Atelier highlights some of the unique discussions that take place at Reid Hall, a third space at the threshold of academia and beyond. With Atelier, we open our doors to listeners anywhere. Engaging across borders and disciplines, these conversations feature some of the people who inspire us most and explore a vast range of topics, from art and science to social justice and climate.
Atelier is produced by the Columbia Global Paris Center, a Columbia University initiative housed at Reid Hall.
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Mohamed Elshahed is a writer, curator, and critic of architecture. In 2011 he founded Cairobserver, a fluid project with six printed magazines distributed for free to stimulate public debates around issues of architecture, heritage, and urbanism. He is the curator of the British Museum’s Modern Egypt Project and of Modernist Indignation, Egypt’s winning pavilion at the 2018 London Design Biennale. As a 2023-2024 Fellow of the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, he has worked on a book about this project, envisioned as a companion to his previous book, Cairo Since 1900: An Architectural Guide (AUC Press, 2020).
This episode will be released on May 9, 2024.
Lois Grjebine, Smith class of 1952, first came to Reid Hall as a study-abroad student over seven decades ago. In this episode, she talks about how the experience changed the course of her life, launching a pioneering career in journalism and women’s rights.
In the 1960s, she worked first as editor-in-chief of the French monthly, Réalités, then as editor-in-chief of the weekly English-language edition of Le Monde. She also served on the executive board of the French feminist organization, Choisir, where she was named delegate to the UN International Women’s Year meeting in Paris. An activist in American politics overseas, she was also elected committee woman to the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C.
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What does it take to train tomorrow's leaders? What does it mean to be politically engaged? Alice Barbe, founder of the Académie Des Futurs Leaders and former Obama Scholar, talks to us about community organizing, civic engagement, and empowering people to effect change.
Alice Barbe is an activist and a co-founder of SINGA, a French association which creates interactions that accelerates the inclusion of newcomers in civil society. She was part of the first cohort of Obama Scholars from 2018-2019, and she is a co-founder of the Académie des Futurs Leaders.
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How to make people respond to human rights abuses in a way that actually has impact? Jack Snyder explores these questions in his book, Human Rights for Pragmatists (Princeton University Press, 2022).
Jack Snyder is the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Relations in the political science department and the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University.
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In the face of a war aiming to erase Ukrainian national identity, preserving Ukrainian music becomes a pillar of resilience and resistance. In this episode, Anna Stavychenko, a tireless advocate, describes her efforts to safeguard Ukrainian musical legacy and provide refuge for displaced talents.
Anna Stavychenko is a musicologist, music critic, and classical music manager. Last year Anna was a Harriman Resident at Reid Hall, and this year her visionary organization, the 1991 project, is one of the Displaced Artists Initiatives at Reid Hall.
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On the first day of COP28, delegates agreed to formally establish a 'Loss and Damage Fund' to support vulnerable countries dealing with the effects of climate change. Saleemul Huq spent the better part of his career advocating for such a fund. In this episode, he discusses the evolution of this initiative with Mélody Braun, Climate Response Lead at CGC | Paris.
Saleemul Huq OBE was a Bangladeshi-British scientist and had been the Director of the International Centre for Climate Change & Development based in Bangladesh, also Professor at Independent University, Bangladesh.
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Saleem died unexpectedly in October 2023. As you’ll hear from this interview, recorded in June 2023 in Paris, he approached his work in the field of climate, particularly in Loss and Damage, with incredible brilliance, vision, and integrity.
On June 19, 2023 we held a panel discussion on Loss and Damage at Reid Hall with Saleem. Watch the event recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHRGqWawHDk&t=1505s
Reid Hall—once a porcelain factory, then an orthopedic center; a Protestant boy’s school, then a girls’ art club—is home today to the Columbia Global Paris Center and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination. The history of this place was either unknown or largely forgotten until Brune Biebuyck reconstructed the story.
Brune Biebuyck is director of Reid Hall and of the Columbia Global Paris Center.
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Reid Hall is also home to three Columbia academic programs: the Columbia in Paris undergraduate programs, the M.A. in History and Literature, and the GSAPP Shape of Two Cities program. This year, we celebrate the 60th anniversary of its bequeathal to Columbia University in 1964. Its history as a study abroad center goes back even further, and it continues to host many other universities' study abroad programs.
Visit this website for a comprehensive look into the many chapters of Reid Hall's history: https://reidhall.globalcenters.columbia.edu/