École pratique des hautes études
Encyclopedia
The École pratique des hautes études (EPHE) is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is counted among France's most prestigious research
and higher education
institutions.
The EPHE brings together 240 faculty members and about 3,000 students/attenders into three core departments called “Sections” : Earth and Life Sciences, Historical and Philological Sciences
, and Religious Sciences
. In all Sections, tutoring and immediate induction in research practice are at the core of teaching in the different degree programs.
The EPHE is headquartered in Paris
, and is present in many locations in France
. Teaching and research in human sciences are conducted in Paris, notably at the Sorbonne
, the historical house of the former University of Paris
. In the Earth and Life Sciences Section, they are dispensed at the EPHE's many laboratories (Paris and its region, Nancy, Dijon
, Lyon
, Grenoble
, Montpellier
, Perpignan
, Toulouse
, Bordeaux
, Caen
, Dinard
, French Polynesia
).
The EPHE confers the Master's
and Doctorate degrees, and the postdoctoral Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches. The School also offers its specific postgraduate degrees – the “Diplôme EPHE” and the “Diplôme post-doctoral” – as well as joint degrees with other universities.
The EPHE maintains extensive cooperative exchanges with universities and research institutions worldwide. Priority areas of cooperation are in Europe
, the Mediterranean and Asia
.
on 31 July 1868 at the initiative of Victor Duruy
, then Minister of Education under Emperor Napoleon III. Its purpose was to introduce research in academia and, more importantly, to promote academic training through research, thereby advancing a practical form of scholarship designed to produce knowledge and to be taught in seminars and laboratories, as was being practiced in Germany
at the time. Faculty members were to distinguish themselves by their dedication, their availability, their accessibility to all, and by advancing a form of education dispensed within the framework of a direct relationship between the master and his disciple.
The School originally had four Sections: First established were Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry; Natural Sciences and Physiology; Philological and Historical Sciences. The Economics Section followed in 1869, but was not developed. The Religious Sciences Section was added in 1886. A sixth Section, called Economic and Social Sciences, was created in the following century after the Second World War.
Three Sections subsist today: Earth and Life Sciences, Historical and Philological Sciences, Religious Sciences. The sixth Section was separated, giving birth in 1975 to the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
(EHESS).
Many renowned scholars have lectured at the EPHE or worked in its laboratories. We may cite the following:
Émile Benveniste
(1928-1975), Fernand Braudel
(1938-1953), Claude Bernard
, Marcellin Berthelot
, Michel Bréal
(1893-1913), Paul Broca
, Jean-Baptiste Charcot, Henry Corbin
(1938-1977), Georges Dumézil
(1933-1967), Lucien Febvre
(1943-1947), Étienne Gilson
(1930-1941), Marcel Granet
(1930-1939), Joseph Halévy
(1887-1916), Bernard Halpern
, Alexandre Kojève
(1933-1939), Alexandre Koyré
(1931-1961), Camille-Ernest Labrousse (1936-1952), Claude Lévi-Strauss
(1950-1967), Sylvain Lévi
, Alfred Loisy
, Auguste Longnon (1887-1911), Gaston Maspero
(1872-1915), Louis Massignon
(1932-1957), Marcel Mauss
(1930-1938), Gabriel Monod
(1887-1911), Gaston Paris
(1887-1904), Lucie Randoin, Jean Rouch
(1959-1992), Émile Roux, Ferdinand de Saussure
, William Henry Waddington
, Henri Wallon
…
Three institutes have been established to date : The European Institute of Religious Sciences (IESR), the Pacific Coral Reef Institute (IRCP) and the Transdisciplinary Institute for the Study of Aging (ITEV).
More recently the EPHE has undertaken, as one of nine project sponsors, to create a new research campus in the human and social sciences, the “Campus Condorcet”. Finally, the school has just founded with eleven other institutions in Paris the Pole for Research and Higher Education (PRES) “Hesam”, which will cover the human and social sciences, the sciences of public and business administration, and engineering sciences.
This tradition, which has endured since the founding of the EPHE, is at the root of the EPHE’s main vocation in preparing for research degrees today.
Studies programs:
The EPHE also confers the Habilitation à diriger des recherches (HDR) and offers joint university degrees (“DIU”) in collaboration with other institutions.
, where the EPHE has a research station. The School also has a station in coastal geomorphology in Dinard
on the coast of Brittany
. The Section’s research is carried out within four networks: environment and cellular regulation; neurosciences; environment and Society; biodiversity dynamics.
