The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''

grande école A (; ) is a specialized top-level educational institution in France and some other countries such as Morocco and Tunisia. are part of an alternative educational system that operates alongside the mainstream List of public universities in Franc ...

'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conjointly with the grandes écoles

École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

École polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

, and École pratique des hautes études. Originally a department (Section VI) of the École pratique des hautes études, created in 1868 with the purpose of training academic researchers, the EHESS became an independent institution in 1975. Today its research covers

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

, and

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematics, mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and Industrial sector, industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a ...

. Degrees and research in economics and finance are awarded through the Paris School of Economics. The EHESS, in common with other grandes écoles, is a small school with very strict entry criteria, and admits students through a rigorous selection process based on applicants' research projects. Scholars in training are subsequently free to choose their own

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

amongst the School's fields of research. The ''école'' has a small student-faculty ratio; 830 researchers for 3,000 students (27.6%). Most of the School's faculty belong to other institutions, mostly within the French National Centre for Scientific Research and schools affiliated with PSL University. The School is notable for its work connected to amongst others sociologist

Pierre Bourdieu Pierre Bourdieu (, ; ; ; 1 August 1930 – 23 January 2002) was a French sociologist and public intellectual. Bourdieu's contributions to the sociology of education, the theory of sociology, and sociology of aesthetics have achieved wide influ ...

, philosopher Jacques Derrida, as well as economist Thomas Piketty.

History

École pratique des hautes études

Originally part of the École pratique des hautes études (EPHE) as its ''VI Section: Sciences économiques et sociales'', the EHESS gained autonomy as an independent higher education institution on 23 January 1975. The creation of a dedicated branch for social science research within the EPHE was catalyzed by the ''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

'' historical school and was supported by several academic initiatives of the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

, dating to the 1920s. After WWII, the Rockefeller Foundation invested more funds in French institutions, seeking to encourage non-Marxist sociological studies. The VIth section was created in 1947, and Lucien Febvre took its head. Soon after its creation (1947), the ''VI Section'', later EHESS, became one of the most influential shapers of contemporary

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

area studies Area studies, also known as regional studies, is an interdisciplinary field of research and scholarship pertaining to particular geographical, national/ federal, or cultural regions. The term exists primarily as a general description for what a ...

and

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

methodology, thanks to the contribution of eminent scholars such as Fernand Braudel, Jacques Le Goff and

François Furet François Furet (; 27 March 1927 – 12 July 1997) was a French historian and president of the Saint-Simon Foundation, best known for his books on the French Revolution. From 1985 to 1997, Furet was a professor of French history at the University ...

. F. Braudel succeeded L. Febvre in 1956. He concentrated the various study groups at the well-known building on boulevard Raspail (area of allée Claude-Cahun-Marcel-Moore), in part by financing from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

Independent institution

Today, the EHESS is one of France's ''Grands établissements''. It functions as a

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

, teaching, and degree-granting institution. It offers advanced students high-level programs intended to lead to research careers. Students are admitted on the relevance of their research project and undertake at the EHESS master programs and doctoral studies. The main areas of specialization include:

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

literary theory Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, m ...

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

cognitive science Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...

demographics Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examin ...

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, law, and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

. The institution's focus is on

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

research within these fields. The EHESS has more than 40 research centers (among which are several joint research units with the CNRS) and 22 doctoral programs, 13 of which are in partnership with other French

Universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and ''

Grandes écoles Grandes may refer to: *Agustín Muñoz Grandes, Spanish general and politician * Banksia ser. Grandes, a series of plant species native to Australia * Grandes y San Martín, a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain ...

''.

PSL Research University

The school is a constituent college of the federal PSL Research University. Other institutions include the

College de France A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary education, tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding academic degree, degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further educatio ...

, the

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

, the École pratique des hautes études, Chimie ParisTech, ESPCI ParisTech, the École des mines, and Paris Dauphine University.

Research

History

Influence from the Annales School

Lucien Febvre and Fernand Braudel were members of the École des Annales, the dominant school of historical analysis in France during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

. However, this school of thought was contested by the growing importance of the social sciences and the beginning of

structuralism Structuralism is an intellectual current and methodological approach, primarily in the social sciences, that interprets elements of human culture by way of their relationship to a broader system. It works to uncover the structural patterns t ...

