Author: Le Dragon Déchaîné

by Carmen Leong

Source: Tyler Jaewon Kim

The campus is waiting when I arrive that morning on my bike, daylight streaming through its glass walls into the quiet hallway. It’s a rare sight to see at ten A.M., but today is a special day — the Rentrée Solenelle, official welcoming ceremony for the incoming and returning students. Soon, they will arrive in batches from the different directions of the nearby dormitories, some dressed in colourful traditional clothing and others in suits and formal dresses. The familiar buzz of conversation will fill the air as they settle into the Grand Amphi to listen to guest speakers and performances; but for now, I enter the doors, go up the lift and head to the office at the very end of the hallway to meet one of the speakers before her speech. 

Professor Hauchecorne is there already, settling himself down after a staff briefing. I’m slightly on edge, not having done a proper interview in a few months. But then my interviewee walks in, and she pats her hair down, rearranging her well-tailored suit. Jeanne Lazarus greets me with a smile, and I feel at ease immediately. We shake hands and I lead her to her seat so that we can begin the interview. 

It is not her first time in Le Havre, of course. Since becoming Dean two years ago, Madame Lazarus has come here twice a year as part of her duties to coordinate the campuses and organise the curriculum. It is common to hear complaints in Le Havre directed particularly at the bleak weather and even bleaker architecture, so I am pleasantly surprised when she compliments the modern look of our campus, and its position overlooking the sea. 

“Also, I’m quite interested in the topic of the campus because I used to learn Chinese when I was in high school,” she adds. “And I did an internship in Taiwan for six months when I was twenty. So I used to speak Chinese, but unfortunately, I didn’t pursue it, and I wouldn’t dare to speak [it] now; but I’m still very attached to that region, to Asian Studies.”

In addition to her role as a leading administrator, Madame Lazarus has also been a sociology professor in Sciences Po for thirteen years; seven years of which she was in charge of the Introduction to Sociology course at the Nancy campus. Over the course of her career, she became the director of the Department of Sociology at Sciences Po and simultaneously an elected member — then president — of the conseil de l’Institut. 

“And after all that, at one point, I thought that I really wanted to be more involved in the administration of Sciences Po, because I was involved in many ways, but more — I would say, on the side — as someone who could give some ideas or comments, but I really wanted to be in charge more. So that’s why I applied to become the Dean of the undergraduate college.”

So, why Sciences Po? I ask her. What makes our education stand out in the French and global landscape?

Madame Lazarus smiles and takes a breath. She must get this question a lot, I think. 

“First, what is distinctive is the plural disciplinarity of Sciences Po — the fact that you don’t

choose too early to specialise on one topic. And that is a very strong choice, for the students as well, because it means that — compared to students who go to the university to study economics or law — you won’t have the same density in one topic. But what we think is that you will have, instead, an openness that will allow you to do whatever you want after having these first three years of general education.

“The second thing is the international view of Sciences Po,” she continues. “Sciences Po is one of the first French universities to [open itself up] to international students and international programs. The fact is that, in the bibliography of the courses you have here, you will read research from everywhere in the world. Also, of course, we have the third year abroad that opens students to other educational systems. We really cherish this international part of Sciences Po.

“And the third distinctive thing in Sciences Po is the fact that it is open to public life. Of course, with the parcous civique, but also with the fact that we have conferences open to the public, that our students are involved in many, many associations, initiatives… We want students to be, firstly, very good [in their] academics, but also to use their skills for the community — for others, at whatever level. It can be at a very local level, in associations; and also at national level, maybe.”

At this point, Madame Lazarus takes a pause, trying to find the words to convey her thoughts.

“I know we used to say that we are here [to teach] the students to become leaders. But I don’t really like that word, because I think that if you say that to people, then you will tell them that [being a leader] is for themselves, like you will be someone different from others. And I prefer to think that the students are going to be part of communities — maybe they will distinguish themselves, maybe they will lead some projects — but the idea that you are a leader…” 

“Seperates them from the community?” I offer.

“Yes, and you have to, I think, be a little slower. To just think, first, that you will bring things to others,” she agrees. “You can also have a very good life not being a leader, but [just] being a part of something. It’s not only being a leader that is interesting.”

