The Cultural Services office of the French Embassy in the US is happy to congratulate and welcome the four newest members of our Centers of Excellence network, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California Berkeley, the University of Kansas, and the University of Virginia!
These four schools represent excellent additions to the program, each bringing with them unique research focuses, academic offerings, and international partnerships from across the francophone world.
The Embassy is thrilled to welcome them into the network, and is looking forward to the great work that is to come!
More about our new partners
The Embassy welcomes the University of Kansas, with one of the nation’s largest graduate and undergraduate French programs, along with its broad French faculty and affiliated faculty in its History, Art History, Anthropology, African & African American Studies, English, Geography, and Music Departments.
In tandem with the University’s substantial international partnerships across the francophone world, the University’s three axes of research seek to access a vast array of previously untapped knowledge and potential for the program, and The Embassy once again welcomes KU as a Center of Excellence.
Home to the French+ Initiative, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology boasts 23 faculty and hundreds of students each semester, offering a cutting-edge interdisciplinary approach to research and francophone studies. Already offering intensive immersive experiences and teaching opportunities to students, as a Center of Excellence MIT will continue expanding its strong global profile and promoting intercultural collaboration between American and francophone institutions worldwide.
The Embassy is pleased to welcome California’s flagship university, the University of California Berkeley, to the Centers of Excellence network. As a member, the network will benefit from UC Berkeley’s breadth of interdisciplinary expertise, creating opportunities for research and collaboration with existing centers and other institutions around the world.
In partnership with UC Berkeley's Department of French, the France-Berkeley Fund, and the university’s Institute of European Studies, UC Berkeley’s addition to the network will bring together experts from different fields with wide-ranging interests in France and the francophone world. This group of scholars will allow for exceptional interdisciplinary and international opportunities for years to come, and we are once again thrilled to welcome UC Berkeley as a Center of Excellence.
Last but not least, the Embassy is pleased to welcome the University of Virginia to the Centers of Excellence network. In partnership with the UVA Democracy initiative, the UVA Department of French aims to advance interdisciplinary research and teaching about the francophone world, specifically seeking to explore the connections between the francophone world and the history, philosophy, and future of Democracy.
