July 2026
Research
Seminars and research workshops
What to make of values?
This multidisciplinary seminar, organized by Nathalie Heinich (CRAL/EHESS), aims to examine the concept of ‘value’, which is widely used in the humanities and social sciences but rarely defined in a precise and universally accepted manner. It will bring together several disciplines (sociology, economics, philosophy, history, anthropology, law, psychology, etc.) to analyse the various dimensions of values: their definition, their attribution, and their role in ideals, the economy, morality, law, art and culture. Participants will also reflect on the contributions and limitations of this concept in understanding social phenomena.
Rethinking nature. Redefining the landscape
This seminar, organized by Laurence Dahan Gaida (University of Franche-Comté), aims to re-examine the concept of landscape against a backdrop of growing scepticism regarding the traditional notion of nature, characterized by criticism of the nature/culture dualism and the rise of techno-natural artefacts. It explores the evolution of the landscape—once conceived primarily as an aesthetic object—towards an environmental approach that incorporates ethical and ecological dimensions. Bringing together specialists from the arts and sciences, the seminar aims to contrast aesthetic approaches, centred on the image of the landscape, with environmental approaches, which risk neglecting its symbolic and cultural dimensions.
How should monetary and fiscal policies respond to adverse macroeconomic shocks in a context of inequality?
This workshop, organized by Vincent Sterk (University College London) and Xavier Ragot (Sciences Po), aims to examine how fiscal and monetary policies can be designed and coordinated to ensure both macroeconomic stability and a fair distribution of economic outcomes. It focuses in particular on responses to sudden rises in the cost of living, the consequences of measures taken during the recent period of inflation, and possible improvements for the future. The aim is also to develop models and empirical methods tailored to the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Research residencies
ATOLL, a risk management tool and a means of accelerating ORSEC heritage contingency plans
ATOLL is an open-source platform designed to strengthen the protection of cultural heritage in the face of crises and growing risks. Building on existing tools and complementing the ORSEC guide ‘Protection of Cultural Heritage’, ATOLL aims to link data, inventories, stakeholders and response scenarios to facilitate crisis management at the level of individual artefacts, sites and regions. The residency organized by Roch Payet (Conservation Service) will enable the definition of common methods, recommendations and tools to improve risk management, data interoperability and digital resilience within the heritage sector
The Ecology of the Mind in the Digital Environment: Towards a Critical Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence
This project, led by Anne Alombert (University of Paris 8), aims to explore the paradigm of the ‘technical ecology of the mind’ through an examination of several contemporary philosophical works by Georges Canguilhem, Gilbert Simondon, Jacques Derrida and Bernard Stiegler. These four thinkers explore the relationships between living bodies or minds and technical media or artefacts. Rather than treating the machine as a model of the organism or the computer as a model of the mind, they examine how constantly changing technical environments affect our organic and psychological lives, and in particular, our capacity for thought.
Emile: a research-creation project
This project involves writing a family history – blending historical investigation with personal narrative – based on an interview with Pauline Peretz’s (University of Paris 8) grandfather, which was discovered quite by chance. Drawing on administrative archives and survivors’ testimonies, this narrative aims to revitalise the family history genre by interweaving the history of the war, anti-Semitic persecution and mental illness. This work is also part of a research-creation project entitled Emile, which has been in development since 2025.
Creation
Photography Prize
Mustafa Binge Satkin
Winner of the 2026 Photography Residency Award, his project, In Noah’s Shadow, explores environmental degradation in Turkey caused by the construction of large dams. The project highlights the symbolism of water, drawing on the myth of the Flood, and illustrates the ecological and cultural transformations brought about by development. [find out more]
Composition Residency
Benjamin Attahir
Winner of the 2026 Music Composition Prize, Benjamin Attahir is coming for his first residency to work on his concerto for clarinet, fans and symphony orchestra: *Love is louder*. The basis of his musical composition is the score that the artist Erich Berghammer created using resins, flowers and plant essences. [find out more]