans, Aix combines stately historical beauty and a lively, modern spirit. The climate is temperate and the days long. People live outdoors when possible, and, on the first warm days of spring, café tables magically fill the squares and pedestrian streets. This is French life as you imagine it.

Provence has always been known as a center of fine, gracious living. In the last century, the region and its sharp light drew such artists as Van Gogh, Monet, and Picasso. Cézanne was born in Aix-en-Provence and worked there all his life; Picasso is buried just to the east, in the shadow of the breathtaking Montagne Sainte-Victoire which overlooks the town.

Aix-en-Provence has an active cultural life highlighted by its world-renowned international music and opera festival. There are numerous cafés, restaurants, and cinema art houses, and Aix's lovely tree-lined promenade, le Cours Mirabeau, is famous throughout Europe for its stately beauty and lively nightlife. Magazine polls consistently name Aix-en-Provence the favorite city of the French themselves.

Thirty minutes by train from France's bustling, culturally diverse second city, Marseille, Aix is linked by the TGV fast train to Paris and midway on the main route joining Barcelona and Northern Italy. The Marseille-Provence airport, France's most active airport outside Paris, offers easy international access to Aix and the region.