The University of Paris 8

Brief presentation of the university

Université Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis, founded in 1969, is the heir to the Centre expérimental de Vincennes and the intellectual and educational effervescence that followed May 1968. Since then, it has been driven by a spirit of democratizing access to knowledge and seeks to give students a better understanding of the contemporary world while providing them with the tools they need to make a lasting contribution to society.

Today, Université Paris 8 is a central teaching and research hub in the humanities, located in the north-eastern region of Île-de-France, with sites in Saint-Denis, Montreuil and Tremblay-en-France, that offers teaching and research opportunities in five fields:

Arts;

Law, Economics, Management;

Literature and Languages;

Humanities and Social Sciences;

Mathematics, Computer Science and Digital Technologies.

The university stands out for its openness to fields hitherto little represented in French universities, such as geopolitics, psychoanalysis, the visual arts, cinema, and gender, and for its determination to maintain a strong link between research and teaching, drawing on innovative teaching methods that are designed to adapt to all audiences and provide lifelong learning for all.

By placing creativity at the heart of its project and activities, whether artistic, educational or scientific, Paris 8 defines itself as the university of creations. It is fully committed to encouraging creation in all its forms by designing appropriate structures and methods, linking training and research, and deploying innovative practices that contribute to shaping society through interdisciplinary and experimental approaches.

What does being part of ERUA mean for us?

Go beyond the prevailing models that tend to limit universities to simple academic institutions, rather than apprehending and developing them as real spaces of creation
Promote experimentation as a central notion and practice in human creativity and prosperity
Build an environment where researchers, administrators and students have the time, space, opportunities and resources to play, to discover, to experiment and to innovate individually, but above all collectively
Be aware that people are at the center of any societal evolution and that mobility is what nourishes the diversity and richness of peoples, ideas, opinions, genders and therefore the diversity of knowledge
Promote geographic and social diversity with the aim of building an effective innovation system based on a multilingual and multicultural environment across Europe
To be a center of exchange and knowledge and to promote free access to this knowledge as essential factor for positive change in societies
Work to break down physical, regulatory, institutional and mental limits with the aim of bringing about and strengthening a collective European awareness of current and future challenges and ways of addressing them
Make our alliance a wide-open and prime destination for students, academic institutions, policy makers and civil society with a focus on the contributions of the social sciences, the humanities and the arts to solving societal challenges

Where are we located?

Paris 8 University is located in Île-de-France region. It has several campuses in Seine-Saint-Denis department : main campus in Saint-Denis, Condorcet Campus, IUT Montreuil, IUT Tremblay-en-France.

Paris 8 promotes openness into the city, creativity, diversity and innovation at the heart of a site, the future Greater Paris Metropolis, which is currently undergoing renovation, gradually bringing together most prominent institutions within the fields of culture, higher education and research.

What are we known for?

Paris 8 is heir to the Vincennes Experimental Centre and the intellectual and pedagogical effervescence that followed May 68
Founding member of the Paris Lumières Alliance, the Condorcet Campus and the MSH Paris-Nord, all major players in the social sciences in France

What are our research priorities?

The innovative nature of the research Paris 8 offers finds its origins in its openness to fields hitherto little present in the French universities, such as psychoanalysis, geopolitics, cinema, visual arts, gender studies, educational and linguistic sciences. Paris 8 prioritises the development of new forms of research (research-action and research-creation) and a pluri-, trans- disciplinary approach, encouraging projects turned towards territorial issues, cultural heritage and cultural creation, civic and democratic life, as well as the social and solidarity economy objectives.

Who are our international partners?

Paris 8, with its 26% international students and the 137 nationalities represented among them, defines itself as World-University. While this name is firstly part of a historical tradition of welcoming and openness to diversity, it also responds to a contemporary reality in which the international and European dimension is growing in scope.

Paris 8 maintains partnerships with around 200 foreign universities, of which around 140 are ERASMUS partners.This development of partnerships is set to continue in areas with which Paris 8 has long-standing links, in Europe, the Maghreb, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

Paris 8 in Numbers

22486 students
1053 academics
715 administrative staff
11 Faculties
5 institutes including 2 IUT
33 research units and 9 mixed units
4 doctoral schools
5 areas of studying
426 cooperation agreements

Contacts with Paris 8

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