The Visiting Research Fellowship at the Ecole Normale Supérieure is a highly selective program that gives Stanford students in the Humanities the opportunity to spend one year abroad in one of the most prestigious schools of France. Located in the heart of Paris in the mystical “Quartier Latin,” the ENS has been home to Nobel Laureates, avant-garde thinkers, Médaille Fields winners and government officials: from Sartre, Camus, Althusser and Lacan to prime ministers, scientists and entrepreneurs, it has been an intellectual catalyst for men and women who have shaped History.

The ENS offers its students an exceptional scientific and intellectual learning environment. Your year abroad will boost your academic career, enable you to build an international intellectual network with elite scholars, and will bring to your research the depth and originality of a unique multicultural profile. It will leave unforgettable traces on your research, learning, and personality.

INTELLECTUAL AND ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

The School promotes intellectual and creative freedom. Interdisciplinarity is key: the quality and range of courses offered and the numerous research opportunities will allow you to meet the best scholars in your field, progress in your research and undertake numerous initiatives.

Interdisciplinarity and Academic freedom: While designing your curriculum with your ENS advisor, you will be able to choose the seminars that best fit your needs in ALL disciplines in the Humanities and Sciences. The number of courses offered at the School each semester far exceeds what you would be able to undertake, but should you need to attend additional seminars at the nearby Sorbonne, Collège de France or Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), your ENS advisor will help you explore other possibilities: the ENS has special agreements with many different Parisian Universities and other renowned academic institutions. Research:

You will also have access to the hundreds of seminars, workshops and conferences offered by the School each year, as well as to its libraries, which house more than 800,000 volumes. Up the street is also the Bibliothèque Sainte Geneviève public library, while the new Très Grande Bibliothèque nationale de France along with some of the best archival centers in France are just a couple subway stops away.

Initiatives:

The School also invites you to take initiatives in designing and organizing your own research workshop, lecture series, conference, film series, or student’s club, providing logistical and intellectual support to a range of new activities each year.

LOGISTICS

As a Research Fellow, you will benefit from:

• A welcoming grant which will cover your housing costs for two semesters on one of the three campuses : Ulm, Jourdan or Montrouge
• Access to the dining services (the “pot”) at discounted prices
• Tuition remission for all courses and workshops
• Individualized mentorship by a Professor from the ENS
• Free access to all the cultural, artistic and sports activities organized by the ENS

Campus housing:

You will receive free housing either at Ulm (rue d'Ulm, at the ENS); Jourdan (beautiful campus located two stations away from Ulm by RER B) or Montrouge (just outside of the city).

If you plan on staying in Paris over the summer, housing will not be free, but you the Director of International Studies might help you benefit from discounted housing costs on one of the three campuses for your summer in Paris.

Mentorship:

You will choose an ENS advisor at the beginning of the year: s/he will be one of your best resources at the School, guiding you in your research and curriculum with individualized mentorship.

Cultural, artistic and sports activities:

The COF (Comité d'Organisation des Fêtes) is the students' association in charge of coordinating the numerous students clubs and activities that take place on campus. The COF organizes, among other things, the mythical "Nuit de la rue d'Ulm,” one of the wildest Parisian parties of the year. Being a COF member allows you to sign up for as many clubs as you wish, such as ciné-club, théâtre, BDthèque, photo, orchestre, chorale, danse, sailing, basketball, bridge, or the research group “Francophonie-ENS” recently created by two graduate students from Stanford and Berkeley, etc...

The School also organizes cultural events such as International weeks (Arabic week, Pollens week), film festivals, encounters with writers or filmmakers, exhibitions, political debates, and has signed a special partnership with the ENSAD (les arts décoratifs) and the Villa Médicis.

CULTURAL LIFE

Museum access:

Interested in Art History? Sign up to be a student in Art History. If you are successful, not only will you be able to attend the best courses in Art History of your life, but with your “Art Historian” student card, you will also benefit from free access to most museums in Paris.

Paris and les environs:

Paris, Paris! So many cultural events are taking place in Paris day and night that they cannot be listed: exhibits, vernissages, independent cinema theatres at every street corner, la Comédie Française, two Opera halls, parties, crèperies, cafés-concerts, public readings (poetry, politics...) and much, much more…

Outside of Paris, you are three hours away from the beaches of Normandy, from Mont Saint Michel, and in the south, from Marseille and the beautiful beaches and landscapes of Provence! If you are a skier, you are also just a couple of hours away from the Pyrenees and the Alps (West and East!). London is three hours by train too.

HOW TO APPLY: To apply to the ENS Visiting Fellowship, send your application to Christine Onorato by Friday, March 13^th.

The application should include:

• a brief description of your research project and a letter of motivation (1-2 pages) explaining how a year at the ENS in Paris will provide significant benefits for the advancement of the candidate dissertation research
• a current resume

Candidates will submit a report on their experience upon their return, which will include 1) a general assessment of the experience (on-site support; intellectual experience; advancement of research; life conditions) 2) a personal statement on the benefits of the exchange for their academic career.

For more information, contact Christine Onorato or visit the ENS Web site.