La Maison Française is open Monday through Friday,
10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
The building re-opens a half-hour
before evening programs.
All events are open to the public
and free of charge unless otherwise indicated.
FALL 2009
September/October - November/December
September / October
Friday, September 11 - 5:30 pm
Film screening
PARIS
(by Cédric Klapisch, 2008, 124 min.). In French with English subtitles.
Location: Cantor Film Center, 36 East 8th Street. 2nd floor
PARIS, is a cinematic love letter to the city that seems to hide a story behind every shop window, small alley, street market or grand apartment building.
Actress Juliette Binoche and filmmaker Cédric Klapisch will be present.
Tuesday, September 15 – 7:00 p.m.
SYLVIE WEIL
Niece of philosopher Simone Weil and daughter of Simone’s brother, André Weil (co-founder of the Nicholas Bourbaki group, which would dramatically change modern mathematics), Sylvie Weil has taught French literature at several American universities and is the author of numerous novels and collections of stories, including A New York il n’y a pas de tremblements de terre; Le Jardin de Dima; and Les Reines du Luxembourg.
Her family memoir, Chez les Weil: André et Simone, a twofold portrait of a pair of extraordinary personalities who played a key role in the history of 20th-century ideas, has been recently published in France.
Chez les Weil: André et Simone
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Photo Credits: Taylor Poulin |
Wednesday, September 16 – 7:30 p.m.
Concert
ALLIANCE PLAYERS
Violinist and director of Alliance Players Nurit Pacht (http://www.nuritpacht.com)
Cellist Caroline Stinson
Flutist Sato Moughalian
Pianist Molly Morkoski
A program in celebration of Nadia Boulanger’s birthday, including works by Virgil Thomson, Elliot Carter, Astor Piazzola, LouiseTalma, and Nadia Boulanger.
Tickets: $20., $10. NYU students with current i.d.
Reservations: 212-998-8750 or maison.francaise@nyu.edu
Thursday, September 17 – 7:00 p.m
Florence Gould Lecture
Location: 13-19 University Place, The Auditorium (Rm. 102)
JEAN-FRANÇOIS COPÉ
Leader of the majority party (UMP), French National Assembly; Mayor of Meaux; former Minister of the Budget; author of Promis, j'arrête la langue de bois; Un député, ça compte énormément
Press release
The Political Situation in France Today

Photo Credits: Taylor Poulin
Monday, September 21 – 7:00 p.m.
Florence Gould Event
French Literature in the Making
CHARLES DANTZIG
Best known as a novelist and essayist, Charles Dantzig has also translated F. Scott Fitzgerald and Oscar Wilde. His novel Nos vies hâtives (2001) won both the Prix Roger Nimier and the Prix Jean Freustié; his oddly named Dictionnaire égoïste de la littérature française earned him three major prizes in 2005: the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle, the non-fiction prize of the Académie Française, and the Prix Décembre. Other works include Un film d’amour (2003), Je m’appelle François (2007) and the even more oddly named Encyclopédie capricieuse du tout et du rien (2009).

Olivier Barrot and Charles Dantzig
in conversation with
OLIVIER BARROT
Writer; journalist, Un Livre un jour (France 3); publisher, Senso
In French. Simultaneous translation available for this event.
Presented with the additional support of Directours, Open Skies, Sofitel, CulturesFrance, and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.

Photo Credits: Taylor Poulin
Tuesday, September 22 – 7:00 p.m.
New Lecture Series
Defining French Taste:
Tradition, Quality, and Innovation in the Decorative Arts

The Manifestation of French Splendor and the Italian Influence
FLORENCE DE DAMPIERRE
Decorative arts historian; interior designer; author of The Best of Painted Furniture; The Decorator; Chairs: A History; French Chic: The Art of Decorating Houses
WOLFRAM KOEPPE
Curator in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; co-author, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe; European Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Wednesday, September 23 – 7:00 p.m.
Film Screening
Un Certain Goût de l’Amérique: Daniel Boulud
(Thierry Bellaïche, 2008; 49 min.) In French with English subtitles.
A film tracing Daniel Boulud’s path from his family’s farm in the village of St. Pierre de Chandieu to a career as one of America’s most respected chefs and restaurateurs.