The Historical and Philological Sciences Section covers the study of languages, the explanation and commentary of documentary sources, written and book history, and the history of knowledge. Geographically, the emphasis is on the Mediterranean, Asia and Europe, where writing was earliest developed. It remains a field of choice for philological and, more generally, scholarly criticism of written and unwritten sources, aimed at resolving questions of language and history. The Section may also be regarded as one large laboratory devoted to the study of works, cultures and power systems in periods preceding contemporary times, and reaching back over a very long time span within a vast Eurasian area.
In 2010, the Section included 92 full professors and lecturers, and it welcomes every year a large number of foreign scholars as guest fellows.
Topics covered by the Historical and Philological Sciences Section fall into eight broad categories:
Historical and Philological Sciences Publications : The Historical and Philological Sciences Section publishes two collections at Editions Honoré Champion:
It also publishes six other collections at the publisher Droz Publisher:
Established in 1886, the Religious Sciences Section is reputed for its original scholarship in the subject of religions, which it examines in a secular and cross-cultural spirit. By emphasizing comparative and interdisciplinary study, it is the only academic body in France to cover this field so extensively, using a wide range of scientific approaches.
The Section’s teaching in the area of research extends into the most diverse cultural and linguistic fields, from Antiquity to modern and contemporary times. Strongly committed to the philological tradition, it also naturally draws on disciplines or resources as diverse and complementary as history, archeology, iconology, law, philosophy, ethnology, anthropology and sociology, as well as the cinema and new technologies.
The Section included 54 full professors and 12 lecturers in 2010, and it welcomes every year a large number of foreign scholars as guest fellows.
Topics covered may be grouped in nine broad categories:
The Religious Sciences Section publishes two collections:
The Doctoral School is also responsible for the attribution of scholarships, grants and financial aid. It implements the EPHE’s doctoral studies program in accordance with the plan defined in the institution’s quadriennal contract. It operates with other services of the EPHE such as the Education and International Relations divisions.
The Doctoral School is organized along three subject areas:
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
and higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
institutions.
The EPHE brings together 240 faculty members and about 3,000 students/attenders into three core departments called “Sections” : Earth and Life Sciences, Historical and Philological Sciences
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
, and Religious Sciences
Religious studies
Religious studies is the academic field of multi-disciplinary, secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives.While theology attempts to...
. In all Sections, tutoring and immediate induction in research practice are at the core of teaching in the different degree programs.
The EPHE is headquartered in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and is present in many locations in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Teaching and research in human sciences are conducted in Paris, notably at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
, the historical house of the former University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
. In the Earth and Life Sciences Section, they are dispensed at the EPHE's many laboratories (Paris and its region, Nancy, Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
, Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
, Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
, Perpignan
Perpignan
-Sport:Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the Top 14 , while their rugby league side plays in the engage Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.-Culture:Since 2004, every year in the...
, Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
, Dinard
Dinard
Dinard is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in north-western France.Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a popular holiday destination, and this has resulted in the town having a variety of famous visitors and residents...
, French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
).
The EPHE confers the Master's
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
and Doctorate degrees, and the postdoctoral Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches. The School also offers its specific postgraduate degrees – the “Diplôme EPHE” and the “Diplôme post-doctoral” – as well as joint degrees with other universities.
The EPHE maintains extensive cooperative exchanges with universities and research institutions worldwide. Priority areas of cooperation are in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, the Mediterranean and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
EPHE's History
The Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes was established by imperial decreeDecree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...
on 31 July 1868 at the initiative of Victor Duruy
Victor Duruy
Jean Victor Duruy was a French historian and statesman.He was born in Paris, the son of a factory worker, and at first intended for his father's trade...
, then Minister of Education under Emperor Napoleon III. Its purpose was to introduce research in academia and, more importantly, to promote academic training through research, thereby advancing a practical form of scholarship designed to produce knowledge and to be taught in seminars and laboratories, as was being practiced in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
at the time. Faculty members were to distinguish themselves by their dedication, their availability, their accessibility to all, and by advancing a form of education dispensed within the framework of a direct relationship between the master and his disciple.
The School originally had four Sections: First established were Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry; Natural Sciences and Physiology; Philological and Historical Sciences. The Economics Section followed in 1869, but was not developed. The Religious Sciences Section was added in 1886. A sixth Section, called Economic and Social Sciences, was created in the following century after the Second World War.
