The Academic Council

Jean-Louis Bischoff has a PhD in philosophy (École Pratique des Hautes Études) and is a French state-accredited research director (Université d’Artois).

A graduate of the Institut de Formation pour l’Etude et l’enseignement des Religions (IFER), he is affiliated with the Texts and Cultures Lab (Youth and Children’s Literature Team/Centre Robinson) at the Université d’Artois.

An expert on trends, Jean-Louis Bischoff has a long career in the music, communications and entertainment industries. He has been involved in a range of projects from musicals (Élysée Montmartre), cinematographic productions (Max Linder), and communications initiatives (Carte Jeunes, Ministry for Youth and Sport, Lille City Adminstration, Française des Jeux).

Professor Bischoff teaches philosophy at French universities and lectures on creativity and contemporary trends at the Institut Supérieur de Pédagogie (ISP), Paris, as well as at a number of art and luxury fashion institutions. His research focuses on the philosophy of religion, religion and the sacred in contemporary pop culture, the perception of trends, the philosophy of education, and aesthetics.

Jean-Louis Bischoff is the FEDE’s Director of Research. He is also Director of the FEDE Doctoral School and Director of the Doctoral School’s Trends Division.

Alain Tobelem has a PhD in development economics (Sorbonne, Paris) and is a French State-accredited research director for research projects in management (Université de Nice). He is also a graduate of Sciences Po, the Institut de Hautes Etudes pour Amérique Latine, CELSA and the Sorbonne (Hispanic and Lusitanian languages and civilisations).

Fluent in four languages (French, English, Spanish and Portuguese), Alain Tobelem has worked in over 75 countries for a number of international organisations:

• the Centre International du Développement (CID) in Paris, where he worked alongside Josué de Castro (author of Geopolitics of Hunger);
• UNESCO, as an expert on functional adult education and later on the economics and financing of education;
• the World Bank as an education financing expert and as leader expert on institutional development;
• at the International Labour Office (ILO) as Project Manager for the Ministry of Labour of Brazil, where he worked on a national labour training system.

Alain Tobelem teaches management, project management and economic intelligence at the CERAM (Sophia Antipolis), the Ecole Nationale d’Administration du Portugal, the Institut International d’Administration Publique (IIAP, ENA France programme), and at the ENA campuses in Tunisia and Rabat. He also teaches research methodology in international universities in Nice, Shanghai and Hanoi.

Alain Tobelem is Director of the Governance Division of the FEDE Doctoral School.

Jean-Noël Vallée is a medical doctor with a PhD in medicine (Université Paris-5) and is a French state-accredited research director (neurosciences). He also has a PhD in physical sciences (Paris-13 University), a master’s-level degree from the Faculty of Letters of Lyon-3 University, a bachelor’s-level degree from the Institut d’Administration des Entreprises (Lyon-3 University), an engineering degree from INSA Lyon) and the international ‘4D Road Map’ qualification (4D work on the cellular structure of the human brain).

A qualified practitioner of radiology and medical imagery and radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy, Jean-Noël Vallée is a specialist in diagnostic and surgical neuroradiology. He conducts endovascular operations to treat brain aneurysms and spine and vascular disorders. He is a former registrar and assistant consultant for the Paris hospital network.

Jean-Noël Vallée is Director of the Innovation Division of the FEDE Doctoral School

Jean-Michel Quillardet is a lawyer at the Paris Bar.

In November 2008 he founded, along with Antoine Sfeir, an organisation to fight against the ethnic and religious segmentation of society – the Observatoire international de la laïcité, of which he is Chair.

He is also Vice-Chairman of the Social Issues and Human Rights Education Committee of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights – an independent organisation that works with the Office of the French Prime Minister.

He has a PhD in law and has founded a Chair in Secularism at Sciences Po Bordeaux. He teaches secularism at the Université d’Évry in France.

Antoine Godbert is President of the European Vocational Training Association.

He is also municipal adviser on higher education and European relations to a town of 150,000 inhabitants.

A graduate of the prestigious French Agrégation examination in geography, he is a former diplomatic advisor to the French Ministry for Education and Director of the Erasmus+ France education and training agency.

A graduate of the ENA and the ENS Fontenay-Saint-Cloud, Antoine Godbert has worked as a journalist, as the director of an educational video production firm and as a researcher in geography at the ESCP-EAP.

Séverine Dupuy-Busson is a lawyer at the Paris Bar and has a PhD in law (Université de Paris Panthéon-Assas).

She also has a master’s in communications law (DEA, Université de Paris Panthéon-Assas), and an advanced English-language qualification (Cambridge). Séverine Dupuy Busson is a specialist in penal, intellectual property and press law.

She has published numerous articles in legal journals.

Rector of the Vasile Goldiş University (UVVG) in Arad, Romania, Coralia Cotoraci is a medical professional and renowned teacher. She has just joined the FEDE’s Academic Council.

In addition to a PhD (thesis title ‘Morphological and Evolving Clinical Aspects of Myelodysplastic Syndromes’), Coralia Cotoraci also has a master’s in psychology and psychotherapy. Well known in the medical sector in Romania, she specialises in internal medicine (haematology) and teaches haematology, bioethics and medical ethics at the faculties of medicine, pharmacy and dental surgery of the University of Arad.

A participant in numerous international research projects, Coralia Cotoraci has supplemented her medical skills with experience in team and general management. She currently heads the haematology department of the Arad Regional Emergency Hospital, where she manages a large team of medical and administrative staff.

Ylljet Aliçka is an Albanian author and screenwriter.

Former Ambassador to France, Monaco, Portugal and UNESCO, Ylljet Aliçka is the Personal Representative of the President of the Republic at the International Organisation of la Francophonie.

He is also a professor of educational science and the author of numerous novels, short stories and prize-winning filmscripts.

He wrote the script of the French-Albanian film Slogans that was amongst the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival. The film won the Prix de la jeunesse (best foreign film category) and was the Albanian entry for the 74^th Oscars (Best Foreign Language Film).

François-Bernard Huygue is a geopolitics expert.

He has a PhD in political science and is an accredited director of research (ICT). He is currently Director of Research at the Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (IRIS), where he has established a geostrategic observatory focusing on information online.

He has worked as a television director and as an international civil servant in the culture and communications section of UNESCO. A lecturer and the author of some 20 books, he is a member of the French Conseil supérieur de la formation et de la recherche stratégiques.

Michel Maffesoli initially studied philosophy, theology and sociology. He went on to obtain a PhD in sociology and another in literature and humanities.

He also has honorary PhDs from the University of Minho (Braga, Portugal), the University of Bucharest (Romania), the PUC (Porto Alegre, Brazil), and the Autonomous State University of Mexico (Mexico).

He is Professor Emeritus at the Université Paris-Descartes, member of the Institut Universitaire de France and the Académie Européenne des Sciences et des Arts, and director of both the Centre d’Études sur l’Actuel et le Quotidien (CEAQ) and the Centre de Recherche sur l’Imaginaire (CRI).

He is also an administrator at the CNRS.

He was awarded the Prix de l’Essai Andrée Gautier in 1990 for his book Au Creux des apparences and obtained the French Academy’s Grand Prix des Sciences Humaines in 1992 for La Transfiguration du Politique. A renowned international intellectual, he teaches both in France and abroad.

He is a leading European and international intellectual.

Abdelhak Moutawakkil has a PhD in civil engineering (École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and Université Pierre et Marie Curie).

He is the former Director of the Office de la Formation Professionnelle et de la Promotion du Travail (OFPPT) (Morocco), former National Director for literacy policy at the Moroccan Ministry of Social Development, Solidarity, Employment and Professional Training, former Director of Education for the MBA programme of the Ecole National des Ponts et Chaussées and the Ecole Hassania (a Moroccan public construction works institution) and is currently Director of Forma-Dev Consultants (a consultancy specialising in education, training and human resources).

He is President of Sup RH, a management institution based in Morocco.

Patrick Vieu is a graduate of the ENA and the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris. He also has a PhD in philosophy (thesis on the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher Adam Fergusson).

Currently an advisor to the Vice-President of the French General, Environmental and Sustainable Development Council, he has held the post of Director of Rail and Collective Transport and Director of Transport Services at the French General Directorate of Infrastructure, Transport and Seaways (DGITM). He has also worked at the French Cour des Comptes and administrative tribunals (Tribunal Administratif de Versailles). In May 2012 he was named Regional and Environmental Advisor to then President François Hollande.

Chantal Lapeyre-Desmaison is a graduate of the prestigious French agrégation in Modern literature. With a PhD in contemporary literature, she is also a state-accredited research director at the University de Bordeaux III. Previously Lecturer at the Université de Bourgogne, since 2010 she has been professor of French literature at the Université d’Artois. She is a trained classical, contemporary and baroque dancer. Her current research is dedicated to contemporary and baroque dance and the body in contemporary adult and youth literature. She is author of a number of books and articles including Mémoires de l’origine (Les Flohic Editions 2001, Galilée 2006), Pascal Quignard le Solitaire: rencontre avec Chantal Lapeyre-Desmaison, (2001, 2006), Résonances du réel, de Balzac à Pascal Quignard (L’Harmattan, 2011) and Pascal Quignard: La Voix de la danse (Septentrion, 2013). She has also edited or co-edited a number of collective works including Pascal Quignard: la danse et les langues (Lendemains, January 2010), Lecteurs de fictions (Presses Universitaires du Mirail, ‘Champs du signe’ series, March 2010), Le Livre de poche comme bibliothèque de la jeunesse (Cahiers Robinson, n° 36, September 2014), Pascal Quignard : Les ‘Petits Traités’ au fil de la relecture (Studi Francesi, n° 181, April 2017).

Chantale Lapeyre-Desmaison is also founder, along with choreographer Nick Nguyen, of the Issé dance company. She is author of the libretto for Conversations autour de Psyché and a number of works associated with the Paris Opera.

