iMagination Week 2016 on the theme of work "work to live, live to work"

For the fifth year in a row, ESSEC is preparing to spread the spirit of iMagination Week across the Cergy campus. This year, more than 600 students from our Management MA cycle will join us, from January 4 to 8, 2015, with an even richer program on the theme of work (work to live, live to work), under the patronage of Bénédicte Richard (ESSEC ‘82), Director of Human Resources and Organization Development Europe for Chanel.

Imagination Week is based on a pedagogy specifically developed for our students and whose aim is -as is ESSEC’s- to train individuals who are as free as they are responsible, as imaginative as they are realistic. The goal of this week is to help them understand that the ideal society of the future can only become a reality by their applying their imagination and their commitment. That is why, to nourish our students’ creativity, we expose them to challenging people who are all recognized in their respective fields: biochemistry, foresight, art, mobility, culinary arts, music, cyber-security and cryptography.

It is our pleasure to invite you to join us for the plenary sessions, which will take place in the Dôme (within the limit of the number of places available).

Monday January 4

- 2:30-4 :00pm: Prof. Hubert Reeves, Franco-Canadian astrophysicist et ecologist (formerly scientific director for NASA and Research director for CNRS)

Tuesday January 5

- 9h00-10h00 : Prof. Cédric Villani, recipient of the Fields Medal in 2010, Director of the Institut Henri Poincaré

- 14h00-15h00 : Prof. Marie-Paule Cani, director of the research program IMAGINE (Inria Grenoble), director 2014-2015 of the Computer sciences Chair at Collège de France

Wednesday January 6

- 13h15-14h15 : Jacques Genin, self-taught master of flavor, chocolate creator amongst the world’s best chocolate makers and pastry chefs

- 14h30-15h30 : Dominique Meda, Sociology professor at Paris-Dauphine and president of a Chair at the Collège des études mondiales

Tursday January 7

- 9h00-10h00 : Neil Harbisson, coontemporary artist and cyborg activist best known for the antenna implanted in his head enabling him to perceive visible and invisible colours

- 17h30-18h30 : Fabrice Midal, philosopher, founder of the Ecole Occidentale de méditation

Friday January 8

- 14h00-16h00 : presentations of the artist and the finalist teams of iMagination Week

- 16h00-17h00 : Awards ceremony and closing speech

External coaches will be with us all week to guide students in their creative choices and to help them work as teams. These collective projects will be the opportunity for students to challenge their imagination, creativity and innovation on a topic of their choosing, and to orchestrate their creative realization within the new K-Lab.

We would like to take this opportunity to add that, within the framework of ESSEC’s 3i strategic plan, we have decided to integrate Design Learning into iMagination Week, with the development of the “BYOC” (Build Your Own Course) program. Our goal is to develop courses based on our own faculty’s research, while integrating a participative component by inviting our students to help build these courses.

Moreover, iMagination Week spreads its wings to the Asia-Pacific campus which its first edition in Singapore from January 11 to 15, 2016, under the extended patronage of Bénédicte Richard (E82) and with guest speakers just as prestigious. This is an important step which strenghtens the continuity of programs on all ESSEC campuses.

We are counting on all of you to encourage and support the creative and innovative endeavors of our students both in Cergy and Singapore throughout these very unique weeks. Please do not hesitate to participate in the many discussions around this event on social networks: join the @iMaginationCtr Twitter community or follow #iWeek2016, or via our Facebook page.