Night of Ideas 2023
Night of Ideas invites thought leaders, activists, performers, authors, and academics to engage the public in discussion around a central question that addresses major, contemporary global issues.
Night of Ideas 2023 focuses on the theme More?, with each event approaching the challenge of building a more sustainable and equitable society from the vantage point of local issues, debates, and opportunities. From how to reach a point of more justice in Atlanta; to what ‘more’ really means in a growth-driven society in San Francisco; to looking at our uncertain future through young peoples’ eyes in New York; to climate change in Pasadena and Phoenix; to exploring the limits of our universe through astronomy in Kansas City, Night of Ideas, taking place in more than 20 U.S. cities this year, asks attendees to consider how our world has been challenged by excess in all areas, and how ideas and collaboration could light the way to a more stable and peaceful tomorrow.
Participants include economist and musician and writer Felwine Sarr, artist Anne Plaisance, professor of African-American and Black/African diaspora studies Maboula Soumahoro, director, National Center for Civil and Human Rights Jill Savitt, Nobel prize winners Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, podcast host Léa Hirshfeld, director of the École Urbaine de Lyon, Michel Lussault, philosophers Nicolas Prévélakis, Barbara Cassin and Baptiste Morizot, architect and co-director of Z4A Ophélia Mantz, and jazz musicians Jack Sorel Music Trio, and Kim Clarke Trio among other high-profile speakers and Villa Albertine residents.
Outside of New York, 2023 Night of Ideas events will take place at a record-breaking venues around the US and in Mexico:
- Kansas City: Powell Observatory, Alliance Française – February 25, 2023
- Milwaukee: Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, Alliance Française – February 28, 2023
- New Orleans, Alliance Française – February 27, 2023
- Minneapolis: Alliance Française – February 28, 2023
- Pasadena: Alliance Française – March 1, 2023
- San Juan, Puerto Rico: Alliance Française – March 1, 2023
- Los Angeles: Alliance Française – March 2, 2023
- Los Angeles: University of Southern California – March 2, 2023
- St. Louis: Webster University, Alliance Française – March 2, 2023
- Monterrey, Mexico: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León à Monterrey, (in partnership with the French Consulate in Houston) – March 2, 2023
- San Diego, Alliance Française – March 2, 2023
- Seattle: Alliance Française – March 3, 2023
- Boston: Harvard University – March 3, 2023
- Atlanta: National Center for Civil and Human Rights – March 4, 2023
- San Francisco: SF Public Library – March 4, 2023
- Detroit: Alliance Française – March 5, 2023
More information can be found at nightofideas.org.
Night of Ideas 2023 is presented by Villa Albertine, in partnership with FACE Foundation and the Institut français.
The national program in the US is made possible with major philanthropic support from Presenting Partner the Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation, Mellon Foundation, and Carnegie Corporation of New York.