Marianne Midwest Series is a series of web debates on contemporary topics produced annually by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in Chicago in partnership with the France Chicago Center at the University of Chicago and the Alliance Française de Chicago to bring together American and French points of view, and to reach satellites locations. The programs take place in Chicago but are broadcast via webcast to other locations throughout the Midwest.
The speakers discuss a contemporary global topic at the University of Chicago or the Alliance Française de Chicago, followed by a question and answer session with the audience and partner locations. Through this series of debates, mutual representations between the United States and France are challenged and re-evaluated.
Available Webinars
2019 | François Ozon
Beyond Appearances: An Evening with François Ozon | University of Chicago
A talk by François Ozon, one of French cinema’s most prolific filmmakers whose career has spanned the last 20 years, at the Logan Art Center at the University of Chicago.
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 7 MIDWEST CITIES: Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Kirksville, Detroit, Urbana-Champaign et St Louis
2018 | Pascal Brice
Welcoming the Refugees: Lessons of the European Crisis from a French Perspective | University of Chicago
A lecture by Pascal Brice, Director-General of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 10 MIDWEST CITIES: Chicago, Elmhurst, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Kirksville, Detroit, Urbana-Champaign, Bloomington, Lexington and Cincinnati.
2017 | Dany Laferrière
D'Haïti à l'Académie Française: un écrivain américain | Alliance Française of Chicago
A conversation with Dany Laferrière, first Haitian and first Quebecer called to the prestigious Académie Française with Joëlle Vitiello, Professor and Chair of the Department of French Literature at Macalester College at St. Paul.
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 9 MIDWEST CITIES: Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St Louis, Kirksville, Detroit, Urbana-Champaign, Kansas City and Fort Wayne.
2016 | Pap NDiaye
The Minority Paradox: Blackness in France | University of Chicago
A lecture by, and conversation with, Pap NDiaye, author and professor at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. Post-lecture discussion is moderated by Michael C. Dawson (Professor, Political Science, Faculty Director, CSRPC).
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 12 MIDWEST CITIES: Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Northfield, Kirksville, Detroit, Bloomington, Valparaiso, Kansas City, Omaha, Allendale and Columbus.
2016 | Christiane Taubira
Justice in Service of Equality | University of Chicago
Christiane Taubira, the former Minister of Justice of France, discusses civil rights, women’s rights and the rights of disadvantaged youth. The 2016 program was recorded by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 11 MIDWEST CITIES: Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Evanston, Kirksville, Detroit, Bloomington, Cincinnati, St Louis, Allendale and Columbus.
2015 | Agnès Varda
My Three Lives: An Artist’s Talk | University of Chicago
Agnès Varda speaks about and reflects on various stages of her artistic career as a photographer, a filmmaker, and as a visual artist. The talk is followed by a Q&A moderated by Professor of cinema Dominique Bluher (University of Chicago).
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 9 MIDWEST CITIES: Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Houghton, Omaha, St Louis, Madison and Columbus.
2015 | Thomas Piketty
Understanding Inequality and What to Do About It | University of Chicago
A lecture and conversation with Thomas Piketty, author of the best-selling book Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Piketty is a French economist and professor at the Paris School of Economics whose work focuses on wealth and income inequality.
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 10 MIDWEST CITIES: Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Houghton, Omaha, St Louis, Madison and Lexington.
2015 | Marie-Monique Robin
Sacred Growth: Economics and the Environment | University of Chicago
A lecture and conversation with French documentarist Marie Monique Robin to provide American audiences with an understanding of the context of environmental policy in the EU, the US and the global community.
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 2 MIDWEST CITIES: Milwaukee and Minneapolis
2015 | Zineb El Rhazoui
Who Is Charlie?: A Conversation on Freedom of Expression | University of Chicago
A conversation with“Charlie Hebdo” journalist Zineb El Rhazoui discussing the context surrounding the Charlie Hebdo attack, the French culture of satire and secularism, and freedom of expression in contemporary society, moderated by Robert Morrissey, the Benjamin Franklin Professor of French Literature and executive director of the France Chicago Center at the University of Chicago.
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 3 MIDWEST CITIES: Milwaukee, Kansas City and Minneapolis
2014 | Dominique de Villepin
The Art of Intervention: Diplomacy and Deployment after Iraq | University of Chicago
Dominique de Villepin, former Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister of France give his own perspective on more than ten years of foreign intervention and diplomacy around the world.
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 3 MIDWEST CITIES: Milwaukee, Kansas City and Minneapolis
2014 | Henry Laurens
The Franco-Arab Thing: Exploring Centuries of Franco-Arab Relations | University of Chicago
Current Chair of History of the Contemporary Arab World at the Collège de France in Paris, Henry Laurens explores the complex and fascinating relationship between France and the Arab world, from colonialism to present-day tensions, on a quest to uncover the "Franco-Arab thing."
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 3 MIDWEST CITIES: Milwaukee, Kansas City and Minneapolis
2013 | Julia Kristeva & Arnold Davidson
The Future of the Humanities | University of Chicago
Professors Julia Kristeva and Arnold Davidson discuss the future of the Humanities in North America and Europe. Referencing several thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Primo Levi, and Immanuel Kant, this discussion touches on a range of issues concerning the humanities.
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 3 MIDWEST CITIES: Milwaukee, Kansas City and Minneapolis
2013 | Fadela Amara
Neither Whores nor Submissive: The Burqa Ban in France | University of Chicago
In this talk organized by the University of Chicago French Club, Fadela Amara (Ni Putes Ni Soumises founder and former French minister) describes the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the predominantly poor immigrant neighborhoods surrounding French cities (banlieues) that led to the ban on the burqa.
BROADCASTED LIVE IN 3 MIDWEST CITIES: Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Minneapolis
