Meet the Paris Faculty

Classes at the Paris Program are taught by local faculty members and the Program Director. In addition, lectures are offered by Stanford faculty-in-residence each quarter. Many professors hold regular appointments at French universities or have served in prominent positions in local governments, policy organizations, or research institutes. Courses are taught in French unless otherwise noted.

Faculty in Residence

Each quarter, one Stanford professor serves as Faculty in Residence in each of the BOSP program locations. These faculty teach classes in their own disciplines, developing courses that incorporate unique features of the local culture and environment or that provide comparative perspectives on a particular topic. View a list of current and future faculty.

Local Faculty

Lina Abu Zer 

Lina possesses a Bachelor’s degree in linguistics as well as a Master’s degree in French as a foreign language, both obtained from the Sorbonne Nouvelle University. Her primary area of research focuses on intercultural awareness. Lina actively engages in educational engineering projects, contributing with her expertise and knowledge to enhance the quality of educational programs.

Lina teaches a French Language course.

Jean-François Allemand

Jean-François Allemand holds a PhD in physics from Université Pierre et Marie Curie. He is professor in physics at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. He works at the interface between physics/chemistry and biology in the Statistical Physics Laboratory in the Physics department of the Ecole Normale Supérieure. His research focuses on DNA, DNA/protein interactions, DNA associated molecular motors at the single molecule level, and biological physics in general.

Jean-François’ course is titled Electricity, Magnetism and Optics.

Sam Azulys

Sam Azulys studied philosophy at the Sorbonne (Paris I), where he obtained his Ph.D. He has published numerous texts on Cinema and Philosophy, an aesthetic essay on director Stanley Kubrick (Stanley Kubrick: a Philosophical Odyssey) and a philosophical essay about the TV Series Game of Thrones. He teaches French Cinema and Film Studies at New York University in France and he is also a film director, a dramatist and a screenwriter. He regularly writes articles and gives lectures in different institutes such as the “Forum des images”. He recently co-directed a collective book: 2001 L’odyssée de l’espace: au carrefour des arts et des sciences at Editions de l’École Polytechnique.

Sam’s course is titled Paris through the Lens of your Smartphone.

Julia Fizet

Julia Fizet first studied Translation and Interpretation at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, and subsequently in Spain, where she obtained a Master 2 Degree. She then discovered her passion for teaching her mother tongue and decided to pursue a second Degree in teaching French as a foreign language at the Sorbonne (Master 2). She has been teaching since 2007, first in Spain, then in Paris, her hometown, in several institutions such as ESCP Europe Business School, Sciences Po and the Sorbonne University. During her last year of studies, she specialized in teaching informal French and has since given several workshops on this subject, including at Stanford University in Paris. She has lived in Spain and the United Kingdom and also travelled across the US.

Julia teaches a French Language course.

Audrey Calefas-Strebelle

Audrey Calefas-Strebelle is Franco-American. She is the director of the Stanford Center in Paris. She completed her undergraduate work at the Sorbonne University (Paris IV) in History as well as her Masters in American History, and she received her Doctorate in French Literature from Stanford University. She had the privilege to be for many years the research assistant of the philosopher Michel Serres at Stanford. She was an Associate Professor of French and History (double appointment) at Mills College. Her research focuses on the on the relationship between France and the Ottoman Empire in the Early Modern period, and she lately launched a Humanities + Design project: Mapping Orientalism in Early Modern France (http://hdlab.stanford.edu/projects/). She’s currently finishing a book titled The Sabre and the Sword: A comparative study of the representations of the warrior noble and the Turk in Early Modern France under contract with Routledge.

Audrey’s courses are titled Spotlights on French Culture and Society; Exploring Sustainability: Ecological Economis and Environnemental Humanities, and Urban Gardening Workshop.

Nicolas Desprat

Dr. Nicolas Desprat graduated in fundamental physics from Sorbonne University. He holds a PhD in condensed matter and is currently appointed as associate professor at the University Paris Cité. His research focuses on understanding the extent to which physical constraints shape biological systems. In the past, he has worked on cell mechanics and mecanotransduction in early embryonic development. His current research focuses on the spatial and temporal dynamics involved in the structuring of microbial communities (bacteria, algea and yeasts). In addition to his research activities, he develops projects with artists (Philippe Parreno, Agoria, Nicolas Becker)

Nicolas’s course is titled Electricity, Magnestism and Optics with Laboratory.

