Paris Institute for Critical Thinking
Formation2018
Native nameInstitut de Paris pour la Pensée Critique
AbbreviationPICT
HeadquartersParis, France
Websitehttps://parisinstitute.org/

The Paris Institute for Critical Thinking (PICT) is a non-profit educational association located in Paris, France, dedicated to promoting critical thinking through the humanities and arts.[1] It offers courses, lectures, and conferences that are open to the public;[2][3] participates in international research projects;[4] creates open-access online publications; and runs its own non-profit publishing house, PICT Books as well as the PICT Senlis Retreat for writers, artists, and intellectuals.[5] The institute’s main language is English, which it approaches as a lingua franca of intercultural exchange.[6]

History and Activities

Established in 2018,[7] PICT is a volunteer-run non-profit association registered with the French state. Its income, derived mainly from membership fees and book sales, is wholly invested back into the institute’s activities.[6] Initially focused on in-person courses and live events, PICT rejected online education during the COVID-19 pandemic, instead commencing open-access publications including scholarly articles, interviews, reviews, and literary pieces such as English translations of works by Aşık Mahzuni Şerif, Âşık Veysel, Nâzım Hikmet, and Ahmed Arif.[8][9][10] While in-person activities resumed after the pandemic, the institute’s main focus since 2024 has been its publishing house, PICT Books.

In 2021, PICT published the online article “The Real Academy in Exile” by David Selim Sayers and Evrim Emir-Sayers, which sparked an international debate in the field of Turkish Studies and received coverage in German and Turkish national media.[11] In 2023, the institute participated in the successful campaign by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) to secure the release of Franco-Afghan journalist Mortaza Behboudi from prison in Afghanistan.[12] In 2025, PICT was awarded a grant by the EELISA European University Alliance for the research and teaching project, “Railroads and European Identity from the 19th Century to the Present,” subsequently becoming a founding member of the EELISA Community, “Engineering Culture: Humanities, Infrastructure, and Society in Engineering” along with École nationale des ponts et chaussées, Istanbul Technical University, Technical University of Madrid, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and Politehnica University of Bucharest. [4][13][14]

PICT Books

PICT Books, the institute’s non-profit publishing house, has earned numerous accolades. The Veil of Depiction: Painting in Sufism and Phenomenology by Evrim Emir-Sayers was awarded a translation grant by Centre national du livre (CNL) in 2024. In the same year, Gender in Ottoman Constantinople by David Selim Sayers was chosen as book of the month by Athens Voice and book of the year by K24. Fulkumari: The Tale of a Refugee and a Rat in Pandemic Paris by Pinaki Bhattacharya, published in 2025, became an international Amazon bestseller. In 2026, Fixers: Reporters Without Bylines by Mortaza Behboudi and Oksana Leuta was recommended by the Global Investigative Journalism Network.[15][16][17][18]

PICT Books has published the following volumes to date:

  • Fixers: Reporters Without Bylines by Mortaza Behboudi and Oksana Leuta (2025)[19]
  • Fulkumari: The Tale of a Refugee and a Rat in Pandemic Paris by Pinaki Bhattacharya (2025)[20]
  • A Cuisine of Exile by Gün Benderli (2024)[21]
  • Gender in Ottoman Constantinople by David Selim Sayers (2024)[22]
  • The Veil of Depiction: Painting in Sufism and Phenomenology by Evrim Emir-Sayers (2024)[23]
  • Tiflî Hikâyeleri by David Selim Sayers (2023)[24]

Founders and Collaborators

PICT was founded, and continues to be operated, by an international collective made up of philosophy scholar Evrim Emir-Sayers, literature scholar Maria Matalaev, historian David Selim Sayers, filmmaker Hector Ulloque, and artist Sage Waters.[2][6][8] Notable collaborators have included art historian S. Hollis Clayson, artist James Clayson, historians Michael A. Barry and Zachary J. Foster, journalist Mortaza Behboudi, literature scholars Burghard Baltrusch, Eduardo Cadava, and Salamis Aysegul Sentug-Tugyan),[25] and philosophy scholars Iain MacKenzie, Felix Ó Murchadha, Jonathan Rée, and Carlo Salzani. The Halman Library imprint of PICT Books is dedicated to the memory of public intellectual Talât Sait Halman.

Partnerships

PICT has partnered up with various institutions for the organization of courses, conferences, research projects, and other events. These include:

References

  1. ^ "Détail d'une annonce | Associations — Journal Officiel". www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  2. ^ "Professional Development: Academic Life Beyond the University". as.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  3. ^ "VII Conferência José Saramago da Universidade de Vigo – «A herança filosófica e sociopolítica de José Saramago»". catedrasaramago.webs.uvigo.es. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  4. ^ "ENGINEERING CULTURE: Humanities, Infrastructure, and Society in Engineering's activities". eelisa.eu. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  5. ^ "Atelier des médias - Mortaza Behboudi: «Les fixeurs sont un pont entre la presse étrangère et les populations locales»" (in French). RFI. 2025-11-08. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
  6. ^ ""The value of PICT lies not in a diploma but in our teachers" - K24". T24. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  7. ^ journalist, Connexion (2018-10-05). "Studying for the sake of learning, not degrees". www.connexionfrance.com. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  8. ^ "Premier Magazine PH Vol. 2 - Issue 9 September 2022 The Thinker by Premier Digital Life - Issuu". issuu.com. 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  9. ^ "Podcast delves into the prevailing narrative about older adults in the age of COVID-19 – Brookdale". Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  10. ^ "Artichoke: Ottoman & Turkish Literature in English Translation". bu.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  11. ^ "Flucht als akademisches Geschäftsmodell? Eine Polemik wirbelt die Türkeistudien auf" (in German). FAZ.NET. 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  12. ^ "#FreeMortaza - Support committee created for jailed French-Afghan journalist Mortaza Behboudi | RSF". rsf.org. 2023-02-10. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  13. ^ "Railroads and European Identity (19th Century - Present)". ecoledesponts.fr. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  14. ^ Touil, Habiba (2026-05-05). "Reconnecting Europe by Rail: How an Ottoman Railway Archive Became an EELISA Classroom Without Borders". EELISA.eu. Retrieved 2026-05-09.
  15. ^ Γλυνιαδάκη, Κρυστάλλη (2024-10-16). "Το κουίρ βιβλίο τoυ μήνα: Gender in Ottoman Constantinople του David Selim Sayers" (in Greek). athensvoice.gr. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  16. ^ Sönmez, Necmi (2025-01-02). "Cinsler arasında ayrım yapmayan halis Osmanlı erotizmine dair" (in Turkish). k24kitap.org. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  17. ^ "Pinaki's new book steals the spotlight". en.bd-pratidin.com. 2025-01-16. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  18. ^ Dixon, Laura (2026-05-04). "From Memoir to Fiction, Investigative Chronicles to Thematic Deep Dives: Books from Perugia". GIJN.org. Retrieved 2026-05-09.
  19. ^ "Fixers: Reporters Without Bylines". books.google.com. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  20. ^ "Fulkumari: The Tale of a Refugee and a Rat in Pandemic Paris". books.google.com. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  21. ^ "A Cuisine of Exile". books.google.com. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  22. ^ "Gender in Ottoman Constantinople". books.google.com. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  23. ^ "The Veil of Depiction: Painting in Sufism and Phenomenology". books.google.com. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  24. ^ "Tiflî Hikâyeleri". books.google.com. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  25. ^ "Dünya Burada Bitsin" (in Turkish). youtube.com. Retrieved 2026-03-26.