Location: Cantor Film Center, 36 East 8th Street
Tickets: $10. $ 5. NYU students with current i.d.
Reservations: 212-998-8750 or maison.francaise@nyu.edu
Followed by
DANIEL BOULUD
in conversation with
DOROTHY CANN HAMILTON
Founder & CEO, The French Culinary Institute
Tuesday, September 29 – 6:00 p.m.
Co-sponsored with the AIA/NY
Location: Center for Architecture, 536 La Guardia Place
Wake Up the Cit[ies]: Recent Work by Christian de Portzamparc
Pritzker Prize-winning architect Christian de Portzamparc discusses his recent work in Paris, Brussels, Los Angeles, and New York.
** Reservation list for this event has been filled.**
Wednesday, September 30 - 6:30 p.m.
Institute of French Studies Colloquium
JILL JONNES
Writer; historian; author of Empires of Light; Conquering Gotham; Eiffel’s Tower
Eiffel’s Tower
Thursday, October 1 – 7 :00 p.m.
Film Screening
C’est Gradiva qui vous appelle
(2006, 119 min.) In French with English subtitles.
Alain Robbe-Grillet’s last film, starring James Wilby, Arielle Dombasle, Dany Verissimo
Friday, October 2 – Afternoon and Evening
Florence Gould Event
A Salute to Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922-2008)
With Catherine Robbe-Grillet, Paul Auster, Tom Bishop, Royal Brown, Georges Borchardt, Olivier Corpet, Richard Foreman, Richard Howard, Emmanuelle Lambert, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Barney Rosset, Edmund White.
AFTERNOON
Location: La Maison Française, 16 Washington Mews (at University Place)
3 p.m. -
Opening Remarks Tom Bishop
Film
A la rencontre d’Alain Robbe-Grillet,
documentary by Sabrina Meneux, 52’ (in French)
4:00 p.m.
Conversation
Emmanuelle Lambert and Catherine Robbe-Grillet (in French)
4:15 p.m.
Cross Reading (in French)
Readings from Catherine Robbe-Grillet : Jeune mariée et
Alain Robbe-Grillet : Le Miroir qui revient ; Angélique ou l’enchantement ; Les derniers jours de Corinthe
Readers: Catherine Robbe-Grillet and Ronald Guttman
5:00 p.m.
Musical Composition
Heiner Goebbels, La Jalousie – Noises from a Novel
5:15 p.m.
FILM : Alain Robbe-Grillet, by Nayoto Yoda, 28’
5 :45: End afternoon Session
EVENING
**NOTE VENUE CHANGE**
Location: 19 West 4th street (corner Mercer Street, EAST of Washington Square)
Room 101 (The Auditorium)
7:00 p.m.
Film
Rehearsal and performance scenes from Freshwater by Virginia Woolf, with Alain Robbe-Grillet and all-star amateur cast.
7:30 p.m.
Recollections
Paul Auster Olivier Corpet Bernard-Henri Lévy
Tom Bishop Arielle Dombasle Philippe Roger
Georges Borchardt Richard Foreman Barney Rosset
Royal Brown Richard Howard Edmund White
Emmanuelle Lambert
9 :30 p.m. – End of evening session
Tuesday, October 6 – 7:00 p.m.
FRANÇOISE GAILLARD
Professor, Université de Paris-VII; visiting professor, NYU
« Nue mais pas à poil »: peinture et misogynie fin de siècle
Thursday, October 8 – 7:00 p.m.
HENRI MITTERAND
Professor Emeritus, Columbia University and La Sorbonne Nouvelle; editor of Emile Zola’s Les Rougon-Macquart and Œuvres complètes; author of L’Illusion réaliste; La Littérature française du XXe siècle
Critique génétique: la dimension scénarique
Monday, October 12 – 7 :00 p.m.
Florence Gould Event
French Literature in the Making
CATHERINE CUSSET
Trained as a specialist in French 18th century literature (École normale supérieure) Catherine Cusset taught for a decade at Yale. As her novels and essays earned her an ever greater following in France, she gave up her academic career to devote herself fully to writing. Her books include En toute innocence (1995), Le problème avec Jane (1999), published in English as The Story of Jane (2001), La haine de la famille (2001), Un brilliant avenir (2008—Prix Goncourt des lycéens) and most recently, New York – Journal d’un cycle (2009). Catherine Cusset lives in New York.
in conversation with
OLIVIER BARROT
Writer; journalist, Un Livre un jour (France 3); publisher, Senso
In French. Simultaneous translation available for this event.
