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.https://parisinstitute.org/enFri, 14 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-launches-senlis-writers-retreat/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-launches-senlis-writers-retreat/Since the launch of PICT Books, our boutique publishing house, PICT has increasingly focused its efforts on the written word, publishing a small but…Fri, 14 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/maria-matalaev-translates-daughter-of-the-revolution/https://parisinstitute.org/maria-matalaev-translates-daughter-of-the-revolution/Vera Broido (1907-2004) was a Russian-born author who came of age as the Russian Empire gave way to the Soviet Union, and whose life and work were marked by…Sat, 08 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/mortaza-behboudi-releases-book-on-iran-protests/https://parisinstitute.org/mortaza-behboudi-releases-book-on-iran-protests/The death in custody of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, following her arrest by the Iranian Guidance Patrol for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly, ignited…Sun, 26 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTActivismhttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-book-receives-local-editions-in-bangladesh/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-book-receives-local-editions-in-bangladesh/Pinaki had to leave Bangladesh in 2019 due to his human rights activism and currently resides in Paris, France, from where his online commentary on…Wed, 22 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-book-tops-bestseller-lists-receives-media-coverage/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-book-tops-bestseller-lists-receives-media-coverage/On Amazon USA, Fulkumari’s top three rankings include #1 Bestseller among Historical India & South Asia Biographies, #1 Bestseller among Historical Asian…Tue, 21 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/salamis-aysegul-sentug-tugyan-curates-exhibition-in-istanbul/https://parisinstitute.org/salamis-aysegul-sentug-tugyan-curates-exhibition-in-istanbul/Dünya Burada Bitsin features videos, photography, and mixed media works by Cypriot artists Sümer Erek, Uygar Erdim, İsmail Gökçe, Nurtane Karagil, Erdoğan…Thu, 16 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTArtshttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-book-named-book-of-the-year-by-k24/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-book-named-book-of-the-year-by-k24/In his review, Necmi Sönmez praises the book for exploring “the position that Ottoman society granted to people defined as queer today.” The book, Sönmez…Sun, 05 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTHistoryhttps://parisinstitute.org/cooking-and-communism-the-meals-and-memories-of-gun-benderli/https://parisinstitute.org/cooking-and-communism-the-meals-and-memories-of-gun-benderli/Radio Budapest, 1954: Sabiha Sertel, Zekeriya Sertel, Bianca Vidali, Nazım Hikmet, Gün Benderli, unknown, Necil Togay, and translator Zsuzsa by Evrim…Thu, 12 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMTEvrim Emir-SayersDavid Selim SayersHistoryhttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-book-reviewed-in-athens-voice/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-book-reviewed-in-athens-voice/In her review, Krystalli Glyniadakis praises the book for recovering a gender world “that had accompanied the societies of the Balkans and Anatolia for entire…Sat, 19 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMTHistoryhttps://parisinstitute.org/french-ministry-of-culture-awards-grant-to-translate-pict-book/https://parisinstitute.org/french-ministry-of-culture-awards-grant-to-translate-pict-book/Awarded by the ministry’s Centre National du Livre, the grant is dedicated to the translation of philosophical works that are deemed important additions to…Thu, 01 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMTPhilosophyhttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-joins-jangada-network/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-joins-jangada-network/Founded in 2019, the Jangada Network is animated by three key ideas derived from Saramago’s work. Firstly, the network is committed to exploring and…Tue, 30 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMTLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/you-know-it-when-you-see-it-the-obscene-from-porn-to-crypto/https://parisinstitute.org/you-know-it-when-you-see-it-the-obscene-from-porn-to-crypto/Image: "Barrels of Money" by Victor Dubreuil (ca. 1890s) by David Herz (Paris, France) To Porn or Not to Porn In 2002, US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D…Thu, 20 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTDavid HerzPhilosophyhttps://parisinstitute.org/a-birth-maybe/https://parisinstitute.org/a-birth-maybe/Image from The School of the Heart by George Withermage (1676) A Birth, Maybe? Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh a short story He is curly burly, joyful and sad, tall and…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTShahrbanou TadjbakhshLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/airport-thoughts/https://parisinstitute.org/airport-thoughts/Image from Weird Islands by Jean de Bosschère (1921) Airport Thoughts Elena Gabor a poem Comfortable shoes, hoodies, earbuds,Peoplewatching with prolonged…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTElena GaborLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/an-algorithmic-perpetrator/https://parisinstitute.org/an-algorithmic-perpetrator/Image: "The March of Intellect” by Robert Seymour (ca. 1828) An Algorithmic Perpetrator, or Why We Need to Acknowledge the Many Things We Do Not (Yet) Know…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTKristina KhutsishviliPhilosophyhttps://parisinstitute.org/animals-as-victims/https://parisinstitute.org/animals-as-victims/Image from an Egyptian manuscript of Kalīlah wa-Dimnah by Ibn al-Muqaffaʻ (ca. 1310) Animals as Victims Carlo Salzani and Zipporah Weisberg Animals are…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTCarlo SalzaniZipporah WeisbergEnvironmenthttps://parisinstitute.org/editorial-note-iv/https://parisinstitute.org/editorial-note-iv/dePICTions volume 4 (2024): Victimhood Editorial Note Victimhood is a common response to trauma. It entails not only a negative experience or a harmful event…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTCarlo SalzaniPhilosophyhttps://parisinstitute.org/on-the-crisis-of-white-masculinity/https://parisinstitute.org/on-the-crisis-of-white-masculinity/Image: "A Bantam," from Shadows by Charles Bennett (ca. 1856) On the Crisis of (White) Masculinity: Victimization Discourse and Transformations in Racialized…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTTristan BridgesIan AnthonyPhilosophyhttps://parisinstitute.org/seductive-yet-destructive/https://parisinstitute.org/seductive-yet-destructive/Image from Magic: Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions, including Trick Photography, compiled and edited by Albert A. Hopkins (1897) Seductive Yet…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTLeah Jule RitterfeldPhilosophyhttps://parisinstitute.org/socrates-and-alyosha-karamazov/https://parisinstitute.org/socrates-and-alyosha-karamazov/Image: "The Road by Gadshill - Prince Henry, Poins, Peto, Falstaff, etc.” by Samuel Middiman after Robert Smirke (ca. 1803) Socrates and Alyosha Karamazov…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTOctavian GaborPhilosophyhttps://parisinstitute.org/thats-how-it-goes-laz-ismail/https://parisinstitute.org/thats-how-it-goes-laz-ismail/That’s how it goes, Laz Ismail Nazım Hikmet a poem Translated by Evrim Emir-Sayers and David Selim Sayers Bursa Prison, 1948 For Aleksandra Mostovaja and…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTNazım HikmetEvrim Emir-SayersDavid Selim SayersLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/the-victims-perspective/https://parisinstitute.org/the-victims-perspective/Image: "Salle d'audience du tribunal de Senlis" by Thomas Couture (ca. 1860-1869) The Victim’s Perspective: How Thinking About the Victim Can Provide Answers…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTMarianna LeventiPhilosophyhttps://parisinstitute.org/victim-of-abuse-violence-or-harm/https://parisinstitute.org/victim-of-abuse-violence-or-harm/Image: "Salome met het hoofd van Johannes de Doper" by Jacob Neefs (1632) Victim of Abuse, Violence, or Harm? Naming Gender-Based Violence in French and…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTNatasha MulvihillLucie WickyActivismhttps://parisinstitute.org/victimhood-isegoria-and-parresia/https://parisinstitute.org/victimhood-isegoria-and-parresia/Image: "The Yellow Press" by L. M. Glackens (1910) Victimhood, Isēgoria, and Parrēsia: Michel Foucault and US Conservatives Andrea Di Carlo Isēgoria (freedom…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTAndrea Di CarloPhilosophyhttps://parisinstitute.org/victims-of-human-vanity/https://parisinstitute.org/victims-of-human-vanity/Victims of Human Vanity: Fashion and the Exploitation of Animals Review by Carlo Salzani Victims of Fashion: Animal Commodities in Victorian Britain by Helene…Tue, 18 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTCarlo SalzaniEnvironmenthttps://parisinstitute.org/baptism-by-storm/https://parisinstitute.org/baptism-by-storm/Image: "Les Tuileries sous la neige," Agence de presse Mondial Photo-Presse, Agence photographique (January 1933) by Kristina Smoljanovic Glavas (Paris…Mon, 17 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTKristina Smoljanovic GlavasLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/cadavres-exquis-2024/https://parisinstitute.org/cadavres-exquis-2024/by Macha Matalaev (Paris, France) illustrated by Ambar Velasco (Paris, France) contributions by Evrim Emir-Sayers, David Selim Sayers (Paris, France) (version…Mon, 03 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMTMacha MatalaevLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-faculty-lectures-viii-governing-the-global-polis/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-faculty-lectures-viii-governing-the-global-polis/In the talk, Troy and Drew proposed a return to utopian political and economic thinking in order to tackle the growing catastrophe with which the current…Thu, 09 May 2024 00:00:00 GMTActivismhttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-hosts-art-exhibition/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-hosts-art-exhibition/According to the artist, the theme of the exhibition was born out of an investigation into her own fear of the night. “For me,” she states, “each fear is very…Wed, 08 May 2024 00:00:00 GMTArtshttps://parisinstitute.org/la-passante-to-be-screened-at-the-cote-court-film-festival/https://parisinstitute.org/la-passante-to-be-screened-at-the-cote-court-film-festival/The 25-minute fiction film (English title: V. in the 15th), tells the story of V., a young woman who has just moved to Paris and works at night, analyzing…Tue, 23 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMTArtshttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-faculty-lectures-viii/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-faculty-lectures-viii/What does economic democracy look like? Is it even possible? In this talk, Troy and Drew argue that economic democracy requires the abolition of capital’s…Mon, 19 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMTActivismhttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-presents-ambar-velasco-exhibition/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-presents-ambar-velasco-exhibition/Women at Night finds Velasco exploring the unruly atmosphere unveiled by the moonlight, a space which is both mysterious and tantalising, foreboding yet…Mon, 19 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMTArtshttps://parisinstitute.org/veils-of-light-and-darkness-thinking-through-ibn-arabis-bezels-of-wisdom/https://parisinstitute.org/veils-of-light-and-darkness-thinking-through-ibn-arabis-bezels-of-wisdom/by Evrim Emir-Sayers (Paris, France) In a story entitled “Chinese Art and Greek Art,” the renowned Sufi Jalaladdin Rumi (1207-1273) forges a connection…Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMTEvrim Emir-SayersPhilosophyhttps://parisinstitute.org/whats-in-a-name-on-the-significance-of-naming-for-humans-and-ai/https://parisinstitute.org/whats-in-a-name-on-the-significance-of-naming-for-humans-and-ai/by Hanna Abi Akl (Paris, France) A Name in Search of Its Meaning For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with my name. It always made me stand out for…Tue, 16 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTHanna Abi AklPhilosophyhttps://parisinstitute.org/art-and-survival-under-totalitarianism-a-quartet-for-life/https://parisinstitute.org/art-and-survival-under-totalitarianism-a-quartet-for-life/by Darya Protopopova (London, UK) Andrei Novashov, the first Russian journalist jailed for his anti-war posts, concluded his final statement in court, on 3…Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTDarya ProtopopovaArtshttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-visiting-lectures-iv-the-other-age-of-enlightenment/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-visiting-lectures-iv-the-other-age-of-enlightenment/While most of human history largely knew artificial lighting via inefficient lamps based on vegetable oil, the 19th century witnessed the introduction of…Wed, 03 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTHistoryhttps://parisinstitute.org/brotherhood-and-jihad/https://parisinstitute.org/brotherhood-and-jihad/by Aşık Mahzuni Şerif (Turkish original - Ankara, Turkey)by David Selim Sayers and Evrim Emir-Sayers (English translation - Paris, France) THIS translation is…Sun, 03 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMTAşık Mahzuni ŞerifLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/le-quatuor-borodine-en-tournee/https://parisinstitute.org/le-quatuor-borodine-en-tournee/(English