Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens has joined as Counsellor, Head of the Service for Education, Science and Culture French Institute in India (Country Director-. French Institute in India (IFI). The French Institute in India (IFI – Institut français en Inde) is the education, science and culture cooperation service of the Embassy of France in India. It helps in academic and scientific exchanges between Indian and French higher education institutions, enables student mobility and promotes French language and artistic and cultural partnerships. He pursued political studies in Strasbourg before moving on to the Ecole Nationale d’Administration and becoming part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs right after the onset of the new century.He has worked in New Zealand, New York and San Francisco before arriving in New Delhi earlier this month.
He said “I am delighted to join the team of the Institut Français India and look forward to further developing the numerous initiatives launched by my predecessor Dr. Bertrand de Hartingh. I am impressed by the number and diversity of individuals and organizations that contribute to the development of cultural and scientific exchanges and can’t wait to connect and dialogue. Arriving in Delhi is a promise of wonderful discoveries and encounters”. Despite the global health crisis he insisted on finding new opportunities. He was pleased that the Alliances Françaises and French schools successfully moved most of their activities online. He added “We are very proud to be the first country to reopen its borders to international students and scholars. I convey my best wishes to all those who will join a French campus or research lab this fall. France, the world’s fourth-largest destination for international students, will be happy to welcome you whether you follow a curriculum in our language or in one of the 1,600 English programmes. Most of our universities are organized with a mix of online and on-campus classes. Newly admitted students can follow classes online until they get their visa for France”.
IFI team consists of Deputy Counsellor for Education, Science and Culture Mr Nicolas Gherardi, our Cultural Attaché Ms Isabelle Vierget-Rias, our Attaché for Innovation & Multimedia Ms Juliette Grandmont, our Education and Linguistic Attaché Ms Fatiha Kammoussi and our Attaché in Bangalore for University and Scientific Cooperation Mr François-Xavier Mortreuil.
The institute in has lined up many events in coming months. These programmes include, A virtual “PhD Tour” is being organized from 21-25 September to allow researchers to interact with representatives of French universities in different fields of research. To celebrate of the 80th year of Alliance française in Bengal, East India, Alliance française du Bengale, in collaboration with Institut français in India and Bingsha Shatabdi will host an online talk show with Karthika Nair, Joëlle Jolivet and Bijal Vachharajani on 25th September.
October events:
· An exclusive screening of the film Petit Pays (Small Country) which takes you through a touching childhood, set during the ethnic conflict in Rwanda. Adapted from the book by Gaël Faye, it will be followed by a discussion with the author.
· Launch of Tamil translation work, launch the Tamil translation of Erik Orsenna’s book Pasteur: la vie, la mort, la vie. On this occasion to host a discussion between Erik Orsenna, Srini V. Kaveri (Director, CNRS office in India), Jaya Bhattacharji Rose (journalist), Amutharasan Paulraj (publisher). The book was translated with the support of our Publication Assistance Programmme (PAP Tagore).
November events:
· To celebrate the International French Teacher’s Day November 26th to 28th, they would host the annual Congress of the Indian Association of Teachers of French (IATF), organized in partnership with the Institut Français and the network of Alliances Françaises.
· A series on French travelers and photographers in India is in the making and their stories and images will travel to you soon and much-awaited Paris Book Fair next March.Around 40 Indian authors will participate with their works published in many different languages. As the situation evolves, they will continue the Indo-French dialogue, online, offline, on air. You can follow more at http://ifindia.in/all-events.
Editor in Chief : Mewati SItaram
