Sorbonne Alliance

Launched in 2018 and coming to fruition in 2021, Sorbonne Alliance is an unprecedented association designed to meet the challenge facing French universities in the humanities and social sciences. Composed since its creation of Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle and ESCP Business School, Sorbonne Alliance welcomed Inalco in June 2024.

The founding members voted unanimously to accept Inalco's application to join Sorbonne Alliance. This decision was noted at the end of the review process by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

Now four in number, the school presidents and their teams meet regularly to develop joint reflections and launch new projects for Sorbonne Alliance.

This integration is in line with the structuring of the humanities and social sciences (SHS) within the Parisian and French university landscape.

The aim is to consolidate a coherent, complementary SHS cluster that is easily understood by the partners of the four establishments. This involves various actions, such as structuring a pool of researchers capable of working across different disciplines and regional areas, with the constitution of critical masses both in areal and disciplinary knowledge.

In this respect, Inalco brings considerable strengths in languages and the humanities and social sciences - the two being inseparable for a detailed understanding of extra-Western areas as much as global logics. The institution also benefits from the complementarities offered in SHS by Sorbonne Alliance.

As an example, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Sorbonne Nouvelle and Inalco have each been awarded a prize in the ANR's "Programmes de recherche en sciences humaines et sociales" call for expressions of interest. Even though, as stipulated in the regulations, a single institution cannot be the sponsor of a project, Inalco, Sorbonne Nouvelle and Panthéon Sorbonne have joined forces to develop them together. 
For its part, ESCP is contributing its analyses of the European economic model.
 

• The program DECRIPT "Device for the study of crises and civilizational narratives through multidisciplinarity and fieldwork" is led by Inalco. The consortium includes Sorbonne Alliance, Université Paris I and Université Sorbonne Nouvelle but also Université Panthéon Assas, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Université Paris 8, Université de Strasbourg, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Sciences Po Paris, Sciences Po Bordeaux, Sciences Po Lille, CNRS, IRD, Agence française de développement and IFRI. 
  A multidisciplinary program of research and transfer to society and public policy, it examines how the mobilization of civilizational narratives questions and challenges universal norms or referents, finds its way into the heart of contemporary conflicts and helps redefine models of multilateral governance.
   
• The HERMES program is led by Sorbonne Nouvelle University. The consortium includes within Sorbonne Alliance, Inalco but also Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Université Rennes 2, Avignon Université, Université Paris 8, CY Cergy Paris Université and CNRS. 
  The program questions how to create and maintain cultural commons and a shared identity in a plural society, at a time when digital, environmental and social transitions, as well as heightened national and international tensions, are transforming our understanding of heritage and heritage policies, with three objectives: to structure research capabilities on heritages in the making and develop an interdisciplinary consortium with strong national and international visibility, to strengthen the transfer of research to public players and society, and to foster a democratic and inclusive approach to cultural heritage, in line with society's needs and evolutions.

As SHS institutions, the four partners inevitably share common issues and interests, and will benefit from this alliance's enhanced legitimacy to make their voices heard by various national interlocutors.