version here) par Valentin Berlinsky (Moscou, Union soviétique – version originale russe)par Maria Matalaev (Paris, France – traduction française…Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMTValentin BerlinskyMaria MatalaevArtshttps://parisinstitute.org/news-from-2047/https://parisinstitute.org/news-from-2047/Illustration by Rick Guidice, Ames Research Center, NASA (mid-1970s) by Drew Pendergrass and Troy Vettese (Cambridge, USA) EDITOR'S NOTE: This piece was…Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMTDrew PendergrassTroy VetteseEnvironmenthttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-translations-featured-by-boston-university/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-translations-featured-by-boston-university/Since 2022, Evrim and David have been translating the work of Turkish literary figures such as Ahmed Arif, Aşık Veysel, Heijan, and Nazım Hikmet, as well as…Tue, 28 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMTLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-visiting-lectures-iv/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-visiting-lectures-iv/The 19th century witnessed tremendous changes in the technology of lighting. Artificial lighting by means of vegetable oil, a method unchallenged since the…Fri, 03 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMTHistoryhttps://parisinstitute.org/mortaza-behboudi-is-free/https://parisinstitute.org/mortaza-behboudi-is-free/Wed, 18 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMTActivismhttps://parisinstitute.org/pict-honorary-lectures-vii-new-plays-on-the-london-stage-a-conversation-with-mark-ravenhill/https://parisinstitute.org/pict-honorary-lectures-vii-new-plays-on-the-london-stage-a-conversation-with-mark-ravenhill/An emblematic playwright of the London stage, Ravenhill spoke at length about the history and present of a theatre scene that welcomes around a million…Mon, 16 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMTArtshttps://parisinstitute.org/the-messenger/https://parisinstitute.org/the-messenger/by Heijan (Turkish original - Bağcılar, Turkey)by David Selim Sayers and Evrim Emir-Sayers (English translation - Paris, France) THIS translation is of the…Sat, 19 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMTHeijanDavid Selim SayersEvrim Emir-SayersLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/thirty-three-bullets/https://parisinstitute.org/thirty-three-bullets/by Ahmed Arif (Turkish original - Ankara, Turkey)by David Selim Sayers and Evrim Emir-Sayers (English translation - Paris, France) THIS translation is of the…Fri, 18 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMTAhmed ArifDavid Selim SayersEvrim Emir-SayersLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/the-moon-is-dark/https://parisinstitute.org/the-moon-is-dark/by Ahmed Arif (Turkish original - Ankara, Turkey)by David Selim Sayers and Evrim Emir-Sayers (English translation - Paris, France) THIS translation is of the…Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMTAhmed ArifDavid Selim SayersEvrim Emir-SayersLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/new-plays-on-the-london-stage-a-conversation-with-mark-ravenhill/https://parisinstitute.org/new-plays-on-the-london-stage-a-conversation-with-mark-ravenhill/Few contemporary playwrights are as synonymous with the London stage as Mark Ravenhill. Since his debut at the Royal Court Theatre with Shopping and Fucking…Thu, 03 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMTArtshttps://parisinstitute.org/andalusian-visions-book-event/https://parisinstitute.org/andalusian-visions-book-event/Much more than a mere book talk, the event consisted of a layered multimedia experience that began with Stuart Dischell performing the poem he had composed…Mon, 24 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMTLiteraturehttps://parisinstitute.org/lesprit-gezi-la-possibilite-dune-impossibilite/https://parisinstitute.org/lesprit-gezi-la-possibilite-dune-impossibilite/(English version here) par David Selim Sayers (Paris, France) par Macha Matalaev (Paris, France – traduction française) NOTE DES ÉDITEURS : Cet article a été…Fri, 21 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMTDavid Selim SayersMacha MatalaevActivismhttps://parisinstitute.org/anglophone-bookstore-tour-with-parisian-school/https://parisinstitute.org/anglophone-bookstore-tour-with-parisian-school/At a length of 2 hours each, the tours introduced Notre-Dame students to the history of Anglophone writing and publishing in interwar Paris, highlighting key…Sat, 15 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMTLiterature