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AROUND THE QUADS
5 Minutes With ... Pierre Force
Professor of French Pierre Force earned his B.A., Ph.D. and habilitation
at the Sorbonne in France. After moving to the United States in
1984 and serving as a lecturer at Yale, he joined the Columbia faculty
in 1987 and chairs the French department. CCT caught up with
him in the fall to find out more.
Q: Where are you from?
A: Toulon, France, on the Mediterranean. It’s a Navy town, like Norfolk or San Diego.
Q: Did you teach in France?
A: No. I taught at the French Institute in Mexico City for a few years while I was still in school, doing my French National Service. Then I went to Yale as an exchange graduate student, teaching and writing my dissertation. I had no particular intent to stay at the beginning, so the decision to stay here was a gradual one.
Q: Was it an adjustment to be in the U.S. educational system?
A: The educational systems are very different. At every level in France, students speak a lot less in class and listen to the professor. The first thing that struck me 20 years ago is that, in the U.S. system, it is the instructor’s responsibility to be sure students learn and thrive, and in France, in many ways, students are on their own.
Q: What classes are you teaching this semester?
A: Only one, a graduate course, because I chair the department.
Q: What is your favorite class to teach at CC?
A: I’ve enjoyed Contemporary Civilization a lot.
Q: How did you become interested in 17th- and 18th-century intellectual history?
A: Initially, I was very interested in understanding what it is to interpret a text, from a theoretical point of view. My interest is really theoretical reflection of assumptions underlying many of our disciplines.
Q: Are you working on a new book?
A: I’m working on a history of what it is to say something new — changing conceptions and criteria of novelty from the late 16th- to mid-18th centuries.
Q: What’s new in the French department?
A: The department is in a process of renewal because we’ve had a recent wave of retirements. We’re eager to fill three positions for next fall, and it’s interesting for me because I can help shape the department.
Q: Where do you live?
A: Claremont Avenue.
Q: Do you have any pets?
A: Our two kids are lobbying for pets, but we like to go to France for several weeks during the summer, and Belgium, where my wife is from. We told them when they are 18 and going to college they can get pets.
Q: What is the last movie you saw?
A: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit with my kids. It was great; they have an excellent sense of the absurd.
Q: What is your favorite place in the world?
A: I have a soft spot for the Pyrenees. It’s where I used to go on vacations as a child and a truly beautiful place.
Q: If you were not teaching at Columbia, what would you most likely be doing?
A: I did try another career. Fifteen years ago, I took a break from teaching and worked for an investment bank in Paris for a short while, long enough to realize it was not the right choice for me.
Interview and photo:
Laura Butchy ’04 Arts
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