If the paternal line of today's international AFS student exchanges stretches back to the first neutral adventurers on the battlefields between nations---Florence Nightingale, notably---the maternal line begins with cultural relations between two nations: France and the United States.

Apprenticeship abroad: Art and architecture in Paris

Hospitality for students abroad: The American Colony gets involved

The first exchanges: Professors from Harvard and the Sorbonne

Graduate study abroad: Attracting Americans to Paris

War: The battle for the mind