Public Programming

Audience at CGC event

Past Programming

Over the many years of its existence, Reid Hall has boasted of a robust set of public programs, many of which were aimed at the residents on site and at a general American audience in Paris. When Reid Hall was gifted to Columbia University, the aunt of Valerie Ogden, Edith Sterling Currier donated (1967 testament) to Reid Hall a significant sum of money to create the Sterling Currier Fund, with the express intention that:

  • "The principal would be held, invested and reinvested, and the income therefrom to be used for programs of adult education. The purposes of said programs of adult education shall be to further understanding within the Franco-American Community."

Since its creation, the Fund has supported innumerable colloquia, concerts, art exhibits, some of which took place at the Maison Française at Columbia, but most of which were organized at Reid Hall. Today, it only supports activities that take place at Reid Hall itself.

Columbia Global Centers Programming

Based on a strategic plan drawn up by Paul LeClerc and the Global Center's faculty advisory committee, it was decided to build a set of public programs that were specific to Global Centers l Paris and that would showcase scholars and artists from Columbia University and from European universities and cultural institutions. In 2015-16, the Center recruited its first full-time Program Manager: Loren Wolfe, a Harvard-trained specialist in 20th-century French literature and culture. She previously directed Harvard’s summer program at Reid Hall for six years and taught at Barnard for three years. Since her arrival, the programming team has grown to include a communications officer and a programming assistant. As Loren outlined in her annual report, the mission of the programming team is threefold:

  • To capitalize on and give visibility to Columbia’s exceptional resources, drawing on its faculty, thought leaders, students, institutes, institutional partners, not to mention the other Global Centers, to promote the ambitious aims of the University’s global agenda.
  • To foster a “third space” between America and Europe, between the academy and the wider society.  To seize on the freedom such a space offers by bringing together a wildly diverse assembly—of scholars, students, journalists, authors, activists, artists, scientists, doctors, politicians, people in business, and everyone else who falls on the sides or in between—to address urgent global issues through rigorous, and open dialogue.  To approach ideas and concepts in innovative ways so as to circumvent discursive “dead ends” and to chart new inroads to greater understanding and problem solving.
  • To attract and activate engaged individuals who seek intellectual challenges and creative answers, particularly students, young scholars, and budding creators, both as program participants and as members of the public.

In 2018, over 100 events were programmed by CGC l P and more than 6,000 people benefitted from a wide range of conferences, roundtable discussions, films, performances, and conversations.

Other Programming at Reid Hall
In addition to the events designed by the CGC programming team, Reid Hall also hosts the programs of a number of non-profit organizations in Paris: Textes & Voix (readings in French and English), La Divenote and La Muse du Parnasse (classical music concerts), The Arts Arena, and Columbia Sounds (a concert series highlighting Columbia University alums).