A graduate of the l’Institut de Sciences Politiques de Bordeaux, Jean-François Petit has a PhD in philosophy from the Sorbonne and the Institut Catholique de Paris. He is a state-accredited research director (University of Poitiers) and a lecturer at the Institut Catholique de Paris. His credo? ‘Politics is all about resistance.’

Jean-François Petit is the author of some fifteen publications. A former contributor to the journal La Croix and a member of the Académie Catholique de France he is an expert on contemporary socio-cultural issues and a passionate advocate of political activism. ‘Politics is a form of resistance against the commercialisation of living beings, against financialisation, normalisation, standardisation and increasing precarity… It forces us to ask questions, to pool resources; it is by nature disinterested and voluntary and focused on the common good; as such, it is a domain in which human beings can realise their vocations. Ever passionate about philosophy and religion, Jean-François Petit’s latest book is entitled Dieu bien entendu: le génie intellectuel du christianisme – an interview with Professor Capelle Dumont, a world-famous philosopher and theologian. In the book, Jean-François Petit, who leads the Practical Philosophy research group at the Institut Catholique de Paris, aimed to share the wisdom of the great Christian thinkers while also observing philosophical rigour and, more generally, to elucidate Christianity’s powerful historical influence.

Born in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) in 1965, Lazare Ki-Zerbo has a PhD in philosophy from the Université de Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne. Following postdoctoral research at the Institut Catholique de Paris, from 1995 to 1999 he taught at the University of Ouagadougou. In his role as policy officer at the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie he has particularly focused on: partnerships between international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) and organisations promoting French-speaking culture; human rights in companies; and treaties abolishing the death penalty. He is active within the Mouvement des intellectuels du Burkina Faso and is a member of the Centre d’Études pour le Développement Africain (CEDA). He is the son of historian Joseph Ki-Zerbo, in whose name he founded the Joseph Ki-Zerbo International Committee, which promotes African cultures. His research interests and his publications centre on pan-Africanism, human rights and the relationship between memory and new technology.

Vincenzo Susca has a PhD in sociology. A former lecturer at the University of Milan, he is currently MacLuhan Fellow at the University of Toronto, lecturer in sociology at Paul-Valéry University in Montpellier and a researcher affiliated with the CEAQ research centre at the Sorbonne in Paris. He is author of À l’ombre de Berlusconi (Milan 2004, Paris 2006), Ai confini dell’immaginario (Milan 2006, Porto Alegre 2006), Joie Tragique (Milan 2010, Paris 2011, Barcelone 2012), Transpolitica (Milan 2008, co-authored with D. de Kerckhove) and Récréations (Milan 2008, Paris 2009, co-authored with C. Bardainne). He is also co-writer of a play Angelus Novissimus (2014) (with Alain Béhar) and, along with Claudia Attimonelli, has curated exhibitions of Madame (2014) and Karin Andersen at the Traffic Gallery in Bergamo. His most recent works are Les affinités connectives (Paris 2016) and Pornoculture (Milan 2016, Paris 2016, Porto Alegre 2016, in collaboration with C. Attimonelli).

A senior staff member at the French Directorate General of Public Finances, Victor Towo Kamga brings to the Academic Council his specialist knowledge of African issues, public finance and law.

In September 1993 he obtained an advanced degree (French DEA) in contentious law, graduating top of his year. In 2005 he completed a PhD in law at the Université de Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne. On 5 December 2013, after successfully undergoing the required professional ethics review in Paris, he obtained a professional lawyer’s certificate and was sworn in by the Bar of Beauvais.

During his time as temporary lecturer and researcher at the Université de Droit de Metz he taught tax law, public service, public policy and constitutional law. He went on to teach banking law, commercial law, international law and public law at the Centre de Formation Professionnelle Notariat (Lille, France). He has also taught a bachelor’s-level course on legal careers at the Institut Universitaire de Technologie of the Université de Paris Villetaneuse.

He is currently a senior staff member at the French Directorate General of Public Finances. Over the course of his civil service career he has been Head of Deposit and Financial Services at the Oise region’s treasury; Accounting Officer for the Oise region’s public interest grouping Conseil Départemental d’Accès au Droit; and Chief Deputy Treasurer at the French embassies in Chad and Senegal. In between the periods in Chad and Senegal, he held the post of Head of Clearance Service and Legal Counsellor at the Oise Regional Public Finances Directorate. It is thanks to this diverse career that Victor Towo Kamga has developed solid expertise in law and public finances.

Dr. Bühring’s main research explores design foresight (futures thinking), vision and fiction techniques as emerging thought-processes within Strategic Design and Innovation Management. Certified as a Professional Futurist and in Strategic Foresight (University of Houston), he is a full member of the “World Futures Studies Federation” (www.wfsf.org).

Dr. Bühring has conducted futures research in luxury hospitality and omni-channel retail.
With focus on the Financial Services sector as a core pillar of the economy, he leads several design project initiatives that explore wealth management futures from Millennial perspectives.

Dr. Bühring’s professional background, international work experience, and academic qualifications in Corporate Management, Business Innovation, Marketing and Brand Development have exposed him to various project initiatives that include innovative start-ups, new business formations, and new market entries.