Presented with the additional support of Directours, Open Skies, Sofitel, CulturesFrance, and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.
Friday, October 16 - 10:30 a.m.
A Symposium co-organized by NYU's Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality (CSGS) and Institute of French Studies (IFS). Presented with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the Centre Pompidou
**NOTE**
The originally planned Thursday Oct. 15 session has been cancelled.
All the sessions are now concentrated on Friday, Oct. 16.
Feminism/s Without Borders:
Perspectives from France and the United States
This symposium will put scholars from te U.S. and France into conversation to explore how feminist movements have been divided over such differences as class, religion, sexuality, and race; how feminisms have been institutionalized by the state and by global institutions; and what kinds of alliances are possible across difference (including national difference). Different social and political contexts in France and in the U.S. have come to shape different feminist agendas and alliances in these countries. While French feminisms had to deal with the rhetorical frame of universal and secular Republicanism, U.S. feminisms were faced with the specifics of their racial history as well as the dismantling of the welfare state. Yet, French and American feminisms have constantly fueled each other, from the influence of Beauvoir in the U.S. to the recent importation by French feminists of the notions of postcolonialism and intersectionality. Invited speakers will address and speak from their national contexts, but will also move beyond the national to get to questions about feminisms and the transnational. As a transnational feminist project, then, this symposium moves to ask how ideas travel, what (and who) gets lost in translation, how and which global institutions (for example, the UN, NGOs, internationalized universities) come to shape feminist agendas in different countries.
10:30 a.m:
Welcoming remarks and introduction
Edward Berenson (History & IFS, NYU), Dean Catharine R. Stimpson (GSAS, NYU), Frédéric Viguier (IFS, NYU)
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 a.m.:
Institutional Legacies of Second-Wave Feminism
Laure Bereni (IFS, NYU); Rana Jaleel (American Studies, NYU);
Discussant: Victoria Hesford (Women’s Studies, SUNY Stony Brook)
2:00 p.m. – 3 :30 p.m.
Feminism and Religion: Current Controversies
Nacira Guénif-Souilamas; James McBride (Liberal Studies; NYU);
Discussant: Ann Pellegrini (CSGS, NYU)
4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.:
The Future of Intersectionality
Elsa Dorlin (Université de Paris 1- Panthéon Sorbonne); Robert Reid-Pharr (Graduate Center, CUNY); Discussant: Nacira Guénif-Souilamas (Université Paris 13 / IFS, NYU)
6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.:
Keynote Lecture: Feminism’s Difference Problem
Joan W. Scott (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)
Wednesday, October 21 - 6:30 p.m.
Institute of French Studies Colloquium
JACK LANG
Member of the French National Assembly; former Minister of Culture (1981-1986, 1988-1992) former Minister of Education (1992-1993; 2000-2002); author of Demain comme hier; Le choix de Versailles: témoignage sur la révision de notre constitution
Les Institutions de la 5e République
Monday, October 26 - 7:00 p.m.
STEFANOS GEROULANOS
Assistant Professor, NYU
Frames without Mirrors, ‘Eyes without a Face’ (Face Transplants, Opacity, Fury, and Modernity in Georges Franju's Horror Film)
Thursday, October 29 – 7:00 p.m.
Florence Gould Lecture
Location: Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, Rosenthal Pavilion, 10th floor.
JACK LANG
Member of the French National Assembly; former Minister of Culture (1981-1986, 1988-1992) former Minister of Education (1992-1993; 2000-2002); author of Demain comme hier; Le choix de Versailles: témoignage sur la révision de notre constitution
La Situation politique en France aujourd'hui
en dialogue avec Tom Bishop, NYU
November - December 2009
Monday, November 2, 7:00 p.m.
YVES CHARLES ZARKA
Professor of political philosophy, Université de Paris Descartes (Sorbonne); founder and director, Cités
La Légitimité en régime démocratique
In French. English transcript of this lecture will be available.
