Anyone who has ever lived in France will probably have encountered an avenue, a school, a square or some other municipal space that has been named after one of the great French writers of the twentieth century, someone who also served for ten years as the most influential Minister of Culture in the history of the Fifth Republic: André Malraux. In my case, it was our theater which honored this illustrious author and statesman.
When walking past the building every day for years, I would look up at the immense black-and-white photograph of Mr. Malraux covering one of the outside walls and repeat to myself the sentence from him which the theater had painted in huge letters beneath his portrait: “culture is not something to be inherited; it is something to be conquered.”* I thought of this quotation on the evening of September 30, as I listened to the first of three “21st Century Citizenship Panel Discussions” which the Lycée Français de New York has organized for 2014-15.
Highlights of the panel “Dialogue Among Civilizations.”
On stage, three internationally acclaimed specialists, Ms. Nihal Saad, Spokesperson for the United Nations High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Dr. Gerald Cattaro, Executive Director of the Center for Catholic School Leadership at Fordham University, and Dr. Richard W. Bulliet, Professor of Middle Eastern History at Columbia University, took part in a riveting discussion about the importance of dialogue, unity and harmony across the different civilizations of our world, adroitly moderated by Pascale Richard, Director of the LFNY Cultural Center.
My attention was especially caught by one of our upper school students. Throughout the discussion, she was intently focused on what was being said and clearly engaged in the critical thinking that so distinguishes our young scholars. No sooner did Ms. Richard field questions from the audience than this tenth grade student raised her hand to pose two particularly enlightening queries, separated only by another incisive question from her mother, who was seated right beside her.
Talking with both of these participants afterwards, I was struck by their extraordinary complicity, not only as child and parent, but as two people sharing a deep conviction that the intellectual dimension of existence deserves to be celebrated and advanced by us all. Reminded of André Malraux, I was delighted, though not at all surprised to know that our student was receiving such inspiration at home, “inheriting” so much from her mother; I was further impressed to see that she was “conquering” culture for herself and making it her own.
Video of the panel “Dialogue Among Civilizations”.
Cultivating a lifelong interest and involvement in the cultural fabric of life for our young people, not to mention students from other private and public schools across New York City who are always invited to our events free of charge, is the mission of the Lycée Français de New York Culture Center, brilliantly piloted by Pascale Richard, with outstanding support from our faculty. During the months to come, I hope that our students will continue to take full advantage of our cultural programming, and if they are unable to attend everything that they will consult our blog for regular reports. Through such means as our imminent “Celebrating Humanity Around the Globe Lecture Series”, not to mention our continuously blossoming calendar of film projections, theater performances and musical concerts, we will show how absolutely correct Mr. Malraux was when he defined culture, in a second memorable citation, as “that which has made mankind more than just an accident of the universe”!**
*“la culture ne s’hérite pas; elle se conquiert.”
**“ce qui a fait de l’homme autre chose qu’un accident de l’univers.”
About the Author :
Sean Lynch was Head of School at the Lycée Français de New York from 2011 to 2018, after having spent 15 years at another French bilingual school outside of Paris: the Lycée International de St. Germain-en-Laye. Holding both French and American nationalities, educated in France (Sciences Po Paris) and the United States (Yale), and as the proud husband of a French-American spouse and father of two French-American daughters, Sean Lynch has spent his entire professional and personal life at the junction between the languages, cultures and educational systems of France and the United States. In addition to being passionate about education, he loves everything related to the mountains, particularly the Parc National du Mercantour.