Living Latin in Paris

Course Description

Living Latin in Paris is an intensive Latin experience focusing on medieval Latin and set in Paris. In two seminar-style meetings every day, participants read and discuss medieval Latin literature, history and culture. To the extent possible, the language of instruction in these seminars is Latin. 

In addition to the daily seminar sessions, the program includes a variety of optional programming designed to build students’ facility in speaking and understanding Latin, as well as lectures on topics relating to medieval history and culture, and visits to historical sites in Paris and its environs that are relevant to the program’s theme.

The 2026-2027 Living Latin in Paris program, Knights in Shining Armor: Love, Romance, and Betrayal in Medieval Latin Literature, offers a condensed survey of Latin literature charting the rise of knighthood, the codes of courtly love, and the height of chivalric culture in medieval France. Participants will read texts spanning the warrior-ideals of the Carolingian world to witty dialogues on the rules of love and dramatic tales of seduction and betrayal, exploring how Latin authors shaped — and often subverted — the ideals of amor, fides, and militia. The program includes a day trip to the charming city of Orléans and its medieval sites. 

Prerequisites

Participants should know the basics of Latin grammar. This usually means the equivalent of one year of college or two years of high-school Latin or completing Paideia’s self-paced online Living Latin course. No experience speaking Latin is required, but experienced Latin speakers are also encouraged to apply. Paideia alumni and Nexus members are particularly encouraged to apply.

Participants must be 18 years or older. Students under the age of 18 should consider Living Latin in Rome High School.

Classrooms

Classes for Living Latin in Paris take place in modern classrooms at the Abbey of Saint Germain des Près. This location is steps away from Paris’ Quartier Latin, the “Latin Quarter” that takes its name from the medieval students at the Sorbonne, who continued to speak Latin long after the rest of the city had begun speaking French.

Teachers

Maya Marquardt

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Classical Tours Coordinator

Maya Marquardt

Maya graduated from CUNY Hunter College with her BA in
Art History, double minoring in Classics and Women and
Gender Studies. She has previously attended Living Latin in
Rome, Living Latin in Paris, and volunteered for Living Latin
in NYC 2023 & 2024. Additionally, she worked at the New
York Public Library for five years in the Art and Architecture
collection. Her love for Latin began with a desire to
translate the Classical and Medieval writing she was
studying in her art history classes and evolved into many
years of Latin study. She is particularly interested in the
Medieval Latin found in Late Gothic illuminated
manuscripts. Maya plans on obtaining her MA in library and
archive studies, continuing to work with both translated and
untranslated rare texts.

Karolina Doušová

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Teacher, Living Latin in Paris

Karolina Doušová

Karolina Doušová is an instructor in the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy at Charles University in Prague and teaches for Living Latin in Paris. She has been teaching Latin as a living language since 1996, and has extensive experience teaching Latin and Ancient Greek to students of all levels and ages using the active method. Recently she has led intensive summer sessions in Latin and Greek for Asociación Cultura Clásica at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid and has taught language courses in collaboration with Argos Didaskei and Oxford Latinitas.

Francesca Barbara Ortalizio

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Reservations Assistant

Francesca Barbara Ortalizio

Francesca is a PhD student in early modern history at the Sapienza University of Rome. She has been collaborating with Paideia since 2022 as a logistics coordinator. Her classical education influenced her entire academic career. Her current interests range between English literature and history of the early modern age. Her doctoral project investigates the first diplomatic relations between India and England around the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Matthew McGowan

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Head Teacher, Living Latin in Rome

Matthew McGowan

Matthew McGowan is Associate Professor & Chair of Classics at Fordham University and alumnus of Reginald Foster's Fifth Experience (Rome 1998-99). From 2009-2015 he served as President of the NY Classical Club and is currently the Vice-President for Communication and Outreach for the Society of Classical Studies. His scholarly interests range broadly over Greek and Latin literature and the classical tradition. His first book, Ovid in Exile: Power and Poetic Redress in the Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto, appeared in 2009 with Brill, and he has just completed an edited volume, Classical New York: Greece & Rome in NY's Art and Architecture, for Fordham University Press. He is currently at work on a Guide to the Greek and Latin Inscriptions of New York City alongside a survey of ancient lexicography, Dictionaries in Ancient Rome: The Art of Defining Latin Words, 200 BC--800 AD. He teaches a wide array of courses, from classical myth to Latin prose composition, and is delighted to be working with Paideia and its wonderful students and staff!

