La Maison Française is the center for French culture at New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

.

Just north of Washington Square

Washington Square Park

Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...

, at the entrance to historic, cobblestoned Washington Mews

Washington Mews

Washington Mews is a private gated street in New York City between 5th Avenue and University Place just north of Washington Square Park. It was originally a mews that serviced horses from homes in the area...

, stands a New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 landmark, La Maison Française. Since its founding in 1957, the "French House" has become the most active center of French-American cultural and intellectual exchange to be found on any American campus. Closely linked with "Le Cercle Francais", many events are able to be organized inside the main room of LMF although most events are organized and financed by the LMF itself.

Building

La Maison Française occupies a nineteenth-century red-brick carriage house. Inside, the ample yet intimate space of the ground-floor salon has been carefully adapted to uses ranging from art exhibits and receptions to lectures and film screenings, with a seating capacity

Seating capacity

Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...

 of one hundred.

Program of activities

The program of activities of La Maison Française covers a broad spectrum of subjects and opinion and includes lectures, symposia, conferences, panel discussions, film and video screenings, art exhibits, concerts, theater productions, and special presentations. These events, nearly all of which are free and open to the public, focus on diverse aspects of French and Francophone civilization and culture in historical as well as contemporary perspectives. Beyond the New York University audience, La Maison Française also serves the business, government and professional communities, as well as the general public in the New York metropolitan area.

Distinguished speakers from French intellectual life, politics, literature, journalism, and the arts have included:

Robert Badinter Robert Badinter Robert Badinter is a high-profile French criminal lawyer, university professor and politician mainly known for his struggle against the death penalty, the abolition of which he successfully sponsored in Parliament in 1981... Elisabeth Badinter Élisabeth Badinter Élisabeth Badinter is a French author, feminist, historian, and professor of Philosophy at the École Polytechnique in Paris.... Jean-Louis Barrault Jean-Louis Barrault Jean-Louis Barrault was a French actor, director and mime artist, training that served him well when he portrayed the 19th-century mime Jean-Gaspard Deburau in Marcel Carné's 1945 film Les Enfants du Paradis .Jean-Louis Barrault studied with Charles Dullin in whose troupe he acted... Raymond Barre Raymond Barre Raymond Octave Joseph Barre was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three Presidents and later served as Prime Minister under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing from 1976 until 1981... Roland Barthes Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism, anthropology and... Pierre Boulez Pierre Boulez Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics... Jacques Chirac Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the... Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher, born in French Algeria. He developed the critical theory known as deconstruction and his work has been labeled as post-structuralism and associated with postmodern philosophy... Michel Foucault Michel Foucault Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...

Jean Genet Jean Genet Jean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing... Françoise Gilot Françoise Giroud Françoise Giroud Françoise Giroud, born France Gourdji was a French journalist, screenwriter, writer and politician.-Biography:... Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd... Pierre Mendès-France Pierre Mendès-France Pierre Mendès France was a French politician. He descended from a Portuguese Jewish family that moved to France in the sixteenth century.-Third Republic and World War II:... François Mitterrand François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President... Francis Poulenc Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music... Michel Rocard Michel Rocard Michel Rocard is a French politician, member of the Socialist Party . He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991, during which he created the Revenu minimum d'insertion , a social minimum welfare program for indigents, and led the Matignon Accords regarding the status... Nathalie Sarraute Nathalie Sarraute Nathalie Sarraute was a French lawyer and writer of Russian Jewish origin.-Life:Sarraute was born Natalia/Natacha Tcherniak in Ivanovo , 300 km north-east of Moscow in 1900 , and, following...

Recent evenings have included lectures, readings, and discussions with:

• Chantal Akerman
  Chantal Akerman
  Chantal Anne Akerman is a Belgian film director, artist, and professor of film at the European Graduate School. Akerman's best-known film, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles , exemplifies a dedication to the ellipses of conventional narrative cinema.-Early life:Akerman was born to...
  
  
• Tahar Ben Jelloun
  Tahar Ben Jelloun
  Tahar Ben Jelloun is a Moroccan poet and writer. The entirety of his work is written in French, although his first language is Arabic.-Life:...
  
  
• Patrick Chamoiseau
  Patrick Chamoiseau
  Patrick Chamoiseau is a French author from Martinique known for his work in the créolité movement.-Biography:Chamoiseau was born on December 3, 1953 in Fort-de-France, Martinique, where he currently resides. After he studied law in Paris he returned to Martinique inspired by Édouard Glissant to...
  
  
• Annie Ernaux
  Annie Ernaux
  Annie Ernaux is a French writer.She won the Prix Renaudot in 1984 for her book La Place, an autobiographical narrative focusing on her relationship with her father and her experiences growing up in a small town in France, and her subsequent process of moving into adulthood and away from her...
  
  
• Julia Kristeva
  Julia Kristeva
  Julia Kristeva is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, psychoanalyst, sociologist, feminist, and, most recently, novelist, who has lived in France since the mid-1960s. She is now a Professor at the University Paris Diderot...
  
  
• Andrei Makine
  Andreï Makine
  Andreï Makine is a Russian-born French author. He also publishes under the pseudonym Gabriel Osmonde. Makine's novels include Dreams of My Russian Summers which won two top French awards, the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Médicis.-Biography:Andreï Makine was born in Krasnoyarsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet...
  
  
• Josyane Savigneau
  Josyane Savigneau
  Josyane Savigneau is a journalist and writer for Le Monde, born on 14 July 1951 in Châtellerault, France.Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper with a circulation of 371,803...
  
  
• Philippe Sollers
  Philippe Sollers
  Philippe Sollers is a French writer and critic. In 1960 he founded the avant garde journal Tel Quel , published by Seuil, which ran until 1982...
  
  
• Guy Sorman
  Guy Sorman
  Guy Sorman is a French professor, columnist, author and public intellectual in economics and philosophy. He has written twenty books that promote the ideals of creativity and modern capitalism. His views are close to classical liberalism...
  
  

A series of colloquia over the past several years has brought together a distinguished group of international specialists. These events included a major overview of French Theory in America as well as an introduction to New French Thought , and discussions of métissage, of hyper-realism in the theater, of Surrealism in Exile, of the work of Sartre, and of the life and work of Antonin Artaud

Antonin Artaud

Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud, more well-known as Antonin Artaud was a French playwright, poet, actor and theatre director...

. Contemporary American novelists and translators presented seven of their colleagues from abroad in a two-day event : A New Generation of French Women Writers, while the autumn 1997 season began with a French Book Festival which included lectures, readings, panels, and a major exhibition of recent French books . For a complete list of these events, click here for a listing of these colloquia and special events.

While the program of La Maison Française complements and enriches the programs of the Department of French and the Institute of French Studies, its mission extends as well to interdepartmental interests within the Faculty of Arts and Science and between the various schools of the university. Recent collaborations have included a weekend of screenings and discussions with filmmaker Chantal Akerman and a conference which explored Legacies of the Dreyfus Affair. Collaborations with organizations outside the university community include the recent International Cyberlaw and Business Conference.