The American University of Paris | AUP Today | Annual President's Conference

In the year 2011 the world is still convalescing from the financial crisis. Nonetheless we’ve been hit with an onslaught of ecological disasters and political upheavals that underline the fragility of our energy supplies and social well-being. The idea of sustainable development remains more than ever a goal and horizon for policy makers, intellectual visionaries and development practitioners. Transforming it into a complex yet practical challenge is a task for academic research. AUP alumni and students are glad to share with you the results of their own experience and investigations.

Pierre-Emmanuel Bach

International Economics and Entrepreneurship Major

Lisa Damon

Class of '03, AUP Research Assistant (with Guy Tchuilieu of Ecosum Solutions)

Emilie Mendès de Léon

International and Comparative Politics Major

Arieh Scharnberg

Masters in Cross-Cultural and Sustainable Business Management

Sarah Zipkin

Class of '00, Oxfam America

Friday, May 13, 2011 | 14:00 - 18:00

The American University of Paris

Grand Salon

31 avenue Bosquet

75007 Paris

In a year of myriad conferences on alternative energy sources, biodiversity, human security and climate change – culminating in Copenhagen – there has been little reflection on the interdisciplinary nature of these themes. We are organizing our annual President’s Conference with a particular emphasis on the broad interdependency that underpins current issues in sustainable development, emphasizing the possibility of cooperative action across disciplines as diverse as energy and education, urban development and human hope.

Bo Frank

Mayor, Växjö, Sweden

Fatih Birol

Chief Economist, The International Energy Agency, France

Uma Prajapati

Founder, Upasana Design Studio, India

Jonathan Jansen

Rector, University of the Free State, South Africa

Edgar Morin

Philosopher and Sociologist, France

Friday, May 21st, 2010

Cercle de l’Union Interalliée

75008 Paris

Since the end of the Cold War there exist no legitimate alternatives to democratic rule. Yet, as democracy becomes the single currency of politics, it risks inflation and devaluation. In this sense, we are living in a precarious age of democracy. Challenges of effective self-determination are shifting towards levels beyond the nation-state, but it remains unclear what democracy holds beyond a procedural minimum. This lack of clarity invites hypocrisy which in turn breeds frustration and resistance – at a time when questions of democracy’s future within processes of globalization and regionalization have lost nothing of their relevance. Since the war in Iraq, however, the promise of democratization seems to invite as much cynicism as hope. How can one extend the scope of a concept whose content and appeal are simultaneously eroding?

Accordingly, democracy demands careful clarification and differentiation, depending on the specific polity under analysis. Both within national and postnational constellations what, for example, is the viable spectrum of democracies? In the context of global capitalism, how does one imagine and practice democracy at national, regional and global levels? Is the practice of minimal democracy attractive enough to hold the universal appeal of democracy against current and new forms of authoritarianism, etc.? Given these problematic issues, the conference wishes to question and re-examine the conceptual boundaries of democracy, identify the needs for values that transcend minimal liberal democracy, and chart progress and dilemmas in really existing post-national democracy.

Conference Organisers and Panel Moderators

Richard Beardsworth

Professor of Political Philosophy

The American University of Paris

Peter Hägel

Assistant Professor of International and Comparative Politics

The American University of Paris

Jean Cohen

Professor of Political Theory, Columbia University

Colin Crouch

Professor of Governance and Public Management, University of Warwick Business School, Coventry

Russell Hardin

Professor of Politics, NYU

Christophe Jaffrelot

Directeur de Recherche CNRS, Sciences Po Paris

Bernard Manin

Professor of Political Science, NYU and EHESS

Walter Mattli

Professor of International Political Economy, Oxford University

Kalypso Nicolaidis

Professor of International Relations and Director of the European Studies Centre, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University

Adam Przeworski

Professor of Politics, NYU

Tariq Ramadan

Professor of Islamic Studies, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University

Pierre Rosanvallon

Professeur au Collège de France, Paris

Beth Simmons

Professor of Government, Harvard University

Michael Zürn

Director of the Social Science Research Center, WZB, Berlin

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Palais du Luxembourg

75006 Paris

Over the decades, filmmakers' interpretations of the city have evolved from either a realistic or romantic vision to a vision that now portrays the city as multifaceted, a combination of both real and imaginary urban images.

Have today's cities lost their individuality? Have we moved from the "city character" with which the spectator could easily identify towards a universal urban vision? How does today's cinema depict the pitfalls of modernity, the fracturing of society, and the loss of identity? Is this what propels filmmakers to document la mémoire of the city in their films?

Visions of the City will explore whether, even in the face of fragmentation and loss of identity, thanks to the medium of film the city will be given a new identity combining both tradition and modernity.

The Elysées Biarritz, an exclusive private cinema just off the Champs Elysées, will be the site of this year’s President’s Conference organized by Nathalie Debroise, Director of the Film Studies Program.

Guest film directors/producers will screen and comment on scenes of their work in which "the city" plays a major role. The Master of Ceremonies, Daniel Leconte, is a well-known French TV host and presenter on the ARTE channel. He is himself a film producer of fiction and documentaries and the president of the Film en Stock production company. He will be leading the discussions with:

Nadir Moknèche, who will be presenting his well-received films on Algiers, Viva Laldjérie and Délice Paloma. AUP has been fortunate to have Mr. Moknèche lecture on campus in the past.

