Four weeks in Antibes. One real company. The whole Riviera on weekends.

Led by Professor Marina McCarthy, Miami Herbert Business School →

A 3-credit summer course based on the French Riviera, minutes from the "French Silicon Valley" of Sophia Antipolis — built around a live field project with a real local company, not a textbook case.

4 WEEKS 3 CREDITS ANTIBES, FRANCE SEATS LIMITED

Canes in Antibes students on the Antibes waterfront, with the old town ramparts in the background

Course Info

Where will I actually be studying?

Antibes — a walkable, historic port town on the French Riviera, right next to Sophia Antipolis, Europe's answer to Silicon Valley. Between class, you're a short train ride from Nice, Cannes, and the Italian border, which is exactly the point: this is organizational behavior taught where global business actually happens.

What am I actually doing in class — is this just lectures?

No. The center of the course is a field project with a real company based in Sophia Antipolis — the tech and business park next door that's often called the "French Silicon Valley." Working in teams, you'll research an actual issue that company is facing and pitch a proposal to address it. That's paired with guest speakers from French companies and small-group discussion — so you're hearing how European management actually works, not just reading about it.

Do we really visit real businesses, or is that a brochure line?

Real visits, real sites. Past itineraries have included:

FRAGONARD
Perfumery, Grasse

OLIVE OIL MILL
Huilerie Sainte Anne

L'OCCITANE
Provence

CONFISERIE FLORIAN
Candied fruits, Nice

GUEST TALKS
French firms

Students outside the L'Occitane en Provence factory

Students at Huilerie Sainte-Anne olive oil mill

Okay, but what's the glamorous part everyone talks about?

Monaco, Paris, and Aix-en-Provence.

The Highlights

Students in front of the Prince's Palace in Monaco

Monaco, during Formula 1 season

The group heads to Monaco while the city is gearing up for its Grand Prix — the Casino, the Belle Époque quarter, and a lap of the actual F1 circuit. It's the kind of afternoon you don't get on a normal semester abroad.

A student laughing in front of a lake in Paris, wearing an I Love Paris t-shirt

An overnight in Paris

A two-day, one-night trip to Paris built into the program — enough time for the essentials and a proper night out, with a boat tour on the Seine included.

Students outside the Béchard calisson shop in Aix-en-Provence

A day in Aix-en-Provence

Cézanne's hometown — plane-tree boulevards, fountains, and an open-air market that's been running since the 18th century. A slower, more classically French counterpoint to the coast.

On Your Own Time

Will I actually have free time, or is the schedule packed?

You'll have real, unscheduled weekends. Antibes sits at the center of the Riviera, so a train or short drive puts you in reach of:

Nice Cannes Saint-Tropez Italy (Ventimiglia, Genoa & beyond)

Past students have used open weekends to go even further on their own — recent groups have made it to Ibiza, Majorca, Barcelona, and Madrid.

Student-planned: Ibiza Student-planned: Majorca Student-planned: Barcelona Student-planned: Madrid

Beyond the Classroom

What's included that isn't strictly "business"?

The program is built around a range of hands-on cultural experiences, not just classroom time — including a cheese workshop, a perfume-making workshop at Fragonard where you create your own scent to take home, a French Apéro cooking class, and a guided walking tour of Antibes' old town. These are small-group, local-led experiences meant to get you into the culture, not just the curriculum.

Students making cheese at a hands-on workshop in Antibes

Students at the Fragonard perfume-making workshop in Grasse

Students preparing ingredients at a French Apéro cooking class

Students overlooking the Antibes marina at dusk