It is interesting to hear this from her when most top universities explicitly state otherwise — I recall writing numerous applications just over a year ago, trying my best to portray myself as a budding leader to gain better chances of admission. But Madame Lazarus has been involved in student life at Sciences Po to know enough about students and their ability to succeed beyond leadership. In fact, in 2001, she graduated as a Master’s student at the Paris campus. Back then, she tells me, the ‘internationalisation’ of Sciences Po had only just begun. Only the Paris campus existed, researchers numbered less than 50, and they had only just introduced the Conventions Éducation Prioritaire (CEP) programme. 

“It’s much more aligned with the world now, I would say,” she concludes. I ask her if there’s any advice she may have for the incoming first-years. 

“Well,” she begins, “really take what we as professors and administrators give you — which is a lot of knowledge, a lot of good research that is brought into the classroom; I think that it’s very important for the students to work on top of it, to make that knowledge their own.

“We know the abilities you have, so trust us, and work as much as you can to reach what we await from you. Sciences Po is more and more renowned in the world, and I think it opens many possibilities for us, of partnership and also research. 

“We were asking ourselves before, are we a university, a school, an institute? We are sure today that we are a university, and we still attract students from everywhere. And that is very special in France, especially at the bachelor level, because it means that students at seventeen, eighteen years old, decided to cross the world to come here.

“We are in a very uncertain world today, so we need to reinvent ourselves. We have very good basics, and we can build on that, but we also need to think about what we have in front of us, which is a very difficult world to understand. But we have the resources for that. We have the students.”

Author’s Note: I would like to thank Madame Lazarus for taking the time to speak with me during the interview, and to congratulate her on the thoughtful speech she gave later on that day in the Grand Amphi.

by Giulia PORCU and Anish PARCHA

Intro: The afternoon turned thoughtful on 16 September, as students trickled into the Petit Amphitheatre with notebooks in hand and quiet curiosity in the air. Professor Pierre Emmanuel Roux, Co-editor-in-chief of the magazine Extrême-Orient Extrême-Occident and senior lecturer of history at Universitè Paris Citè,  took the floor for a talk titled “Between Adaptation, Persecution and Modernity in East Asia in the 18th and 19th Centuries.” Minds eager to learn and pens ready to chase his words set the stage for an engaging session. The session was brief yet intuitive, insightful and packed with value. What was the discussion about? What were the most significant insights and how do they correlate to our 21st century understanding of the modern world?

A brief breakdown of the lecture and the subsequent interview is as follows:

A recap of the lecture: Accepting the unacceptable 

Covering the history of Christianity in East Asia through the 18th and 19th century, professor Roux gave us essential historical context starting from the 16th century. Further highlighted the importance of three key terms when analyzing local context: proscription, adaptation and modernity. Starting with the idea of persecution between the 16th and 18th centuries,, he stated that local Christian communities had to deal with constant repressions and tensions caused by the contrapposition of Christian preaching and Confucianism order. These were, for example, revealed by debates over practices like ancestor worship. Despite being a minority, Christians sustained their faith through a lineage of personal connections, preexisting networks and local religious figures. These local challenges reveal that Christianity’s survival relied as much on East Asian networks as on Western missionaries. This challenges the common assumption that East Asian conversions were based on the mere arrival of missionaries in local territories, hence the traditional vision which attributes great importance to the West in the making of Christianity in Asia. 

Upon this, the focus of this lecture was on the recent reverse theory in academia: ‘‘Are we ready to accept the unacceptable by fully recognizing Asia’s role in the making of world Christianity?’’. As a starting point “Inculturation” is the term used by many historians to describe Matteo’s Ricci ambitious but failing project. He was the first to realize the importance of finding shared knowledge between the two civilizations, using Chinese concepts adaptable to Christianity, specifically the Confucianist ambition to a virtuous society and inner self, so as to allow reciprocal comprehension and common grounds. Despite the failure of his project, as demonstrated by the 1724 expulsion of Christian missionaries, the greatness of Ricci’s work lies in highlighting how impossible it would have been for the West to be the only factor in the spread of Christianity in the East.

