Giuseppe Ferrarella is a Palermo-born architectural historian who has spent his career studying how cities evolve — tracing the physical and cultural layers that accumulate over centuries into the urban fabric we walk through today. In this Q&A, he reflects on why Palermo is not what it appears to be, what its long history of overlapping civilizations reveals about cities more broadly, and why walking through a city is itself a form of learning.

A Granada-born architect with a family connection to the Alhambra spanning generations, Blanca Espigares Rooney brings a rare personal and scholarly depth to the study of Andalusia's architecture and cuisine — and to the question of what this region's history still has to teach us."

Cécile Balavoine — novelist, professor, and keen observer of Paris’s literary and artistic life — reflects on how women inform the way she reads and understands the city. In this conversation, she explains how studying Paris through this lens transforms not only what we notice, but how we move through the city itself.

The first edition of Elective’s Art & Art de Vivre in Montpellier course explored the dialogue between past and present that can be seen in art, architecture, and the rituals of life in southern France. Students examined classical and contemporary works across the city, while staying on the grounds of an 18th-century château that also served as a subject of study.

The rise of scholarly travel reflects a growing demand for lifelong learning and intellectual travel. Elective redefines study abroad for adults and sets itself apart from conventional, university-run educational travel with courses led by local experts, flexible learning, and ultra-small, engaged cohorts.

All of the students in our recent session of Women in Paris had been to the City of Light before. They’d strolled along the Seine, stood beneath the Eiffel Tower, and visited the major museums more than once.

Taking this class allowed them to see Paris differently—as a place shaped by the women who have lived in, created in, and contributed to the city across centuries. Through readings, discussions, walking tours, and intimate conversations with artists, writers, and designers, the cohort came to know a Paris that most visitors never encounter.

In our inaugural Elective, a small cohort explored the architecture and cuisine of Andalusia through expert-led sessions, personal discovery, and shared insight—setting the tone for everything to come.