. Under pressure from

Claude Lévi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss ( ; ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a Belgian-born French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair o ...

, in particular, they integrated new contributions from the fields of

and

ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

to event-based historical analysis, a concept put forward by the Annales school, to advocate for the concept of "a nearly imperceptible passage of history". They were reproached, along with the structuralists, for ignoring

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

and the individual's influence over his fate during a period in which the colonial wars of liberation were taking place. The work of Braudel, Le Roy Ladurie and other historians working under their influence greatly affected the research and official teaching of history in France beginning in the 1960s. The work of Jean-Marie Pesez renewed interest in the issue of methodology in medieval archeology and created the idea of "material culture". François Hartog, who serves as the director of the school's ancient and modern

department, is also noted for proposing that the problems of modern time schema are not entirely caused by an imperialist past. He is also known for challenging the Eurocentric reflection of history and the present.

New History

During the 1970s, EHESS became the center of New History under the influence of Jacques Le Goff and Pierre Nora. During this period, a generation of ethnologists working under the ideas of Georges Balandier and Marc Augé were critical of the French colonial tradition and applied modern sociological concepts to third world countries.

New Polish School of Holocaust Scholarship

In 2019, held the New Polish School of Holocaust Scholarship conference. The conference was disrupted by Polish nationalists. EHESS President, Christophe Prochasson, said he could not recall such a violent disturbance at any scientific conference. Minister Frédérique Vidal condemned Polish authorities.
Behr Valentin, Entre histoire et propagande. Les contributions de l’Institut polonais de la mémoire nationale à la mise en récit de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Allemagne d'aujourd'hui

Sociology

, Luc Boltanski, Alain Touraine, Jean-Claude Passeron have all been associated with EHESS.

Economics

EHESS has always been a central place for economic debate in Europe. In France this debate is also enabled by the proximity of the researchers in Paris with national economic institutions: In this sense EHESS's advisors who have been drawn from economic professors have enjoyed a large media audience (one notable example was Jean Fourastié). The diversity of viewpoints has been a priority, and liberal and Marxist economists have had the chance to debate in EHESS. Since the 1970s and 1980s EHESS has focused on quantitative economics, with classes led by well-known professors such as Louis-André Gérard-Varet, Jean-Jacques Laffont, François Bourguignon and Roger Guesnerie. They initiated not only the Paris School of Economics but the Toulouse School of Economics and Grequam (Aix-Marseille).

Domestic and foreign networks

Affiliations

The school is a founding member of the Paris School of Economics, Toulouse School of Economics, and Aix-Marseille School of Economics, the three French leading centers in Quantitative Economics. Since 2014 it is an associated member of the Paris Research University (PSL).

International partnerships

EHESS has exchange programs with universities such as

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in the United Kingdom; Columbia, Yale,

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, and

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in the United States;

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

in Germany;

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

in Japan;

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

in China; and the European University Institute in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy. It also has exchange programs with universities in Asia and the Middle-East, and holds research centers on Asian Studies and Islamic Studies.

Notable alumni

* Marwan Bishara * Manola Antonioli * Roberto Beneduce * Nicole Brenez * Françoise Briand * Manuel Carvalheiro * Antonio Casilli * Arachu Castro * Ophelie Coelho * Yves Censi * Philippe Corcuff * Julien Coupat * Louis Chauvel * Louis Dumont * Pascal Chaigneau * Jacques Dassié * Robert Delort * Božidar Đelić * Aïssa Dermouche * Mamadou Diawara * Albert Doja * Esther Duflo * Serge Dufoulon * Moisés Espírito Santo * Safi Faye * Caroline Fourest * Dario Gamboni * Susan George * Mélanie Gourarier * Nathalie Heinich * Béatrice Hibou * Jean Hyppolite * Bruno Jaffré * Christian Geffray * Michel Lauwers * Marc Lazar *

José Manuel López López José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...

