Night of Ideas will be opened by a speech on the importance of questioning modernity today. The theme “More Consciousness?” focuses on the questions arising from our ever-changing world, which is caught up in the dynamics of progress but also in our increasing consumption, population, and emissions.
The opening speech will be delivered by the French General Consulate M. Mustafa Soykurt, the Head of the International School of Boston Richard Ulffers and others.
The Night of Ideas will begin with a song by Larry Spotted Crow Mann, an internationally celebrated writer and culture bearer.
What do we mean when we say more ? Buy more furniture and you have less space in your room ; train a little more if you want to run your marathon in a little less time ; in painting, one color added to another one doesn’t make just two colors, and in biology, the cells, in order to be even more numerous, keep dividing themselves. Navigating through examples ranging from daily life to quantum physics, Alex, Basile, Dani, Emilio and Prune, students from the International School of Boston, will challenge your understanding of the idea of “more” and engage in a discussion with the audience, hoping for everyone to realize that “more is more than just more !”
Artificial Intelligence is a popular topic in 2023, with varying perspectives on its potential and limitations. While some view AI as a powerful tool for precision medicine, such as its ability to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease or brain tumors within minutes, others are wary of its consequences. Fears of losing control of medical data or replacing radiologists are among the main concerns. This presentation will explore the benefits and drawbacks of AI in neuroimaging, and offer insights into making wise and informed decisions in its implementation.
Léa Hirschfeld and Jacob Waltuck are storytellers. They met at Zeno Mountain Farm, a community that brings together people with and without disabilities around theater and cinema projects.
During her roving residency with the Villa Albertine, Léa will meet with Zeno members in their homes, across the country, in very diverse environments. These encounters are an exploration of the ways in which the Americans experience disability and will lead to new episodes of her podcast “Décalés”.
“Monatash,” means “abundance” in the dialect of southern New England Algonkian spoken by the Indigenous people of this area. The Indigenous concept of “monatash” or “abundance” is one of celebration and sharing, recognition that there is enough for all of us, whether it’s food, beauty, land, so many things we are told are scarce. As with everything in our Indigenous world view, “monatash” is fundamentally grounded in “manit” or “spirit.” It is relational and highlights the interrelatedness and interconnectedness of us all. Relationality and reciprocity are the foundations of Indigenous accountability that takes the forms of stewardship principles regarding the environment and the care that we take of all living beings. In our care for the people, we recognize that none of us must take too much and that we must share in the abundance, monatash. In our language, there is no word for “art.” We showcase the beauty and gifts of creation and the abundant forms they take.
Art is more than a representation of things. Memory of an encounter between an eye and the sea, Provence, a laugh, a church, women, the sun, a thought, injustice, beauty, a bottle of wine, scandal, melancholy, rocks, a tree… today’s visual arts constantly renews our vocabulary of images to see and discuss reality, and why not to change it ? Sharing their experiences of the creative process as well as the reception of their works, Boston-based artists Anne Plaisance and Cécile Ganne will engage in a dialogue on how art can influence the way we see the world and each other. Members of the audience will have a chance to share their views as well.
Planetary urbanization has been built on an instituting imagination, that of the World City. In this context, the city is a power building where the supreme value of more and more is imposed: more and more growth, wealth, goods, trade, commerce, etc. But can we not think that this logic is now coming to an end, while environmental alerts and social crises are multiplying? Shouldn’t we give up on always more and take care of our common life by privileging the less, the sobriety?
Though long promising a revolution, technologies based on artificial intelligence (AI) have been slow in coming to the classroom. But now things seem to be changing. Exciting new developments promise to fundamentally alter traditional practices for both students and teachers alike. Will students learn more efficiently in a virtual reality environment? Will teachers have their lectures written by chatbots? What is gained and what is lost by using AI technologies? Join two experts as they predict and assess how the world of education will soon be changing due to artificial intelligence. There will be an opportunity for audience participation in the discussion.
Three Harvard seniors writing theses on topics related to contemporary Europe and transatlantic relations will present their findings. Themes will include regional identity and religion in politics; technology innovation; and press freedom amid democratic backsliding. By examining three legislative particularisms of Alsace-Moselle and their historical origins and contemporary implications, we explore how the publicly religious microcosm is able to exist despite its incongruence with secular French policies. A close study of four historical cases of large technology “moonshots” will provide insight into what policies and organizational structures help innovative projects succeed. And by examining information access under autocratic repression, we will explore Belarus and Russia to observe the growing assault on press freedom and journalist resistance. The speakers will call for a better understanding of Europe’s past, a closer look at how European democracy fares in the present, and a more strategic vision for how Europe can shape the future.
