The University Seminar on Early Modern France
Founded:
2005 |
Seminar Number:
707 |
Chair:
Professor Pierre Force
Rapporteur:
Celia Abele
A long-standing voice within the Department, The University Seminar on Early Modern France began as a graduate student-run group known as the "Salon." Established as a University Seminar in 2005 and continuing a successful format of informal discussion, meetings are held monthly to host scholars from around the globe and discuss topics related to Early Modern France.
The focus of the Seminar is the cultural and intellectual history of Early Modern France (from 1500 to 1800) and the approach is interdisciplinary. The seminar includes literature scholars, historians and philosophers. The current format, which has proven very successful, consists in circulating a relatively short piece written by the invited speaker among the group members and discussing it at the meeting. Thus, instead of a formal talk followed by a few questions, there is an in-depth, 90-minute conversation.
The Seminar is jointly run by graduate students and faculty, our calendar is sent out to members at the beginning of every semester and is available on the University Seminar's website. Our members consist primarily of graduate students and professors from the Department of French and Romance Philology specializing in the Early Modern period, as well as faculty and students from related Columbia departments, such as History and Philosophy.
It is part of The University Seminars at Columbia University. Established in 1944, the University Seminars aim to transcend and enrich the departmental disciplines on which all our great universities thrive. They also provide a flexible way to concentrate the intellectual energies of Columbia and its neighbors on subjects that may not find a suitable place within a traditional academic department.
The Seminar is grateful to Pierre Force, Joanna Stalnaker and the Department of French and Romance Philology for their continued involvement and assistance.
Membership is by invitation but we welcome inquiries from interested members of the Columbia community, as well as scholars from the New York area. If invited to join, members generally participate in the Seminar on a trial basis before being promoted to full membership. To request Salon Membership information please contact: Celia Abele.
Members receive articles in advance of each meeting; these texts are often unpublished or pre-release works. Seminar Members are also invited to members-only dinners with featured guests and other visiting scholars. Seminar Associates (non-Columbia Members) are granted certain additional University privileges once they are approved for full membership in the Seminar.
Please visit The University Seminar on Early Modern France website for more information.
History
The Seminar has a long history in the Department of French and Romance Philology at Columbia University. It originated as an informal weekly gathering of graduate students with a common interest in literature and other issues related to the Early Modern period. Today the format is slightly modified in that each meeting centers around a guest (usually a scholar specializing in literature of the period) but the original spirit of conviviality and informal discussion remains at the heart of the group. We have had the pleasure of hosting such established scholars as Christian Biet (Paris X), Tom Conley (Harvard), Patrick Dandrey (Sorbonne), Pierre Force (Columbia), Yves Hersant (EHESS) and Thomas Kavanagh (Yale), as well as many of the emerging and newer voices in the field. |