Amos Gitaï, who is an architect by training and remains fascinated by urban identities. Scenes will be presented from his extraordinary trilogy about three Israeli cities: Devarim (Tel Aviv), Yom Yom (Haîfa) and his most acclaimed Kadosh (Jerusalem).

Amos Kollek will present his film "Sue Lost in Manhattan" that received many awards.

Also participating as Honorary Committee members: Coline Serreau (Writer, Director, and AUP Professor), Jérôme Charyn (Writer and AUP Distinguished Professor of Film Studies), Jim Bittermann (CNN senior correspondent and AUP Professor), Chazz Palminteri (actor), Marisa Berenson (actress), and Pierre-William Glenn (Cinematographer and Director) among others.

April 4, 2008 | 17h00 - 19h30

Elysées Biarritz

75008 Paris

Sponsored by

The Trustee Fund for the Advancement of Scholarship

and by Mrs. Sandra Craig.

2007

In the past decade, migration has moved from fringe to key issue for governments around the world. Among the many questions surrounding the governance of migration, two stand out: what should be the criteria of admitting newcomers; what role for the state in "integrating" immigrants?

May 23, 2007

Espace Landowski

Boulogne-Billancourt

Sponsored by

The Trustee Fund for the Advancement of Scholarship

Han Entzinger

Erasmus University, the Netherlands

Kay Hailbronner

University of Konstanz, Germany

Christian Joppke

The American University of Paris, France

Martin Schain

New York University, USA

Dominique Schnapper

Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, France

Patrick Weil

Paris-Sorbonne University, France

Aristide Zolberg

New School University, USA

May 24, 2006

Hotel Talleyrand

The American Embassy

Sponsored by

The Trustee Fund for the Advancement of Scholarship

and the A.W. Mellon Foundation.

Craig Stapleton, Ambassador of the United States to France

Jean François-Poncet, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator, France

André Kaspi, U.S. History Professor, La Sorbonne, Paris

Philippe Roger, Professor of French, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales et Centre d'étude de la langue et de la littérature françaises des 17e et 18e siècles (CNRS - Université de Paris IV)

Steven Ekovich, Professor of Political Science, The American University of Paris

Mark Hulliung, Brandeis University

Cynthia Fleury, Maître de Conférence at Sciences Po and Associate Professor at The American University of Paris

Yves Roucaute, Agrégé de Philosophie et de Science Politique à l’Université-Paris X

Hubert Védrine, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, France

Alexandre Adler, Historian and Editorialist at Le Figaro

Laurent Cohen-Tanugi, International Lawyer and Author

Colonel Peter Herrly, retired (former U.S. Defense Attaché)

General Emmanuel Beth, Director of Strategic Planning, French Defense Ministry

General Bruno Dary, Commandant of the French Foreign Legion

General Jean Coulloumme-Labarthe, Commandant of St Cyr and former Liaison Officer to CENTCOM

William Rosenau, Political Scientist, RAND

Juge Jean-Louis Bruguière

Christian de Boissieu, Président Délégué, Conseil d’Analyse Economique, counselor to the Prime Minister, France

Elie Cohen, Sciences Po, Conseil d’Analyse Economique, CNRS, France

Barry Eichengreen, University of California at Berkeley, CEPR

2005

May 25, 2005

UNESCO

Sponsored by

The Trustee Fund for the Advancement of Scholarship

and the A.W. Mellon Foundation.

Josep Colomer

Research Professor in Political Science, at the Higher Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), and at the University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona.

Georges de Ménil

Professor of Economics at the Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, and member of the governing council of the research center PSE.

Russell Hardin

Professor of Politics at New York University.

Adam Przeworski

Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Politics at New York University.

May 26, 2004

UNESCO

Sponsored by

The Trustee Fund for the Advancement of Scholarship

and the A.W. Mellon Foundation.

David Calleo

Dean Acheson Professor and Director of European Studies Program, Nitze School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.

Albert Fishlow

Professor of International and Public Affairs, Director of the Columbia Institute of Latin American Studies, Director of the Center for the Study of Brazil, Columbia University.

Hall Gardner

Professor of International Politics, Chair, Department of International Affairs, The American University of Paris.

Pierre Hassner

Emeritus Research Director, CERI-Sciences Politiques.

Patrick Karl O'Brien

Centennial Professor of Economic History, London School of Economics.

May 21, 2003

Bibliothèque Nationale de France

Sponsored by

The Trustee Fund for the Advancement of Scholarship

and the A.W. Mellon Foundation.

Roald Hoffmann

Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters and Professor of Chemistry, Cornell University.

Evelyn Fox Keller

MacArthur Foundation Fellow, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, Program in Science, Technology and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Jean-Michel Rabaté

Marjorie Ernest Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania, Program Director, Collège International de Philosophie in Paris.

Mieke Bal

Professor of Theory of Literature at the University of Amsterdam, Founding Director of the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, Theory and Interpretation (ASCA), and A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University.