University of Paris IV: Paris-Sorbonne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since January 2006. (help, talk)

In 1971, after the university reforms (Framework law drawn up by Edgar FAURE in 1968), the five faculties of the former University of Paris were split and then re-formed into thirteen interdisciplinary universities.

Four of these new universities now share the premises of the Sorbonne building, which, until that time, had been mainly reserved to the Faculties of Arts and Human Sciences. These four universities were also given other premises in different locations throughout Paris. Three universities have kept the Sorbonne name as part of their official title: Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV), the New Sorbonne (Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris III), which is located mainly in the Censier buildings, and the Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris I). The Sorbonne premises also house part of the René Descartes University (Paris V) and the Chancellery (Education authority of Paris - rectorat de Paris).

To a large extent, the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) was the inheritor of the former University of Paris’ Arts and Sciences Faculties. Since its creation it has been governed by five presidents; the founding president, historian Alphonse DUPRONT, was succeeded by the philosopher Raymond POLIN, who was followed by Hellenist Jacques BOMPAIRE. Next came religious historian Michel MESLIN and then Jean-Pierre POUSSOU, a historian of the urban and contemporary world. In May 1998, Georges MOLINIE, a specialist in modern French stylistics, was elected and, since May 2003, the president is geographer Jean-Robert PITTE.

Their initiatives have been aimed at promoting the cultural heritage of the Sorbonne, with a focus on disciplines in the literary and human science fields. This purpose will be furthered by giving top priority to the study of civilizations and to the continuance of strong teaching in the classics. The various presidents have also provided the impetus for numerous innovations whose aim has been to adapt the education given at the Sorbonne to the demands of the 21st century: because one of the main concerns of the university is the integration of students into the working world, it facilitates internships, has created increasingly work-oriented courses of study for students of the Arts and has organized numerous courses aimed at preparing students for competitive civil service exams.