Rare disease is anything but rare. Around 400 million people are affected by a rare disease worldwide. Of the known 7,000 rare diseases, 95% have no treatments and many of them are not studied. Rare diseases are a public health issue although there is no “Moonshot” or “Warp Speed” operation for it. There should be one. Recently, patient-scientists have decided to take the lead to find their own cure. Dr. Matthias Lambert is one of them. He will share his journey and perspectives during this conference.
In a society of over-abundance and consumerism, how are we always left wanting more? To capitalism, everything is a market; your feelings are one of the most powerful things it can manipulate, traditionally through advertising, but now through our self-fashioning, thanks to self-help culture, social media, and online influencers. Yet, at the same time, we must keep failing to be valuable to capitalism’s consumer culture. This talk will expose the simple logic of how capitalism thrives on your unhappiness.
Obtaining More, in terms of material means, in terms of accumulated experiences or terms of social media followers, dictates our everyday conduct, our priorities, and our most substantial choices. Yet, does this approach guarantee a path of substance – and bottom-line fulfillment? If we suppose that we try to balance our desires with what is expected of us, how can we understand more, imagine more, uninhibit more, and meet the emancipation that seems to perpetually escape us?
Earthquakes and their dramatic consequences have been highlighted recently with the deadly events in Turkey and Syria. In recent years, precise, near-real time imaging of the Earth’s surface motion have become available, mostly with satellite imagery. For me as a scientist, these data are an excellent opportunity to better understand how the Earth crust deforms around the faults on which earthquakes may occurs. Yet, generating and analyzing these large volume of data have an environmental impact, forcing a reflection on the trade-off between sustainable, productive an impactful earthquake science.
Are you an expat? Is your partner from a different culture, be it through language, religion, education, or economic background? Are you raising, or working with, children who grow up in a multicultural environment? Multicultural individuals, couples, and families often experience a mix of joys and challenges when navigating the different facets of their selves. In this presentation, Dr. Nizzi will review what we know about the ways cultures shape our identity and explore frequent questions such as: how can I manage cultural differences in my relationships and at work?
Barbara Cassin explains to us the meaning of “More than one language”. This is the sentence she decided to put on her Académicien’s sword when she was nominated in 2019. This sword, almost like a jedi’s saber, symbolizes Barbara Cassin’s research: it blends together her study of the Sophists and her contemporary research on ontological nationalism. Both hight tech and ancient, this sword is iconic, she describes it for us.
Barbara Cassin explains to us the importance of recognizing the diversity of the languages. Instead of speaking globish (global English), we should take into consideration that each language has its own point of view, its own vision of how things are.
The Académicienne also reflects on the power of words and how the recognition of the performative effects of languages is crucial in politics today.
Through topics of sustainability on vulnerable island territories Dr. Karen Turman will demonstrate how the French language curriculum can be adapted to present Francophone culture while minimizing the filter of the Métropole. This curriculum development project features resources collected in Polynesia and used to develop Content-Based thematic units in intermediate and advanced French language programs. These resources include literary and visual representations of contemporary Polynesia by Polynesians, video interviews with locals, and photography around the Society Islands demonstrating intersections of daily ecological practices with local artisanal traditions and folklore. With an earth-centered pedagogical orientation from local perspectives, products, and practices, Francophone culture can not only be integrated into French language studies but can serve as an anchor point from which entire units and curricula are built out.
Cynthia Boyer will talk about the major challenge of our time, climate change. It disrupts everyday life as well as the global geopolitical order. It is one of the dimensions of a global ecological crisis which raises the issue of the tensions between human rights diversity and nature. Indeed, human rights and the environment are intrinsically intertwined: a clean, healthy and sustainable environment being essential in the enjoyment of human rights (UNGA-resolution (A/76/L.75). Ecological concerns and the climate challenge are thus apprehended here through the prism of ethics, respect for human rights, and the central notion of sovereignty in its broader sense.
I would like to discuss who chooses what we eat, who influences those choices, and what factors I consider when making my personal choice. My experiences have led me to adopt a vegan diet for many years, but I recognize that others will make their decisions based on their own experience. There are many factors to consider when choosing what’s for dinner. My concern is that our society is influenced by market forces that are not aligned with the values of environmental stewardship, animal welfare, seasonality and terroir (to borrow from the French). It is an infinitely complex issue, but I think by identifying our values we can make better choices for ourselves, our planet and our plate.
Samples of food from True Bistro will be provided for this workshop !
In his essay In excess, the world-renowned philosopher Jean-Luc Marion explores several meanings of donation in phenomenology : reality as a fundamental givenness, events as saturated phenomena, painting as a visible that is more abundant than the visible, eroticism as a donation of the self, and nomination as an access to the infinity of the unknowable. During his interview with Victorien Coquery, Jean-Luc Marion will come back to some of these topics while answering some of our questions on the philosophy of givenness.