Grades are in! My semester came to an end much later this year as two of my exams were scheduled for the final week of the term. Looking outside at the dismal Vancouver weather (our coolest and rainiest in decades), it still feels like March, so I didn't miss out on too much. Planning is now in full swing for the Paris/Documenta field school with classes starting May 8th and our grouped headed to Paris on June 3rd. I have a couple of weeks to catch my breath before starting up again, but I am already quite excited to begin the courses and work with a great dynamic group of students and new co-director, all of whom have their own unique reasons for selecting this adventure at this time in their lives. And while the Paris attack this past week proved a bit unnerving, I reminded students that I had visited London only a few days following the Westminster incident this past March. Importantly, this "new normal" of isolated incidents of violence in Europe should not cause fear, panic, or deter freedom of travel. Indeed, now more than ever before, people need to exercise their right of discovery, movement, and immersion in other cultures through exchanges, field schools, and holiday visits. Walling off or isolating ourselves in fear and blame is certainly not the answer to the world's complexities. In that spirit, as with past field schools, I am looking forward to sharing the blog posts of our individual participants as we move from Paris to Kassel this summer, and also add in a post or two along the way describing the process and on-the-ground happenings of our group. In the meantime, enjoy the links and send us warm thoughts in Vancouver so that we can get spring properly started!