Presented with the additional support of the Center for French Civilization and Culture, the Institute of French Studies, and the Consortium for Intellectual and Cultural History (NYU and Columbia).
Wednesday, November 4, 6:15 p.m.
Co-sponsored by the Department of Cinema Studies
Location: Tisch School of the Arts, 721 Broadway
(between Waverly Place and Washington Place), Rm. 648
LAURENT JULLIER
Professor, Université de Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle; author of Lire les images de cinéma; L'Analyse de séquences; Le Son au cinéma
French Contemporary Cinema and the Music Video Effect
Thursday, November 5, 7:00 p.m.
Air France Lecture
ANKA MUHLSTEIN
Writer; author of Napoléon à Moscou; A Passion for Freedom: The Life of Astolphe de Custine, Elisabeth d’Angleterre et Marie Stuart ou les périls du mariage
Balzac, Restaurants, and Gastronomy
In English. Followed by a conversation with
OLIVIER MULLER
Chef de Cuisine, DB Bistro Moderne
Friday, November 6, 5:00 p.m.
Co-sponsored by the Department of French and the Humanities Initiative
Series in "New French Philosophy"
Rethinking Nineteenth-Century French Studies:
Rancière's Nineteenth Century
Bruno Bosteels, Cornell University
Patrick Bray, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Bettina Lerner, CUNY, City College
Gabriel Rockhill, Villanova University; director, Atelier de Théorie Critique (Paris)
Emily Apter, NYU, moderator
In English.
Tuesday, November 10, 7:00 p.m.
Florence Gould Event
French Literature in the Making
ERIC REINHARD
Writer; author of Demi-sommeil; Moral des ménages; Existence; Cendrillon; freelance editor/publisher of art books whose collaborators include choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, architect Christian de Portzamparc, and shoe designer Christian Louboutin
in conversation with
Olivier BARROT
Writer, journalist, Un Livre un jour (France 3); publisher, Senso
In French. Simultaneous translation available for this event.
Presented with the additional support of Directours, Sofitel, Open Skies, CulturesFrance, and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.
Thursday, November 12, 6:30 p.m.
Institute of French Studies Colloquium
Roundtable discussion in English
Living Undocumented in Europe
Awam AMKPA, Associate professor of Drama, Social and Cultural Analysis (NYU); author of Theatre and Postcolonial Desires (2003); co-curator of They Won’t Budge. Africans in Europe (MoCADA, 10/01/2009 - 01/19/2010)
Annalisa BUTTICI, Post doctoral fellow, Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, Africana Studies Program (NYU); author of "African Journey: Life Trajectories and Migratory Routes towards the New Italian Ghetto"; co-curator of They Won’t Budge. Africans in Europe
Madala HILAIRE, Social and Cultural Analysis, African Studies Program (NYU); co-curator of They Won’t Budge. Africans in Europe
Smaïn LAACHER, Sociologist (Centre d’études des mouvements sociaux, CNRS-EHESS), Adjudicator (United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees); author of Mythologie du Sans-papier (2009), Le Peuple des clandestins (2007)
Miriam TICKTIN, Assistant professor of Anthropology and International Affairs (New School University); author of Moral Emergency Complex: Humanitarianism, Sexual Violence and the Politics of Immigration in France (forthcoming); co-editor of In the Name of Humanity (forthcoming)
Moderated by Laure BERENI, political sociologist (Institute of French Studies/NYU)
EXHIBITION
Friday, November 13, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Opening Reception & Gallery Talk
Intertwined: French Hand-Painted Photographs, circa 1841-1889
Sara Cleary-Burns Collection
This unique collection of hand-painted photographs, produced in Paris in the late 19th century, is on view for the first time in the United States. Mounted in their original frames, these images reveal the partnership of French painters and photographers at the beginning of a new art form.
Exhibition continues November 17 – December 18
Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Call to verify hours. There are occasional closings for university events.
Monday, November 16, 7:00 p.m.
Remembering Christian Bourgois (1933-2007)
A Celebration
Location: Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, Rm. 914
With Dominique Bourgois, Toni Morrison, Anka Muhlstein, Alan Pauls,
Jean-Christophe Bailly, Barbara Epler, Jonathan Galassi, Uri Eisenzweig,
Olivier Corpet, Victoire Bourgois, Tom Bishop, Breyten Breytenbach
In English.
