Night of Ideas, New York, March 27, 2025, 7-11pm: Pierre Singaravélou, Nadia Yala Kisukidi and Pap Ndiaye Lead Nocturnal Marathon of Debates and Performances
Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education, will launch its free annual flagship event in New York on March 27. This year’s theme, “Common Ground,” invites discussions on key challenges facing the U.S. and Europe today. The event will take place in 25 cities across the U.S. through April 6.
New York, February 26, 2025 — Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education has announced the program for New York’s 2025 Night of Ideas on March 27. This annual event — an engaging marathon of debates, performances, readings, and more — brings together influential thinkers, civil society leaders, artists, decision makers, and the public for late-night discussions on pivotal global issues.
Since 2016, Night of Ideas has been held in over 100 countries and 300 cities worldwide. This year, it returns to 25 U.S. cities, aiming to strengthen French-American dialogue on shared challenges while making intellectual debate more inclusive, blending thought-provoking discussion with artistic performances.
Night of Ideas will kick off at Villa Albertine in New York on March 27 at 7pm, exploring the global theme “Common Ground.” The event will bring together leading French and American intellectuals — including historian Pierre Singaravélou, philosophers Nadia Yala Kisukidi and Nancy Fraser, and historian and France’s Ambassador to the Council of Europe, Pap Ndiaye — for three French-American dialogues. Discussions will focus on the global rise of empires, the evolution of contemporary solidarities in France and the U.S., and the challenges facing both democracies today. The evening will also feature dance and musical performances by noted artists including Yannick Lebrun.
24 other events will take place across the United States through April 6. Most of them are co-developed with prestigious American institutions, including the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, The Goat Farm in Atlanta, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Rothko Chapel in Houston, the Museum of Science in Boston, The Wende Museum in Culver City, and The Wolfsonian-Florida International University in Miami. Participative and inclusive, the conversations will explore the principles shaping social connections today in France and the U.S., fostering debates on how we can revitalize collective decision-making, ensure meaningful participation from youth and civil society, and protect what we share in the face of today’s challenges — ranging from AI and environmental crises to geopolitical tensions.
More than 10,000 attendees and 500 French and American participants are expected.
Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education, deepens connections between the United States and the French-speaking world in the realms of arts and education. With hubs in 10 US cities, Villa Albertine fosters dynamic and participatory debates between French and American thinkers and civil society leaders on global issues, promotes exchanges between French and American youth, and supports the translation of French non-fiction works into English.
Mark your calendar for Night of Ideas on March 27, 2025, and visit nightofideas.org for the latest news and programming announcements.
Night of Ideas 2025 is presented by Villa Albertine and Albertine Foundation thanks to the leadership support of the Judy & Peter Blum Kovler Foundation, and with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It is coordinated worldwide by the Institut Français.
In partnership with
Albertine Foundation
Previously known as FACE Foundation, Albertine Foundation is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting French-American relations through innovative cultural and educational projects. In close partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States and its arts institution Villa Albertine, Albertine Foundation promotes artistic, literary, and educational exchange and collaboration between creative professionals from both countries thanks to corporate, foundation, and individual support.
Follow Albertine Foundation on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Institut français
The Institut français is responsible for France’s international cultural program. Supervised by both the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and by the Ministry of Culture, it promotes French culture abroad through cultural exchange initiatives. Operating in a space where the arts, intellectual exchange, cultural and social innovation, and linguistic partnerships interact and intersect, it is also responsible for promoting the French language and the sharing of works, artists, and ideas all over the world. The Institut français is one of Villa Albertine’s main French partners.
The Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation
The Foundation’s work has included underwriting of such public spaces as Washington’s Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Holocaust Museum; in New York, the new Statue of Liberty Museum; and in Chicago, as early supporters of the Obama Presidential Center. In connection to French culture and history, it has underwritten efforts at Notre Dame restoration, the Louvre Endowment, and to Holocaust studies including the 1988 Academy Award winning documentary, Hotel Terminus, the Life and Times of Klaus Barbie.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.