Every month, on a Saturday, a space opens up for exchange, reflection and sharing around concrete, sensitive themes rooted in lived realities. The MansA People’s University invites us to explore individual and collective experiences, to listen, to dialogue, and to build bridges between knowledge and life.

The MansA People’s University hosts monthly gatherings open to all. Each session takes place at MansA, in a format designed to be accessible, inclusive, and attuned to everyday life. Far from top-down lectures, the discussions are held in a horizontal way: they take the form of talking circles, open exchanges and shared reflections.

Conceived as a caring space for transmission and listening, the People’s University encourages dialogue between people with diverse backgrounds. It offers a setting in which intimate experiences, collective memory and contemporary social issues can be woven together. Free, intimate and welcoming, the space is open to a wide range of participants: local youth, the curious, students, professionals and families.

Exploring contemporary themes

The sessions engage with concrete and sensitive topics, inviting participants to reflect on lived realities and to bring often overlooked issues to the surface. For the 2025/2026 season, themes include self-esteem in the face of European beauty standards; traditional medicines passed down from mothers and grandmothers; the contributions of the peripheries to the centers; perspectives on young immigrants and the children of immigrants; algorithmic racism; Black Joy; the invisibilization of people who don’t fit into stereotypes; mental health; and the misunderstandings — as well as bridges — between diaspora and continent.

These themes are designed to spark dialogue, broaden perspectives and create unexpected connections between the experiences, knowledge and imaginations of participants. Each gathering becomes a living space, where words circulate freely and everyone can contribute to collective reflection.

An invitation to participate and reflect

The MansA People’s University is more than a series of discussions: it is a social and intellectual laboratory where encounter, listening and sharing are central. The exchanges link personal experiences to collective issues, expand horizons and nurture critical, inclusive thinking. It is a place where voices cross, influence one another and invent new ways of understanding the world.