Maya Mazzacane

Maya Mazzacane is a second-year doctoral student at Sorbonne University in the Concepts and Languages doctoral school. She works in the interdisciplinary research group on information and communication processes and is co-directed by Pascal Froissart of Sorbonne Université and Henri Bergeron of Sciences Po.

After two years of literary preparatory classes at Lycée Chaptal, Maya Mazzacane joined Sorbonne Nouvelle University in the third year of a degree in cultural mediation. She then moved on to Sorbonne University, where she studied for a master's degree in communications called "Le Magistère".
Why does she stand out? She wore two hats: at the same time as her master's degree, she took a course in political and public affairs at Sciences Po Grenoble. After defending her master's thesis, she was awarded a 3-year doctoral contract in 2021.

A thesis which examined a social taboo
Her thesis tackled drug use in the public space and the low-risk consumption room for drug users in Paris Nord, the idea coming to her during  meetings with volunteers and the creation of the Crack Plan - a government scheme to combat drug use and provide medical and social care for drug users. Maya wanted to tackle a subject with political and social implications. Her subject is very topical, and is often dealt with from the sociological, psychiatric and epidemiological angles, but not so much in her discipline: information and communication sciences.

It is a subject with a vast field of research, the originality of which lies in the taboo that surrounds it in society. Maya studies the media and political debate surrounding the treatment of drug users and its effects on public action. To do this, Maya talks to all the parties involved: public and political stakeholders, the mayors of the arrondissements concerned (10th , 18th and 19th arrondissements de Paris), municipal teams, the MILDECA (Mission interministérielle de lutte contre les drogues et les conduites addictives), the drugs squad, the police of the 10th arrondissement, associations including drug users' associations, and also local residents who may be heavily involved in the debate.

This year, Maya is also a project leader. In the first semester, she taught a few hours on communication in public spaces and health controversies, as well as a few hours on methodology. She is currently supervising Master's students working on their dissertations until the end of September. "Teaching is part of the thesis work and prepares us for the role of research professor. It increases the workload, but it's a great opportunity", she admits.

When it comes to her career plans, no doors are closed to her
Maya enjoys both research and teaching and sees herself as a lecturer, but she is also interested in analysing public policy in a social research consultancy or in the voluntary sector, for example at Médecin du Monde in the communications/advocacy department. She's not closing the door to any options.

Head of communications for the Collectif doctoral
Maya is a member of the board of the Collectif doctoral, the Sorbonne University doctoral students' association. Together with her colleague Maëlle, she helps to run the Collectif's communications, creating a monthly newsletter and looking after the association's Discord server. She also manages the two big annual events: the welcome day and Sorbonne Actuelle, the study day organised by the association, for which she is also a member of the scientific committee.

How did she get here? Quite simply, she took over from her colleague Romain, who had been head of communications for several years and wanted to pass the baton. Maya was happy to do so. After a first year away from Paris, she wanted to get involved in the organisation of the Collectif. In her opinion, it's a good way of connecting with other doctoral students, and this role was right up her street.