As stated by Nazarudin in ‘Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde’: 

‘When something is transmitted, it is received in the mode of the receiver rather than the transmitter. Thus, what has been transmitted as Western Christianity has been received as Asian Christianity. Therefore the ownership of the Christian tradition — both for East and Southeast Asian people — grows stronger when it’s passed on intergenerationally’.

After the address by Professor Roux, we had the opportunity to speak with him via a Zoom interview.  This was done not only to build a deeper understanding of his work but also to cultivate a new sense of curiosity around Christianity’s central role in shaping Asian societies. The interview was carried out through three main questions, the first one being:

1. As you presented during the lecture, many Western books acted as the major means of spreading Christianity among the elites in China, Vietnam and Japan. Considering the fact that they were based on European ideas of utopia, how were they received  by their audience?

It is important to keep in mind that there were different categories of books, specifically scientific and religious. In the Jesuits missions, especially, both were used. Given the importance of Jesuits in Beijing and their knowledge, it is only natural to conclude that Asian scholars were curious to meet them and grateful to receive their books. 

Missionaries were scarce in East Asia, so it was religious and catechetical books that were diffused among the faithful. Qing China is emblematic in this matter: in the early 19th there were 100 missionaries spread among the territory, while in the early 18th century only 20-30. Missionaries and local priests visited the main local villages once a year, hence the importance of books for conversion, maintenance of faith and continuity of prayers. “In many places it still works like this,” commented Professor Roux. “You can’t imagine the number of Bibles I received in Chinese and Korean because of this strong desire to spread faith!”

(2) What events led to the ban on Christianity in East Asia?

Fundamentally, the main common denominator for the ban of Christianity in East Asia was political.

Korea, Japan and Vietnam were small countries that embodied the idea of protonations state. Hence, when Christianity arrived as a new phenomenon, it was perceived as a possible threat to the social order. Obviously, this was not the case in China as it was a huge multiethnic empire, so the spreading of new ideas and beliefs was slow and further minimized by the ridiculously low number of missionaries in loco. 

(3) “The elaboration of this ‘European Utopia’ first took form in Matteo Ricci’s world map. Given the diverse perceptions around his work and that of other figures, how far did they actually influence the perception that the West had of the East and vice versa?”

There certainly were missionaries who had influence in China mainly at the national or regional level, but the majority of them had a local impact.

For example, Francis Xavier, who travelled all around Asia, is remembered as a great missionary, but there are some inaccurate narratives regarding the extent of his influence on conversions. Rather than influencing the East, his influence was far more prominent among young Jesuits who now dreamt of going to East Asia. Matteo Ricci, on the other hand, did have quite an influence in the 17th century, even though not as much as Francis Xavier did. That being said, it is important to note that Matteo Ricci’s influence was profound in East Asia itself, shaping local knowledge, religious practice, and cross-cultural exchange across China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Unlike missionaries whose impact was measured by conversions abroad, Ricci’s legacy lies in his intellectual and cultural contributions within East Asia, from maps to catechisms. Since his catechism, books and map were dissaminated in Korea, Japan, Vietnam and China, he came to be known everywhere in East Asia. His map became the first world map shown in China, which continues to be used to this day. Institutes built in his honour are located all over the world (Paris, Boston, Taipei), proving the growth of his prestige after the major clash between Beijing and the Vatican. By nominating new Chinese saints in the early 2000s, the Vatican underscored Ricci’s enduring influence, indicating that his contributions continued to be respected despite historical tensions with Beijing.

The Asia-Pacific campus of Sciences Po Paris was arguably the most fitting venue for such a lecture. With its focus on the region, the campus offered not just an audience but a context where the intersections of faith, power, and society in East Asia and South Asia could be understood in a more nuanced way, where students could link theological insights to their cultural exposure. Sciences Po’s diversity is exemplified by lectures like these, where students from all around the globe seek genuine knowledge about the world that surrounds them — about the rise of religions, institutions and environments that shape modern history. As the lecture drew to a close, what lingered was not just a story of persecution and resilience, but also a reminder of how ideas travel, change, and survive across borders. Christianity in East Asia, as professor Roux emphasized, was never a simple tale of importation from the West — it was a dialogue shaped by local traditions, state power, and the challenges of modernity.