Announcing the launch of the UC Berkeley Center of Excellence in French and Francophone Studies, part of a network of American universities leading the way in promoting French language and culture on US campuses.

On April 23, at noon, the French Deputy and Special Advisor of the President of the Republic gave a lecture on “Between Two Worlds: Macron’s Industrial Policy from a Political Perspective,” inaugurating the activities of the UC Berkeley Center of Excellence in French and Francophone Studies, the first Center of Excellence in the San Francisco area.

David Amiel’s lecture embodied the ambition of the Centers of Excellence network to explore and connect different aspects of  French Studies.  

At UC Berkeley, the Center of Excellence articulates the research activities of the Department of French, the France-Berkeley Funds, and the Institute of European Studies. It particularly promotes the Berkeley Innovative Lab en francais and different research disciplines from linguistic and political sciences to history and sociology.

Recently, the Center of Excellence also made it possible to initiate new collaboration with the Miller institute for Global Challenges and the Law.  In doing so, it involves more researchers and diversifies the opportunities to consolidate the French-American academic milieu and to address the democratic threats French and American campuses must face.   

For two years, the current director Jonah Levy has been paving the way for interdisciplinary research and the promotion of French Studies across the humanities and social sciences. 

UC Berkeley’s Center of Excellence also connects research and educational actors, students and scholars, academics, and non-academic professionals, thereby playing a prominent role in articulating the French Embassy’s programs and on campus resources in the San Francisco Bay area.

A strategic node in our academic network in the US, it should also inspire future Centers of Excellence within the Consulate General of France in San Francisco’s jurisdiction from Northern California to Alaska and from Utah to Hawaii.

Photo credit: (c) David Amiel