Resources for Faculty

FIG oversees short-term faculty exchange programs with the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), the Institut d’Études Politiques (Sciences Po), and the École Normale Supérieure–Lettres et Sciences Humaines (ENS-LSH) in Lyon. EHESS supports research in all the social sciences, including cultural studies and history, with an emphasis on historical and anthropological research. Sciences Po supports research in all the social sciences, with an emphasis on political science and policy studies generally. ENS-LSH focuses on the Humanities, with some social science. The exchange programs enable one or two NU faculty to visit EHESS, Sciences Po, or ENS-LSH annually, and one or two faculty of each of the partner schools to visit NU.

By the terms of these programs, Northwestern faculty receive a stipend, roughly equivalent to the salary of a French professor at the same rank, for a one-month stay. The duties attached to this offer are negotiable, but typically include presenting one’s research in faculty and graduate seminars and colloquia, and/or directing one or several sessions of one or more graduate seminars.

The visit must take place during a non-teaching quarter, but otherwise the timing of the visit is negotiable. French language abilities are appreciated, but not obligatory. Both EHESS and Sciences Po can help faculty find housing in Paris. ENS-LSH offers housing in Lyon, but in all cases faculty search for their own if they prefer. Visiting faculty are responsible for the cost of housing (which can vary from 500 to 2000 euros for a one-month stay in Paris, but less in Lyon). FIG will contribute up to $1000 toward air fare.

Interested candidates should apply to FIG. FIG will gather the applications and forward them to the partner schools, which will make the final selection. Preference will be given to candidates who can explain how their visit will advance our partnerships by, for example, creating some form of joint research collaboration, or some form of joint graduate student training program, etc. Applicants should also describe current research, supply a vita, and, if possible (though this is not obligatory), mention faculty with whom they have worked or would like to work. Ideally, faculty collaborators will return the visit at NU.

For more information, contact Michael Loriaux, or Nasrin Qader, FIG Co-Directors. You may also visit the following websites:

• EHESS Home Page
• EHESS Centres de Recherche


• Sciences Po Home Page
• La Recherche à Sciences Po


• ENS-LSH Home Page
• La Recherche à l'ENS-LSH

Note that participation in this exchange does not constitute leave. It does not free faculty from teaching and service obligations at Northwestern, and can only be scheduled during a non-teaching quarter.

FIG can sponsor speakers of interest to its affiliates. Note that the Book Office of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy subsidizes visits to the U.S. by French scholars and authors. Faculty, through FIG, may ask the Book Office to sponsor visits by authors of their choice. Sponsoring faculty must take an active role in organizing four or five engagements at other campuses. The Book Office generally organizes visits for the academic year in June.

Financial assistance for American publishers is available through the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. These grants support publishing houses that have a tradition of publishing French books in translation. The monetary value of such grants varies. To view application guidelines, please click here.

The French Ministry of Culture provides CNL (Centre National des Lettres) Grants to translators wishing to travel to France to translate French works in the fields of literature or humanities.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the Villa Gillet, oversees a program of Residency for Literary Translators that provides a six-week residency to translators of French texts. The translator is in residence at Villa Gillet in Lyon. Translators of twentieth-century philosophy may apply for residence at IMEC, the Institut Mémoires de l’Édition Contemporaine, at Caen.

The PEN American Center provides grants to support the translation of book-length works of fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and drama that have not previously appeared in English. This program seeks to encourage translators to undertake projects they might not otherwise have had the means to attempt. For more information on these programs, please click here.

Many full-length films, sub-titled, can be downloaded from universcine.com.

The French-American Cultural Exchange provides grants for film festivals featuring at least five French films.

The Bureau du Documentaire of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs makes over 3000 French documentaries available on loan.

Fulbright Research Grants to Nord-Pas de Calais. All fields welcome, with emphasis on: biology, health, physics, chemistry, math and computer science; advanced technologies of information and communication; cognitive science, ethics, industrial societies and economic systems.

Fulbright Research Grants to Alsace. Preferred fields: medical imaging, computer-assisted surgery, medical robotics, physical and life sciences. Note that NU has a student exchange with the University of Strasbourg Louis Pasteur.

For more information on Fulbright research in France, visit the CIE website.