Marco Romani Mistretta

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Treasurer and Director of European Operations

Marco Romani Mistretta

A native of Rome, Marco Romani Mistretta studied Classics at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa and received a PhD in Classical Philology from Harvard University before joining the Paideia Institute. He currently directs the Institute's European branch and oversees all financial reporting, including income statements, balance sheets, and annual budgets. Besides being the author of several research publications, he has taught a number of courses on ancient languages, Greek and Roman literatures, and science in antiquity. He peer-reviews articles for Sage Business Cases and regularly lectures at Rome's Sapienza University.

Roberto Salazar

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Teacher for Living Latin in Paris, Living Greek in Greece, and Living Greek in Greece High School

Roberto Salazar

Roberto Salazar is an experienced polyglot language coach and nomadic classicist, with a passion for teaching Latin and Greek as spoken languages, and an impossible desire to speak all tongues imaginable, and to teach them to those who want to learn them.

He has taught Latin, Greek, Arabic, German and more in different places around the world, including various Paideia programs, online and on site. A former fellow of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris, where he studied Classics and Philosophy, he's currently writing a PhD dissertation on the reception of Greek tragedy in the Arab World, Modern Greece and Latin America. He has also done research on European Classical Reception and Neo-Latin.

He has published fiction translations into French and Spanish from various languages including Swedish. In 2017, he was the head literary curator for the French-Colombian Year.

That's probably why he's still scrambling to complete his PhD at the University of Versailles.

He currently lives between Athens, Cairo and Saint Denis, France.

Photos

Tuition and Fees

The tuition for Living Latin in Paris is $1800. This payment covers program instruction, transportation to and from site visits, museum and site admissions, and two group meals.

HOUSING AND OTHER COSTS

Participants must arrange their own housing in Paris. The Paideia Institute has negotiated discounted group rates with a trusted housing provider in a hotel. Approximate rates for each type of lodging for the duration of the program are listed below. Contact information for housing providers and group discount codes (if available) will be provided upon acceptance.

Estimated costs of housing at suggested hotels are below (subject to availability):

• Triple room shared with other program participants: €495
• Double room shared with another program participant: €580
• Single Hotel Room: €600 - €900

Airfare, transportation to and from the airport, daily expenses for meals, and spending money are not included in the cost of tuition. The cost of life in Paris can vary greatly depending on one’s tastes, but at the very least we recommend that participants budget €30/day for food. Please consider the exchange rate when planning your budget.

Scholarships

The Paideia Institute is able to offer a number of full and partial scholarships to participants with financial need. Please visit our scholarships page to learn more. Scholarship applications received by the application deadline for the program (October 1, 2026) will receive fullest consideration.

Request an Application

For best consideration, please submit your completed application by the deadline of October 1, 2026. Applications received after October 1st will be considered on a rolling basis while space is available.

Request an application

What People Are Saying

Having been fortunate enough to attend AESTIVA LATINITAS with Reginald Foster, and CONVENTICULUM LATINUM with Professor Tunberg, I had some idea of what to expect from a Latin immersion program. The Paideia Institute’s Living Latin in Paris, however, exceeded my expectations! The instructors were outstanding speakers of Latin, and provided excellent lessons, meeting the students according to their capabilities. The program was organized, the sites were wonderfully chosen, and the participants were a joy to be around. I would recommend this program to anyone that thinks they’re interested! - Christopher Semper '26

"This was an extremely enjoyable way of approaching Latin at historical sites while engaging with original texts. Spending time in spoken Latin lectures transformed the way I think about Latin as a language." - Mary Spencer '26

"Living Latin in Paris is one of the most enriching educational experiences in which I've had the opportunity to participate. The chance to engage with a centuries-long tradition of speaking and learning in Latin in this city is alone a truly worthwhile venture. However, the 'Paideia touch' is the benefit of making lifelong connections, feeling secure and supported while abroad, and having a great deal of fun while we're at it! Living Latin in Paris provides lovers of the Latin Language the ability to dig deep into the history of one of the world's most famous cities, to explore the sights and sounds of the Middle Ages, and to experience firsthand the indelible mark of the Latin Language upon the generations of people who have used it.” - Cully Wilkins '19 and ‘24