Sociologist Nathalie Heinich obtained her PhD from the prestigious École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and currently serves as director of research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, specifically the Research Center on Arts and Language. Her work (Ce que l’art fait à la sociologie, Le Triple Jeu de l’art contemporain, Être écrivain.Création et identité, The Glory of Van Gogh. An Anthropology of Admiration…) explores what it means to be an artist and the relationship of art to contemporary society, and represents a descriptive as well as critical sociology of art. She has also written on feminine identity and emancipation, the concept of values, and the history of sociology. Her most recent publication is Dans la pensée de Norbert Elias (Paris, CNRS éditions, 2015).