Bénédicte Gady

Bénédicte Gady graduated from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris ("Sciences Po"), earned her doctorate in Art History from the Sorbonne (François-Victor Noury award) and served as fellow at the Villa Médicis in Rome. After eight years at the Musée du Louvre working on 17th and 18th Century French Drawings, she now serves as Chief Curator of the Graphic Arts Department at the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris. She has curated numerous exhibitions in Spain, at the Louvre-Lens and at the Louvre and the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris, one of them concerning the preparatory drawings of the Ceilings of Paris during the 17th century.

Bénédicte’s course is titled Museums in Paris.

Amanda Herold-Marme

Amanda Herold-Marme received her PhD in Art History from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) in 2017 with a dissertation on Spanish art and politics in Paris from the Spanish Civil War through the 1950s. She holds Masters degrees from the Sorbonne in contemporary art history, as well as in Hispanic Literature and Civilization from New York University in Madrid. She has taught various art history and history courses at institutions including Sciences Po Paris, the University of California Education Abroad Program, the Ecole du Louvre, and Paris College of Art. She has published numerous texts on Spanish art and artists in Paris, political engagement and exile; some of her latest work was published by the Musée-national Picasso Paris, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Spanish Ministry of Justice and the Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud in Perpignan. In addition, Amanda works for the right-holders of sculptor Julio González and painter Roberta González under the auspices of Julio González Administration, to promote, research and authenticate the work of these artists.

Amanda’s course is titled Art and Politics in Modern France.

Riva Kastoryano

Riva Kastoryano is a research director at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), and Professor at SciencesPo Paris. Her work focuses on identity and minority issues and more specifically to their relations to states in France, Germany, the United States. She was a lecturer at Harvard University 1984-1987, and has been teaching at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris (SciencesPo.) since 1988 and as a visiting professor at the New School for Social Research since 2005.

Her books are Negotiating Identities. States and Immigrants in France and Germany Princeton University Press 2002. She also edited Quelle identité pour l’Europe ? Le multiculturalisme à l’épreuve (Paris, Presses de Sciences-Po 1998 and 2005 for the second edition) ; Nationalismes en mutation en Méditerranée Orientale (Changing Concept of Nationalism) (with A.Dieckhoff) Paris, Ed.du CNRS 2002 ; and Les codes de la différence. Religion, Origine, Race en France, Allemagne et Etats-Unis, (Codes of Otherness. Religion, Ancestry and Race in France, Germany and the United States) Presses de Sciences-Po, 2005. Turkey Between Nationalism and Globalization, London Routledge 2013. Her last book is : Que faire des corps des djihadistes? Territoire et identité, Paris Fayard 2015, Burying Jihadis: Bodies between State, Territory and Identity,  London, Oxford U. Press and Hurst Pbl 2018.

Riva’s course is titled Immigration and Citizenship in Comparative Perspectives.

Louise Lartigot-Hervier

Louise Lartigot-Hervier holds a PhD in political science from Sciences Po Paris in 2012. She is assistant professor in political science at the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (France) and research fellow at the CESDIP (Centre de recherches sociologiques sur le droit et les institutions pénales). She is also associate researcher at the Centre for European studies at Sciences Po, Paris. Her main works have been on comparative studies and on public policy analysis (in particular social policies, prevention policies).

Louise's course is titled Europe and its challenges today.

Éloi Laurent

Éloi Laurent is a senior economist at OFCE (Sciences-Po Center for economic research, Paris). He has background in policy-making, as a former aid in the French Parliament (1999-2000) and to the French prime minister (2000-2002). He presently teaches at Sciences-Po and at La Sorbonne (College of higher European studies) and on campus at Stanford University since 2011 (summer quarter). He has been a visiting scholar at NYU (2003), Columbia University (2002, 2004 and 2007), and at Harvard University Center for European studies (2005-2006 and Fall 2009) and was guest lecturer at the University of Montréal (summer 2010). Éloi Laurent holds a Ph.D. in economics (highest honors) and a Master’s degree from the University Paris-Dauphine in international economics and graduated summa cum laude from Sciences Po (political science and economics). He is the author or editor of ten books and close to a hundred articles.

Éloi’s course is titled Exploring Sustainability: Ecological Economics and Environmental Humanities.