* Frédéric Lordon * Édouard Louis * Caterina Magni * Sabrina Malek * Alain Marleix * Frédéric Martel * Walter Mignolo * Laure Murat * Sébastien Nadot * Guadalupe Nettel * Christine Niederberger Betton * Laurent Nunez * Hector Obalk * Thomas Pavel * Thomas Piketty * Guy Poitevin * Ignacio Ramonet * Joseph Gaï Ramaka * Bernard Salanié * Cheick Oumar Sissoko * Bernard Stiegler * Jean-Louis Swiners * David Thesmar * Alain Touraine * Nicolas Trifon * Laurent Turcot * Frédéric Vandenberghe * Olivier Weber * Ioanna Andreesco Stanislas_Dehaene_2014.jpg, Stanislas Dehaene Thomas_Piketty_2015.jpg, Thomas Piketty Didier_Fassin.tiff, Didier Fassin Esther_Duflo_-_Pop!Tech_2009_-_001_(cropped).jpg, Esther Duflo Garreton,_Manuel_Antonio_-FILSA_2015_10_23_fRF05.jpg, Manuel Antonio Garretón Jean_Berlie_photo_2.jpg, Jean Berlie

Notable faculty

Past and present faculty (including EPHE's VI Section): * * Sylviane Agacinski * Marc Augé *

Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 25 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popu ...

* Claude Berge * Augustin Berque *

* François Bourguignon * * Fernand Braudel * Claude Calame * Fernando Henrique Cardoso * Manuel Castells * Cornelius Castoriadis * Roger Chartier * Annie Cohen-Solal * Jacques Derrida * Philippe Descola * Oswald Ducrot * Louis Dumont * Nicolas Ellison * * Lucien Febvre * Marc Ferro * David Feuerwerker * Maribel Fierro *

* Marcel Gauchet * Maurice Godelier * Nilüfer Göle *

Algirdas Julien Greimas Algirdas Julien Greimas (; born ; 9 March 1917 – 27 February 1992) was a Lithuanian literary scientist who wrote most of his body of work in French while living in France. Greimas is known among other things for the Semiotic square, Greimas S ...

* Roger Guesnerie * Pierre Hadot * Bernard Harcourt * Stanley Hoffmann * Olivier Jeanne * * Milan Kundera *

Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, ; ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Sigmund Freud, Freud", Lacan gave The Seminars of Jacques Lacan, year ...

* Marie-Claire Lavabre * Jacques Le Goff * Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie * Claude Lefort * Pierre Manent * Jacques Mehler * Christian Metz * Edgar Morin * Thomas Piketty * Richard Portes * Ignacio Ramonet * Juliette Rennes * Pierre Rosenstiehl * Emma Rothschild * Olivier Roy * * Jean-Claude Schmitt * Carlo Severi * * Sanjay Subrahmanyam * Jean Tirole * * Alain Touraine * Alessandro Triulzi * Jean-Pierre Vernant * Georges Vigarello * Arundhati Virmani * Eduardo Viveiros de Castro * * * Michel Wieviorka File:Levi-strauss 260.jpg,

File:Emma Rothschild, historiadora da economia, Professora em Harvard, esposa de Amartya Sen (7110290673).jpg, Emma Georgina Rothschild File:Jean Tirole (cropped).jpg, Jean Tirole File:Pierre Bourdieu (1).jpg,

File:Edgar Morin no Fronteiras do Pensamento Porto Alegre 2011 (6035645529).jpg, alt=Edgar Morin, Edgar Morin

References

External links

L'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales - official site
*
EHESS's history
*
List of EHESS research centers
{{coord, 48, 51, 0.86, N, 2, 19, 36.33, E, region:FR_type:landmark, display=title Grands établissements Education in Paris Educational institutions established in 1975 6th arrondissement of Paris Social science research institutes Research institutes in France 1975 establishments in France Universities in Paris Grandes écoles

History

École pratique des hautes études

Independent institution

PSL Research University

Research

History

Influence from the Annales School

New History

New Polish School of Holocaust Scholarship

Sociology

Economics

Domestic and foreign networks

Affiliations

International partnerships

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

See also

References

External links