New York University is paying tribute to the late philosopher Bernard Stiegler in a full day celebration of his life and works.

Bernard Stiegler was a French philosopher. He was head of the Institut de recherche et d'innovation (IRI), which he founded in 2006 at the Centre Georges-Pompidou. He was also the founder in 2005 of the political and cultural group, Ars Industrialis, and the founder in 2010 of the philosophy school, pharmakon.fr, held at Epineuil-Le-Fleuriel. Many of his works were published in the US, where he was a frequent speaker, including Acting Out and the 3 part series Technics and Time (Standford University Press). He has widely explored in his works the question of technology, time, individuation, consumerism, digitization, education, and the future of politics and human society.

Starting September 2020, Festival Experiences, a subsidiary company of the Festival d'Avignon will present an online series of historical content from the archives of the past 20 years of the Festival d'Avignon through a program of masterclasses entitled “Classes d’Art du Festival d’Avignon." Free for all, the first series of masterclasses will be held from September to December and led by four eminent artists from the Festival: Theater Directors Olivier Py and Caroline Guiela Nguyen, Singer-songwriter Angelique Kidjo, and Performer-choreographer François Chaignaud.

The program is presented in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States.

Amid the current pandemic and the climate of rising populism and political tensions, the issue of inequity—be it racial, social, economic, gendered, biopolitical, or intersectional—has become particularly acute. Contemporary Western capitalist societies’ failure both to acknowledge these inequities and to achieve greater equity not only constitutes a common, critical concern within transatlantic contemporary thought, but also represents the most urgent political and philosophical problem of our ages.”

The first talk led by Pap Ndiaye is on September 17 at 12:00 pm and few more talks to follow

-Nadia Yala Kisukidi "Race and Hospitality" on October 29
-Didier Fassin on October 8
-Jean-Luc Nancy  "Les fondements de l'égalité" on November 12

The Consulate General of France in Atlanta and the Georgia Institute of Technology cordially invite you to the France-Atlanta 2020 virtual opening ceremony, featuring a conversation between the Ambassador of France to the United States Philippe Etienne and the President of the Georgia Institute of Technology Ángel Cabrera. This exchange will be moderated by Rickey Bevington, Georgia Public Broadcasting senior anchor and correspondent.

During this webinar, co-organized by the French-American Chamber of Commerce – Atlanta and Business France, economic and business experts from France and Georgia will share resources, tools and best practices for doing business internationally. The topics to be covered include a comparison between France and Georgia, government grant and tax incentive programs, export and investment opportunities, go-to-market strategies, and more.

All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace is a 1967 poem by Richard Brautigan that describes the peaceful and harmonious cohabitation of humans and computers. Fifty years later – following the technological revolutions brought about by the internet, big data, cloud computing and deep learning – Brautigan’s vision resonates singularly. It compels us to rethink our interactions with machines, even in regards to the intimate act of artistic creation. In collaboration with its American partners, France’s Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music (IRCAM) invites participants to discover some remarkable examples of possible artistic relationships between humans and computers during two seminars featuring researchers and artists who are building this new deal.

This event is organized by IRCAM – the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music – and the STMS lab (The French National Centre for Scientific Research, the Ministry of Culture and Sorbonne University), in collaboration with Georgia Tech’s School of Music, NYU Steinhardt – Music Education, the UC Berkeley Center for New Music and Audio Technologies, and the Atlanta Office of the Cultural Services of the Embassy of France in the United States.

Artificial intelligence (AI) models are now capable of collecting and analyzing enormously large databases in ways that are challenging fundamental values claimed in Europe and the United States. Throughout their lifecycle, AI programs and algorithms – which are full of promises of increased productivity, efficiency, and quality time; and conceived as an assistant, a peer, a manager, or even as a friend – might be so revolutionary that no one, regardless of whether they are consumers, citizens, operators or stakeholders, will remain unaffected. Nonetheless, AI empowers the machine to such a point that it may jeopardize what is to be human compared to a machine, what it is to have free choice and even what it is to play a role in society. France, the European Union and the United States have not yet clearly defined the approaches they will take to address these ethical issues. The governments are, in 2020, still considering options to maximize the potential of AI and big data while mitigating ethical dilemmas.

The second-annual Global Climate Action Symposium will bring together a wide range of experts to showcase climate change engagement by local student activists, scientists and engineers, business and policy experts, and artists. This free, virtual, event is open to the public, and will be hosted as part of European Climate Diplomacy Week. Learn about interactions between our climate & ecosystems, take action towards environmental justice, and look to the future of COVID-19 & green recovery. 

The Global Action Symposium is made possible through partnership between the GeorgiaTech ’s Global Change Program, gtglobalchange, Serve-Learn-Sustain, servelearnsustain, and the Atlanta Global Studies Center, cultural services of the French Embassy in the United States along with the European consulates in Atlanta of France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Britain, Belgium, and Germany. This event is free and open to the public. 

Find out more at https://globalchange.gatech.edu/events/gcas2020/

On September 17 at 5PM EDT, join the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Americas Program for a conversation on COVID-19's impact on the global creative economy.

The cultural and creative economy has been hardest hit amongst sectors by the current public health and economic crisis and will require targeted initiatives for it to be rebuilt.

Special Announcement

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unlikely that Tournées French film festivals will be able to take place in-person on campuses this fall.

We are committed to finding virtual solutions to support you in producing a successful festival or film event, with a possible in-person component. We will keep you updated on our progress as new tools and materials become available.

The call for applications planned for August has been pushed to a later date in the fall. Please stay tuned for additional announcements.

Le dispositif de Soutien associatif des Français à l’étranger (STAFE), vient appuyer les projets associatifs dont l’objet est de nature éducative, caritative, culturelle ou d’insertion socio-économique et contribue au rayonnement de la France et au soutien des Français à l’étranger et des publics francophones.