EHESS

EHESS
EHESS · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
Native name	École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
Established	1947
Type	Public grande école
City	Paris
Country	France
Campus	Urban

EHESS is a French grande école and research institution specializing in the social sciences and humanities. Founded in the aftermath of World War II, it developed as a nexus for interdisciplinary inquiry connecting sociology, anthropology, history, economics, and geography. The institution has influenced scholarship across Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and North America through its seminars, research centers, and doctoral training.

History

EHESS emerged from the intellectual milieu shaped by figures associated with Collège de France, École pratique des hautes études, Fernand Braudel, Marc Bloch, and Annales School methodologies. Early networks included scholars linked to Université de Paris, CNRS, Paul Valéry, Maurice Halbwachs, and Raymond Aron, contributing to debates during the era of Fourth French Republic reconstruction and later during the political transformations of the May 1968 events in France. Throughout the Cold War, faculty engaged with debates involving Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and interlocutors from Harvard University, Columbia University, and University of Chicago. The institution expanded international partnerships with universities such as Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, University of São Paulo, University of Tokyo, and London School of Economics while participating in networks like Europaeum and projects funded by European Research Council and Agence nationale de la recherche.

Organization and Administration

The institution's governance draws on models found at French Ministry of Higher Education and Research-related establishments, with administrative links to CNRS and coordination with municipal authorities like City of Paris. Leadership structures have included directors and councils interacting with bodies such as Conseil d'État-informed frameworks and unions like Syndicat national des enseignants chercheurs. Research units are often co-funded or co-supervised with entities including INED, INRAE, IRD, and thematic collaborations with Bibliothèque nationale de France and museum partners such as Musée du quai Branly. The administrative apparatus oversees doctoral schools connected to national doctoral frameworks exemplified by Habilitation à diriger des recherches procedures and participates in accreditation systems aligned with European Higher Education Area standards.

Academic Programs and Research

Programs range from master's degrees and doctoral training to postdoctoral fellowships, many organized within disciplinary clusters analogous to those at École normale supérieure (Paris), Sciences Po, and Sorbonne University. Curricula emphasize methods and theory drawing on traditions associated with Historical Materialism, Structuralism advocates like Claude Lévi-Strauss, and later currents influenced by Actor–Network Theory and scholars linked to Bruno Latour and Alain Badiou. Research centers host comparative projects on topics connecting studies of French Revolution, Colonialism, Slavery, Industrial Revolution, and contemporary themes involving Globalization, Migration, Urbanization, and Climate Change policy debates. The institution publishes working papers and journals engaging with editorial lines similar to those of Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales and collaborates with international presses including Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Gallimard, and Presses Universitaires de France.

Notable Faculty and Alumni

Faculty and alumni networks encompass historians, anthropologists, economists, sociologists, and political scientists who have engaged with institutions like Princeton University, Yale University, Stanford University, Max Planck Society, and Australian National University. Prominent associated scholars include names tied to influential works alongside the legacies of Pierre Bourdieu, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Fernand Braudel, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, Ernest Gellner, Siegfried Kracauer, Immanuel Wallerstein, and Dominique Schnapper. Alumni have entered public life and cultural institutions such as Conseil constitutionnel (France), European Commission, United Nations, World Bank, Médecins Sans Frontières, Musée d'Orsay, and editorial roles at journals like Le Monde diplomatique and publishing houses including Éditions du Seuil.

Campus and Facilities

Situated in Paris with seminar rooms, libraries, and archives, the campus infrastructure interfaces with collections at Bibliothèque nationale de France, special archives linked to Archives nationales (France), and partner libraries like Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. Facilities support ethnographic collections and fieldwork equipment for projects in regions including Maghreb, Sahel, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Pacific Islands. Collaborative spaces host visiting scholars from institutes such as Institute for Advanced Study, German Historical Institute, Centre for Contemporary Indian Studies, and research consortia funded by Horizon 2020 and successor European programs.

Admissions and Funding

Admissions procedures align with competitive entry systems similar to those employed by grandes écoles and doctoral selection practices observed at École normale supérieure (Paris) and Sciences Po. Funding for students and research combines scholarships and grants from national sources like Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l'Innovation, doctoral contracts, fellowships from Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, international scholarships such as Erasmus Mundus, and external funding from foundations like Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and research councils including National Science Foundation collaborations for joint projects.

Category:Research institutes in France Category:Universities and colleges in Paris