Lindsey Hansen

Professor Hansen is a specialist in thirteenth-century French Gothic architectural sculpture. She received her PhD, focused on the sculpture of the cathedrals of Amiens, Bourges and Reims, from Indiana University Bloomington. Since moving permanently to Paris in 2016, she has become a nationally-certified tour guide and splits her time working in university settings and as a professional guide. In 2019, she began working with AUP teaching art history using the collections of Paris' museums. She has also taught courses focused on the restoration of Notre-Dame cathedral for Academic Programs International and has created custom multi-day study abroad programs for several US-based universities. As a guide, she works as a contractor for Context Travel -- one of the world's leading deep travel tour companies -- and also manages her own private tour guiding business (lindseyhansenguide.com). She spends her days guiding in some of the world's most illustrious museums, including the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Sainte-Chapelle. She also leads a variety of walking tours of the neighborhoods and monuments of Paris. Though her PhD focuses on medieval art history, she now considers herself a specialist of the city of Paris, its history, its monuments, and its art.

When she is not teaching, Dr. Hansen continues to research Gothic architecture and sculpture. She is currently preparing an article on the north portal sculpture of the church of Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire, and is in the beginning stages of a project exploring the importance of 19th-century restoration for understanding medieval buildings in France.

Dr. Hansen's research areas include Gothic sculpture, Gothic architecture, hagiography, the transformations of Paris under Napoleon III, and museology.