Three Sections subsist today: Earth and Life Sciences, Historical and Philological Sciences, Religious Sciences. The sixth Section was separated, giving birth in 1975 to the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
The École des hautes études en sciences sociales is a leading French institution for research and higher education, a Grand Établissement. Its mission is research and research training in the social sciences, including the relationship these latter maintain with the natural and life sciences...
(EHESS).
Many renowned scholars have lectured at the EPHE or worked in its laboratories. We may cite the following:
Émile Benveniste
Émile Benveniste
Émile Benveniste was a French Jewish structural linguist, semiotician, an apprentice of Antoine Meilletand his successor, who, in his later years, became enlightened by the structural view of language through the work of Ferdinand de Saussure, although he was unwilling to grasp it at first, being...
(1928-1975), Fernand Braudel
Fernand Braudel
Fernand Braudel was a French historian and a leader of the Annales School. His scholarship focused on three main projects, each representing several decades of intense study: The Mediterranean , Civilization and Capitalism , and the unfinished Identity of France...
(1938-1953), Claude Bernard
Claude Bernard
Claude Bernard was a French physiologist. He was the first to define the term milieu intérieur . Historian of science I. Bernard Cohen of Harvard University called Bernard "one of the greatest of all men of science"...
, Marcellin Berthelot
Marcellin Berthelot
Marcelin Pierre Eugène Berthelot was a French chemist and politician noted for the Thomsen-Berthelot principle of thermochemistry. He synthesized many organic compounds from inorganic substances and disproved the theory of vitalism. He is considered as one of the greatest chemists of all time.He...
, Michel Bréal
Michel Bréal
"Breal" redirects here. For the Rapper see B-RealMichel Jules Alfred Bréal , French philologist, was born at Landau in Rhenish Bavaria. He is often identified as a founder of modern semantics....
(1893-1913), Paul Broca
Paul Broca
Pierre Paul Broca was a French physician, surgeon, anatomist, and anthropologist. He was born in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Gironde. He is best known for his research on Broca's area, a region of the frontal lobe that has been named after him. Broca’s Area is responsible for articulated language...
, Jean-Baptiste Charcot, Henry Corbin
Henry Corbin
Henry Corbin was a philosopher, theologian and professor of Islamic Studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.Corbin was born in Paris in April 1903. As a boy he revealed the profound sensitivity to music so evident in his work...
(1938-1977), Georges Dumézil
Georges Dumézil
Georges Dumézil was a French comparative philologist best known for his analysis of sovereignty and power in Proto-Indo-European religion and society...
(1933-1967), Lucien Febvre
Lucien Febvre
Lucien Febvre was a French historian best known for the role he played in establishing the Annales School of history. He has designed the Encyclopédie française together with Anatole de Monzie.-Biography:...
(1943-1947), Étienne Gilson
Étienne Gilson
Étienne Gilson was a French Thomistic philosopher and historian of philosophy...
(1930-1941), Marcel Granet
Marcel Granet
Marcel Granet was a French sociologist, ethnologist and sinologist. As a follower of Émile Durkheim and Édouard Chavannes, Granet was one of the first to bring sociological methods to the study of China...
(1930-1939), Joseph Halévy
Joseph Halévy
Joseph Halévy was an Ottoman born Jewish-French Orientalist and traveller.He did his most notable work was done in Yemen, which he crossed during 1869 to 1870 in search of Sabaean inscriptions, no European having traversed that land since AD 24; the result was a most valuable collection of 800...
(1887-1916), Bernard Halpern
Alexandre Kojève
Alexandre Kojève was a Russian-born French philosopher and statesman whose philosophical seminars had an immense influence on twentieth-century French philosophy, particularly via his integration of Hegelian concepts into continental philosophy...
, Alexandre Kojève
Alexandre Kojève
Alexandre Kojève was a Russian-born French philosopher and statesman whose philosophical seminars had an immense influence on twentieth-century French philosophy, particularly via his integration of Hegelian concepts into continental philosophy...
(1933-1939), Alexandre Koyré
Alexandre Koyré
Alexandre Koyré , sometimes anglicised as Alexander Koiré, was a French philosopher of Russian origin who wrote on the history and philosophy of science.-Life:...
(1931-1961), Camille-Ernest Labrousse (1936-1952), Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist, and has been called, along with James George Frazer, the "father of modern anthropology"....
