Mathias Blanc is sociologist, specialized in Visual Studies and participatory issues.
Trained in France (Strasbourg University) and Germany (Bielefeld University and TU Berlin), his background in visual sociology have led him to conceive participative digital devices of visual annotation in order to study the diversity of social and cultural interpretations without reducing the people interviewed to their literacy. This leads him to address social issues such as knowledge distribution and expertise, inclusion and relationships with authority. From this perspective, he focuses on the challenges of the links between cultural institutions and social intervention.
Building on this expertise, Mathias Blanc heads the ALICES Living Lab (Agora Luxembourgeoise partICipative de l’intErvention Sociale), a collaborative initiative that connects the University with Luxembourg’s social sector through both offline and online platforms. This living lab embodies his commitment to bridging academia and social practice, offering a participatory space for dialogue and innovation.
As Principal Investigator of several research projects, he has developed this innovative scientific perspective with supports of highly competitive fundings on European and French levels: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, French National Research Agency (ANR), French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Excellence Cluster of the University of Lille (I-Site), Franco-German University (DFH-UFA ) and French Ministry of Culture.
Associate Research Fellow at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, he co-organizes since 2018 its international research seminar (Ecole du Louvre / GREM-UQAM), studying the raise of “committed museums and participatory audiences” (musées engagés et publics participatifs).
