Juan-Pablo Cajiga-Pena, a junior at Rice University, is making the most of his summer by diving into the cultural depths of Paris. An Elizabeth Lee Moody Undergraduate Research Fellow with a double major in philosophy and art history as well as a minor in museum and cultural heritage, Cajiga-Pena participated in the Unlearning Paris course at the Rice Global Paris Center.
Taught by Lee Hage Jamail Professor of Latin American Studies Luis Duno-Gottberg and associate professor of art history Fabiola López-Durán, Unlearning Paris invited students to deconstruct the city of Paris as a site of contentious memories. The course encouraged students to “unlearn” traditional conceptions of the city, exploring Paris through a lens of historical and cultural critique.
“We’re using the city as a textbook,” Cajiga-Pena said. “It’s completely changing the way I orient and engage myself with Paris.”
Cajiga-Pena’s journey in Paris began with a Mary Ellen Hale Lovett Travel Fellowship through the Department of Art History, enabling him to conduct archival research at the Centre Pompidou. His research is focused on the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși, who made his career in France and whose work was featured in a summer Centre Pompidou exhibition.
“It’s insane — the architecture, the lighting, the permanent collection,” Cajiga-Pena said of Centre Pompidou, where he’s spent entire days digging into Brâncuși’s archives. “Every moment here is super cool. I’ve gotten lots of Paris this summer, and it’s been really fun and interesting.”
Growing up between the United States and Mexico, Cajiga-Pena has always been immersed in diverse cultures.
“Ever since I’ve gone to Rice, I’ve made it my goal to find opportunities somewhere new, doing something odd and interesting,” Cajiga-Pena said.
His dedication to exploring the world has taken him to Spain with the Rice-Madrid study abroad program last summer, when he worked in an art gallery, and will continue next year as a visiting student at the University of Oxford in England.
“Through Rice, I will have studied abroad in three different countries,” Cajiga-Pena said. “It’s been really cool to experience lots of different cultures through Rice.”
Cajiga-Pena credited Rice’s small class sizes for providing unique opportunities to engage with professors and field research, developing strong student-teacher relationships.
“You get to go to exhibitions, see how they’re interacting with art and learn in a way that’s not just in the classroom,” Cajiga-Pena said.
Learn more about study abroad opportunities in the School of Humanities.