The Paris Institute for Critical Thinking (PICT) is an independent, volunteer-run, non-profit institute with no state or corporate backing. We provide a public space for the humanities and arts, unregulated by the gatekeepers of traditional higher education.
PICT Manifesto 2021
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By joining our community as a member, you help PICT to increase its open-access content and expand its free in-person program!
PICT Elects New Association Board
On Sunday, 8 January 2023, the Paris Institute for Critical Thinking (PICT) held its Annual General Assembly. All PICT members were invited to the meeting,
PICT Gets the French Touch!
(version française ci-dessous) PICT has always built bridges between our native Paris and the Anglophone world. We have lectured on Parisian landmarks from the Eiffel
KEY WORDS 1: coffee beans, potato chips, peasants, artists
Image: Cafetière, Pablo Picasso (1943) KEY WORDS 1: coffee beans, potato chips, peasants, artists by Emanuel Strandsand (Paris, France) FRENHOFER. I saw the name in
PICT in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
On Wednesday, 18 May 2022, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), a leading German daily newspaper, featured an article devoted to the PICT publication, “The Real
The Real Academy in Exile (Censored)
Image: Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus, J. M. W. Turner (1829) The Real Academy in Exile (Censored) by David Selim Sayers (Paris, France)1 For Talât Halman Sansürün çıkardığı
How to Déplier Baroque
How to Déplier Baroque Interview with Marina Nordera by Tatiana Senkevitch (Paris, France) WHETHER one thinks of the Baroque as a specific historical period or as an
PICT Panel Held at École des Ponts
The PICT panel, “Hope, Fear & Tech: Perspectives on Technology from the Humanities,” took place on Tuesday, 6 December 2022, at the École des Ponts
PICT Ranks #1 Among “Best Paris Podcasts”
The podcasts of the Paris Institute for Critical Thinking (PICT) have taken the #1 spot on FeedSpot’s list of “15 Best Paris Podcasts worth listening
Living in the Toxcene: Toxicity as a Form of Life
Living in the Toxcene: Toxicity as a Form of Life by Dipali Mathur (Edinburgh, UK) EDITORS’ NOTE: This essay was originally published as “The Planetary
Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” Is a Direct Assault on the “Purpose” of Men
Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” Is a Direct Assault on the “Purpose” of Men by Genna Rivieccio (Paris, France) IF 2022 was “the year men flopped”1 (as if they
PICT Conferences: 7th International José Saramago Conference
“Human beings must not be satisfied with the role of observer. They have a responsibility to the world, they have to act, they have to
(French) Theory: An Anti-American American Invention
François Cusset (French) Theory: An Anti-American American Invention If French Theory is American, it is so in the sense of being an errant concept, caught
Gender, Sex, and Printing Press in Ottoman Constantinople
Image from Hançerli Hikaye-i Garibesi (1851-52) Gender, Sex, and Printing Press in Ottoman Constantinople by David Selim Sayers (Paris, France) EVER since learning Ottoman Turkish nearly
PICT Aegean Summer School 2022
It was our great pleasure and privilege to hold the first ever PICT Aegean Summer School in the Turkish coastal town of Ayvalik from 20
The One Who Sees This World Is You
The One Who Sees This World Is You by Aşık Veysel (Turkish original – Sivas, Turkey)by David Selim Sayers and Evrim Emir-Sayers (English translation –
American French-ness: The American Appropriation of Contemporary French Philosophy
Kristof K.P. Vanhoutte American French-ness: The American Appropriation of Contemporary French Philosophy From the early seventies onwards, a variety of philosophical theories produced in
PICT Honorary Lectures V: The Shadow of Kant: Reconsidering the Modern Self
The fifth PICT Honorary Lecture, and the first post-pandemic PICT public event, took place on Tuesday, 19 April, at the Goethe Institut Paris. Delivered by
No Map Can Stop the Bats from Crossing the Border
Image from Kitab-ı Bahriye by Piri Reis (first published 1521) No Map Can Stop the Bats from Crossing the Border Interview with David Selim Sayers
Wolfgang’s Wager: Thinking Crisis with Wolfgang Streeck
On 26 April 2022, the PICT Student Ambassadors staged their second live online discussion, welcoming the German economic sociologist Wolfgang Streeck. The event was convened