Jack Lang, Member of the French National Assembly and former French Minister of Culture and Minister of Education, will discuss the culture and politics of France today in a dialogue with Tom Bishop, Gould Professor of French Literature and director of the Center for French Civilization and culture at New York University, on Tuesday, April 8, at 6:30 p.m. The event, which is free and open to the public, takes place at 19 W. 4th Street, auditorium (corner of Mercer Street). For further information, call 212.998.8750 or visit www.nyu.edu/maisonfrancaise. The conversation will take place in French.
According to Bishop, Lang is, year after year and whatever the government in office, one of the most appealing figures in French politics. He is appreciated for his intelligence and moderate positions, and his popularity index is regularly at the very top in public opinion polls.
Lang has been one of the leading figures in France’s Socialist Party for the past 30 years. A close advisor to François Mitterrand, he served as Minister of Culture and Minister of Education during Mitterrand’s terms of office, and as Minister of Education under the premiership of Lionel Jospin.
Currently Lang is a Deputy in the National Assembly from the Pas de Calais region. In the Assembly he has served as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and has also been an elected deputy to the European Parliament.
A graduate of the University of Paris where he earned a law degree, Lang has been dean of the Law School at the University of Nancy and professor of law at the University of Paris-Nanterre. He was also founder of the renowned Nancy Theater Festival and directed the University Theater at Nancy in the early 1970s.
Lang is the author of several books, including Changer (To Change), Pour une immigration positive (For an Affirmative Immigration Policy), and Vaincre le chomage (To Defeat Unemployment) - three volumes that deal with burning political issues in contemporary France.