SPECIAL EVENT
November 16 & 17
Architecture and Urban Policy: A French Season in New York
Une saison autour de l'architecture et de la politique urbaine
Planners and policymakers from Paris and New York convene to discuss the major challenges of contemporary urban planning.
Monday, November 16, 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Location: The Cooper Union, 41 Cooper Square Frederick P. Rose Auditorium
Politics & Policies
Participants include Amanda Burden, Jean-Louis Cohen, Mireille Ferri, Pierre Mansat, Tony Vidler.
Tuesday, November 17, 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Location: Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, between Bleecker St. and West 3rd St.
Plans & Programs
Participants include Rohit Aggarwala, Dominique Alba, Emeline Bailly, Rick Bell, Adrien Benepe, Annick Bizouerne, Jean-Louis Cohen, Alexandre Chemetoff, Antoine Grumbach, David Mangin, Sherida Paulsen, Alex Washburn, Tom Wright
Additional details available on following webpages:
http://www.frenchculture.org
http://cfa.aiany.org
Organized by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in partnership with the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter and Center for Architecture; the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University; the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art; and La Maison Française of New York University.
Thursday, November 19, 7:00 p.m.
Florence Gould Lecture
Eugène Ionesco Centennial (1909-1994)
MARIE-FRANCE IONESCO
Eugène Ionesco s'interroge:"Pourquoi j'écris"
In French.
THEATER
Monday, November 23 , 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 24, 7:00 p.m.
Eugène Ionesco Centennial (1909-1994)
Requiem pour Ionesco
Based on Le Roi se meurt (Exit the King) and L'Impromptu de l'Alma
(Improvisation or The Shepherd's Chameleon)
In French and English.
Directed by Cécile Cotté; Music by Stéphane Scott
With NYU students Brian Miskell, Lindsay Phillips, Rebecca Davis, Daniele Ciandella, Lindsi Seegmiller, Olivier Ames, Steven Northrup, Dawn Glaves
Reservations: 212-998-8750 or maison.francaise@nyu.edu
Tuesday, December 1, 7:00 p.m.
MARIELLE MACÉ
CNRS-EHESS; visiting professor, NYU; author of Le Savoir des genres; Le Temps de l'essai. Histoire d'un genre littéraire en France au XXe siècle; Le Genre littéraire
La Littérature et les formes de l'individuation
In French.
Wednesday, December 2, 6:30 p.m.
Institute of French Studies Colloquium
EDWARD BERENSON
Director, Institute of French Studies, NYU; author of The Statue of Liberty (forthcoming), Heroes of Empire: Manliness, Media, and Charisma in Europe's Conquest of Africa
The Statue of Liberty: Symbol of a Tempestuous Relationship between France and the United States
In English.
Thursday, December 3, 7:00 p.m.
LOUIS BEGLEY
Writer, author of Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters (Yale University Press, 2009) and of novels including Wartime Lies, About Schmidt, and Matters of Honor; lawyer; retired partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters
In English.
Thursday, December 10, 7:00 p.m.
Defining French Taste:
Tradition, Quality, and Innovation in the Decorative Arts
Illustrated Lecture
Louis XIV: Daily Minutiae of Royal Life, from the Levee to Table Settings and Everything In-between
FLORENCE DE DAMPIERRE
Decorative arts historian; interior designer; author of The Best of Painted Furniture; Chairs: A History; French Chic: The Art of Decorating Houses
WOLFRAM KOEPPE
Curator in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; co-author, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe; European Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
In English.
Tickets for lecture and Reception: $10
Reservations: 212-998-8750 or maison.francaise@nyu.edu
Center for French Civilization & Culture, NYU
CORPORATE MEMBERS: Air France, BNP Paribas, Calyon, Dassault Falcon, Lagardère, Natixis, Vivendi.
SPONSORS: The Florence Gould Foundation, The Y.A. Istel Foundation, The American Society of the French Legion of Honor, The Grand Marnier Foundation, The Evelyn Sharp Foundation, The Cultural Services of the French Embassy, CulturesFrance
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