Society for French Historical Studies

Society for French Historical Studies
Name	Society for French Historical Studies
Formation	1954
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	United States
Region served	International
Leader title	President
Leader name	(varies)
Main organ	Journal of Modern History (note: primary journal published separately)

Contents

Society for French Historical Studies is a learned society devoted to the study of France and the French-speaking world, encompassing topics from the Ancien Régime to the Fifth Republic and francophone regions. Founded in the mid-20th century, the society has connected scholars associated with institutions such as Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Chicago, University of California, Berkeley, and Yale University and engaged with comparative projects involving Germany, Great Britain, United States, Spain, and Italy.

History

The society was established in 1954 amid postwar expansion of area studies influenced by centers like School of Oriental and African Studies and initiatives linked to the Fulbright Program, seeking to professionalize research on France alongside archival projects at repositories such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Archives Nationales (France), and the Vatican Archives. Early leaders included scholars trained at École pratique des hautes études, University of Paris, Princeton University, Brown University, and Stanford University who built networks with editors of journals like Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales, French Historical Studies (note: see Publications), and collections from publishers such as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Routledge. The society navigated Cold War-era debates involving comparative studies of Revolutionary France, the French Revolution, and transnational movements like Enlightenment exchanges with figures such as Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Maximilien Robespierre, and Napoleon Bonaparte.

The society's mission emphasizes scholarly exchange among historians working on periods including Medieval France, Renaissance, Early Modern France, 19th-century France, and 20th-century France, as well as colonial and postcolonial studies involving Algeria, Vietnam, Haiti, Senegal, and French Guiana. Activities foster dialogue between specialists of institutions like the Sorbonne, École Normale Supérieure, Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, and North American departments at Princeton University and University of Michigan. The society promotes interdisciplinary collaboration with historians of Russia, Ottoman Empire, China, Japan, and scholars engaged with texts such as The Social Contract and archival collections like the Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer. It also supports pedagogy linked to syllabi referencing works by Fernand Braudel, Marc Bloch, Lucien Febvre, Jacques Le Goff, and Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie.

The society sponsors and endorses journals and book series; principal outlets associated with members include French Historical Studies, edited in concert with editorial boards drawn from universities such as Rutgers University, Duke University, Cornell University, Indiana University Bloomington, and University of Pennsylvania. Members publish monographs with presses like Harvard University Press, Yale University Press, Princeton University Press, University of Chicago Press, and McGill-Queen's University Press, covering topics from the Dreyfus Affair and Paris Commune to studies of Vichy France, May 1968, and the politics of the Third Republic. Edited volumes often treat sources including the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville, Honoré de Balzac, Émile Zola, and material from the Comité International de la Croix-Rouge when relevant to humanitarian histories.

The society organizes an annual meeting that frequently takes place alongside conferences held at venues such as The Huntington Library, Library of Congress, Newberry Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and major campuses including Columbia University, University of California, Los Angeles, and London School of Economics. Panels address themes linking scholars who study Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Industrial Revolution, Decolonization, and European Union integration, often pooling comparative perspectives with researchers from Germany, Russia, Brazil, Canada, and Morocco. Keynote speakers have been drawn from figures associated with awards like the Pulitzer Prize, the Prix Femina, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

The society administers prizes recognizing scholarship in monograph and article categories alongside dissertation fellowships; prize recipients often publish with Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Stanford University Press, and receive support from foundations such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Awards cover fields intersecting with studies of personalities like Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette, Charles de Gaulle, François Mitterrand, and thematic areas including colonialism in Indochina, the Algerian War, and migration tied to Huguenots and Jewish communities in Marseilles and Paris.

Membership includes historians based at universities and research centers such as Université de Montréal, McGill University, Australian National University, University of Sydney, and National University of Singapore, as well as curators from institutions like the Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre Museum. Governance follows elected boards with officers drawn from departments including History of Art, Political Science, and Sociology at institutions like Brown University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Johns Hopkins University. Committees manage peer review, conference planning, and prize adjudication, often coordinating with professional organizations such as the American Historical Association, the Modern Language Association, and the International Committee of Historical Sciences.

Category:Historical societies Category:French history Category:Learned societies