(1950-1967), Sylvain Lévi
Sylvain Lévi
Sylvain Lévi was an orientalist and indologist. Born in Paris on March 28, 1863, his book Théâtre Indien is an important work on the subject. Lévi also conducted some of the earliest analysis of Tokharian fragments discovered in Western China.-Biography:Sylvain Levi passed the agregation...
, Alfred Loisy
Alfred Loisy
Alfred Firmin Loisy was a French Roman Catholic priest, professor and theologian who became the intellectual standard bearer for Biblical Modernism in the Roman Catholic Church...
, Auguste Longnon (1887-1911), Gaston Maspero
Gaston Maspero
Gaston Camille Charles Maspero was a French Egyptologist.-Life:Gaston Maspero was born in Paris to parents of Lombard origin. While at school he showed a special taste for history, and by the age of fourteen he was already interested in hieroglyphic writing...
(1872-1915), Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon was a French scholar of Islam and its history. Although a Catholic himself, he tried to understand Islam from within and thus had a great influence on the way Islam was seen in the West; among other things, he paved the way for a greater openness inside the Catholic Church towards...
(1932-1957), Marcel Mauss
Marcel Mauss
Marcel Mauss was a French sociologist. The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss' academic work traversed the boundaries between sociology and anthropology...
(1930-1938), Gabriel Monod
Gabriel Monod
Gabriel Monod was a French historian, the nephew of Adolphe Monod.-Biography:Born in Ingouville, Seine-Maritime, he was educated at Le Havre then went to Paris to complete his education, lodging with the de Pressensé family...
(1887-1911), Gaston Paris
Gaston Paris
Bruno Paulin Gaston Paris , known as Gaston Paris, was a French writer and scholar.He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901, 1902 and 1903.-Biography:Paris was born at Avenay...
(1887-1904), Lucie Randoin, Jean Rouch
Jean Rouch
Jean Rouch was a French filmmaker and anthropologist.He is considered to be one of the founders of the cinéma vérité in France, which shared the aesthetics of the direct cinema spearheaded by Richard Leacock, D.A. Pennebaker and Albert and David Maysles...
(1959-1992), Émile Roux, Ferdinand de Saussure
Ferdinand de Saussure
Ferdinand de Saussure was a Swiss linguist whose ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in linguistics in the 20th century. He is widely considered one of the fathers of 20th-century linguistics...
, William Henry Waddington
William Henry Waddington
William Henry Waddington was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France in 1879.-Early life and education:...
, Henri Wallon
Henri Wallon (psychologist)
Henri Paul Hyacinthe Wallon was a French philosopher, psychologist , neuropsychiatrist, teacher, and politician...
…
Recent developments
Since 2006, the EPHE has been setting up specialized centers which draw on the same scientific resources of the Sections, but whose primary purpose is to develop disciplinary expertise and vocational training, and to disseminate scholarly knowledge.Three institutes have been established to date : The European Institute of Religious Sciences (IESR), the Pacific Coral Reef Institute (IRCP) and the Transdisciplinary Institute for the Study of Aging (ITEV).
More recently the EPHE has undertaken, as one of nine project sponsors, to create a new research campus in the human and social sciences, the “Campus Condorcet”. Finally, the school has just founded with eleven other institutions in Paris the Pole for Research and Higher Education (PRES) “Hesam”, which will cover the human and social sciences, the sciences of public and business administration, and engineering sciences.
Training
Courses at the EPHE are taught in accordance with the institution’s founding educational principle: to train in research by means of adapted practice in lectures, seminars or lab sessions, in the following areas: Earth and Life Sciences; Historical and Philological Sciences; Religious Sciences.This tradition, which has endured since the founding of the EPHE, is at the root of the EPHE’s main vocation in preparing for research degrees today.
Studies programs:
- Two institution-specific postgraduate degrees (in each of the three Sections): “Diplôme de l’EPHE”, “Diplôme post-doctoral de l’EPHE”;
- Two Master degrees: The Master in Biology, Health, Environment (research degree, 3 specialties), The Master in Historical, Philological and Religious Sciences (Religious Sciences and Society, European, Mediterranean et Asian Sciences);
- The Doctorate, in three subjects areas prepared at the same Doctoral School: Integrated Systems, Biodiversity and Environment (“SIEB”), History, Documents and Texts (“HTD”), Religions and Thought Systems (“RSP”).
The EPHE also confers the Habilitation à diriger des recherches (HDR) and offers joint university degrees (“DIU”) in collaboration with other institutions.
