Pierre Azou is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of French and Italian. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (2012) and a master’s degree in Public Affairs (2014) from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po.), as well as a master’s degree in French Literature from the Université La Sorbonne-Paris IV (2017).

From a critical theory perspective, he is broadly interested in the relationship between literature, cinema and politics as it evolved from the start of the 20th century to the present, and more specifically in their interaction when addressing (or giving birth to) extreme phenomena — from the Revolution to climate change to terrorism (the intended subject of his dissertation). Theoretically, this translates into a particular interest for radical figures (whether progressive or reactionary) — and, formally, for the novel and the essay as the uncertain genres where words and actions, ethics and esthetics, facts and imagination, the individual and the collective, and other such binaries, meet in ambiguous, contradictory, and oftentimes paradoxical ways.

As a GradFUTURES Social Impact Fellow at The French Mission for Culture and Higher Education in the French Embassy in New York City, Pierre was able to contribute to vital aspects of Villa Albertine, a newly-minted program offering bespoke residencies for global creators, thinkers, and cultural professionals.

About his GradFUTURES Social Impact Fellowship:

"For me, this was the perfect position because it meant being at the center of things and working with all departments, and carrying very practical tasks that are very different from the ones expected of us as Ph.D. students, while also keeping an eye on the big picture...[The embassy is] just a great place to build one’s network in the French-American domain, because they’re in contact with virtually everybody."

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