Elizabeth Molkou

Elizabeth Molkou received her Ph.D. in French from McGill University in Canada. She taught French language, civilization, and literature at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (“Sciences Po”) and teaches in New York University in France, as well as French language for the Stanford Program in Paris. Her research interests include autobiographical theory, autofiction in contemporary French literature, and the representation of Paris in contemporary fiction; her critical writing is informed by an interest in the relationship between language and identity. Her most recent paper, entitled Le Paris de Patrick Modiano, was presented at Université Paris–I Panthéon Sorbonne. In 2010, she published Identités juives et autofiction : de la Shoah à la post-modernité at Editions Universitaires Européennes.

Elizabeth teaches a French Language course.

Grégoire Quenault

After having received his DNSEP, a French higher degree in Fine Arts, from the Ecole Supérieur d’Arts et Design of Orléans, Grégoire Quenault received in 2005 his doctorate in Aesthetics, Science, and Technology of the Arts from the University of Paris 8. In 2005 he was named Associate Professor in the Art Department of the University of Picardie- Jules Verne, where he then became Adjunct Director. He has also taught at the University of Paris 8 since 2014.  Quenault specializes in Avant-Garde trends and moving images, and his research and publications primarily cover the history and aesthetics of Avant-Garde and experimental cinema, expanded cinema, and video art. After having participated in various research centers and groups (such as CRAE- Center for Research in Art and Aesthetics at the University of Amiens, C2RMF- the Center for Research and Restauration of France’s Museums, 24/25), he is now member of the ESTCA Center for Research in Paris (Aesthetics, Science, and Technology of Cinema and Audiovisual Media).

Grégoire's course is titled The Avant-garde in France through Literature, Art and Theater.

Pauline Reychman

Pauline Reychman received a Master's in Comparative Literature from the Université Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle in 1999 and a Master's in French Language and Literature from the University of Maryland in 2001. She currently teaches French Language and Culture in several Paris institutions of higher learning. Pauline has contributed articles, exercises and videos to FLE projects and textbooks. She has also done extensive research and editing for various French authors and publishing houses.

Pauline teaches a French Language course.

Jennifer Tamas

Jennifer Tamas is “Agrégée de Lettres modernes". She holds a doctorate in Stylistics from Paris Sorbonne (2012) and a doctorate in French literature from Stanford University (2013). Currently, she is an Associate Professor of French literature at Rutgers University in New Jersey. A specialist in theater and gender issues, she explores how classical culture has shaped some of our representations and how its distortions have fuelled stereotypes. Her publications cover a range of topics, including gallantry, romantic passion, and classical theater (Le Silence trahi. Racine ou la déclaration tragique, Droz, 2018). In Au NON des femmes. Libérer nos classiques du regard masculin (Seuil, 2023), Jennifer examines the issue of consent through the lens of female refusals, tracing a literary history that questions stereotypes and reexamines female agency. She has also recently written a short essay on 17th and 18th-century fairy tales to address contemporary issues in unexpected ways and open up new perspectives (Faut-il en finir avec les contes de fées ?, La Martinière, coll. "Alt”, 2024). Her last essay aims at fostering new debates on consent and “sexual civility” nowadays by revisiting the key notion of gallantry from the perspective of women writers: Peut-on encore être galant? (Seuil, Libelle, 2024).

Jennifer’s course is titled From Tinder to Tender: Consent and the Art of Dating in France

Marie-Pierre Ulloa

Dr. Marie-Pierre Ulloa has been a lecturer at Stanford University since 2012. She specializes in the cultural and intellectual history of France and the Francophone world in a transnational context, with a focus on North Africa. She works at the intersection of the history and sociology of literature and cinema, using a methodology that allies oral history with archival research. She is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris and of EHESS, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, and the author of two monographies, Francis Jeanson, a Dissident Intellectual from the French Resistance to the Algerian War (Stanford University Press, 2008, also published in French and in Arabic) and of Le Nouveau Rêve Américain: Du Maghreb à la Californie (The New American Dream: From North Africa to California, Editions du CNRS, 2019). Her latest publication deals with the work of French-Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai. She was awarded the honorific title of “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres” by the French Republic in 2013.

Marie-Pierre’s courses are titled Paris: Magrebi Capital City, and Paris Noir and the Spaces of Otherness.

Johann Voulot

Johann Voulot is a professor of French. He holds a Master’s degree from the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin and a DEA from Paris VII. He teaches French language courses and specializes in translation, creative writing, Business French and French for International Relations. He has a deep interest in building relationships with the francophone professional networks. In this context, organizing workshops and working on mentoring programs are part of his academic interests.

Johann teaches a French Language course.