Research
The Earth and Life Sciences Section groups faculty and laboratories in Paris and throughout France. All laboratories have joint research units in place with other institutions (universities, CNRS, INSERM, INRA, MNHN). One laboratory is in French Polynesia on the island of MooreaMoorea
Moʻorea is a high island in French Polynesia, part of the Society Islands, 17 km northwest of Tahiti. Its position is . Moʻorea means "yellow lizard" in Tahitian...
, where the EPHE has a research station. The School also has a station in coastal geomorphology in Dinard
Dinard
Dinard is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in north-western France.Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a popular holiday destination, and this has resulted in the town having a variety of famous visitors and residents...
on the coast of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
. The Section’s research is carried out within four networks: environment and cellular regulation; neurosciences; environment and Society; biodiversity dynamics.
The Historical and Philological Sciences Section covers the study of languages, the explanation and commentary of documentary sources, written and book history, and the history of knowledge. Geographically, the emphasis is on the Mediterranean, Asia and Europe, where writing was earliest developed. It remains a field of choice for philological and, more generally, scholarly criticism of written and unwritten sources, aimed at resolving questions of language and history. The Section may also be regarded as one large laboratory devoted to the study of works, cultures and power systems in periods preceding contemporary times, and reaching back over a very long time span within a vast Eurasian area.
In 2010, the Section included 92 full professors and lecturers, and it welcomes every year a large number of foreign scholars as guest fellows.
Topics covered by the Historical and Philological Sciences Section fall into eight broad categories:
- Ancient Near and Middle East;
- Classical Antiquity;
- Muslim worlds;
- History and Philology of Medieval Period;
- Modern and contemporary History of the West;
- India and the Far East;
- History of the Arts and Archeology;
- Linguistics.
Historical and Philological Sciences Publications : The Historical and Philological Sciences Section publishes two collections at Editions Honoré Champion:
- Bibliothèque de l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Historical and Philological Sciences;
- Advanced studies in contemporary history).
It also publishes six other collections at the publisher Droz Publisher:
- Advanced studies in numismatics;
- Advanced oriental studies, divided in two series : Near and Middle East, Far East;
- Advanced studies of the greco-roman world;
- Advanced studies in comparative islamic and oriental history;
- Advanced studies of medieval and modern times;
- History and civilization of the book.
Established in 1886, the Religious Sciences Section is reputed for its original scholarship in the subject of religions, which it examines in a secular and cross-cultural spirit. By emphasizing comparative and interdisciplinary study, it is the only academic body in France to cover this field so extensively, using a wide range of scientific approaches.
The Section’s teaching in the area of research extends into the most diverse cultural and linguistic fields, from Antiquity to modern and contemporary times. Strongly committed to the philological tradition, it also naturally draws on disciplines or resources as diverse and complementary as history, archeology, iconology, law, philosophy, ethnology, anthropology and sociology, as well as the cinema and new technologies.
The Section included 54 full professors and 12 lecturers in 2010, and it welcomes every year a large number of foreign scholars as guest fellows.
Topics covered may be grouped in nine broad categories:
- Religious ethnology (Africa, Americas, Europe, Australia/Oceania);
- Religions of Asia;
- Polytheistic Religions of the Ancient World;
- Judaism;
- Christianity and its margins;
- Islam;
- Laicities and Religions in the Contemporary World;
The Religious Sciences Section publishes two collections:
- The "Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes", Religious Sciences (BEHE, SR), published by Brepols, which includes two series: History and prosopography of the Religious Sciences Section and Sources and documents.
- The Conferences of the EPHE, published by Le Cerf. Of interest to both specialists and the educated general public, this recently created collection notably includes transcripts of lectures given at the School by guest research fellows.
The Doctoral School is also responsible for the attribution of scholarships, grants and financial aid. It implements the EPHE’s doctoral studies program in accordance with the plan defined in the institution’s quadriennal contract. It operates with other services of the EPHE such as the Education and International Relations divisions.
The Doctoral School is organized along three subject areas:
- Integrated Systems, Environment and Biodiversity;
- Religions and Thought Systems;
- History, Texts and Documents.
External links
- EPHE official site
- IESR official site
- Annuaire of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Religious Sciences Section
- Annuaire of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Historical and Philological Sciences Section
- Annuaires of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Digital archive
- EHESS official site
- CNRS official site
- INSERM official site
- INRA official site
- MNHN official site