What do the cahiers de doléances (citizens' grievance notebooks) of the Yellow Vest movement reveal about the ecological constraints of everyday life? How does the marine environment shape subjectivities and collective identities of engagement? How do diasporas transmit their memories across generations? And how do the violences of the past continue to shape contemporary conflicts?
These are among the questions that will be explored by the new cohort of the Nantes Institute for Advanced Study. Six fellows will join the Institute from September 2026, followed by two additional residents in spring 2027.
Coming from France, Brazil, Cameroon, Italy, and Türkiye, the fellows will spend several months in residence in Nantes. Their work, spanning anthropology, history, political science, geography, and research-creation, will engage with a wide range of contexts, from the Loire estuary and diasporic communities to the borders of Central Africa, oceanic worlds, and the Middle East. Throughout their residency, these research projects will intersect through weekly seminars and public events.
The 2026–2027 cohort includes:
- Alix Levain, anthropologist
- Rafael da Silva, visual artist
- Ma-Woury Cissé, independent researcher
- Giacomo Mantovan, anthropologist
- Calvin Minfegue Assouga, political scientist
- Ümit Kurt, historian
Two additional residents will join the cohort in spring 2027: Aastha Chauhan, an artist participating in the Villa Swagatam residency programme, and Erez Pery, a filmmaker invited in partnership with Produire au Sud and the Festival des 3 Continents.
Their projects will be unveiled throughout the year. The first opportunity to meet them will be on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, during the opening event of the 2026–2027 academic year, where each fellow will present the main themes of their research.
La promotion réunira :
- Alix Levain, anthropologue
- Rafael da Silva, artiste visuel
- Ma-Woury Cissé, chercheuse indépendante
- Giacomo Mantovan, anthropologue
- Calvin Minfegue Assouga, politiste
- Ümit Kurt, historien
Deux résidences viendront compléter cette promotion au printemps 2027 : l'artiste Aastha Chauhan, dans le cadre du programme de résidence de la Villa Swagatam, et le cinéaste Erez Pery, en dialogue avec Produire au Sud et le Festival des 3 Continents.
