Among the states of the Old World, only a few can boast of their successful educational system. Not surprisingly, the Sorbonne University of Paris is the pride of France. The centuries-old established traditions of higher education elevate the homeland of Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau to the rank of the best countries for training. Honore de Balzac, Victor Hugo, Osip Mandelstam, Marina Tsvetaeva and many other prominent names glorify the walls of the legendary educational institution.
Paris University - one of the best in Europe
To date, the priority principle of choosing a Parisian university can be called providing free access to obtaining the knowledge of all students: both local and those who came from far abroad.
Undoubtedly, being the most prestigious university in France, the Sorbonne is the place of study for millions of graduates of European schools. In addition, Universite de Paris is a university with a rich history. Starting from the date of foundation, in 1215, its creators even then thought that the university would gain a truly world-wide international scale. By the middle of the 13th century, at each of the existing faculties (medicine, law, arts and theology), not only the French were studying, but also the Flemings, Germans and English.
University history from the start
The University of Paris in its history has gone through several important periods. The educational institution was opened in 1258. By the way, initially the idea of ââcreating a college for poor students belonged to Robert de Sorbon.
The name of the royal spiritual mentor was subsequently assigned to the university. Recalling a certain educational institution, it was an organization within the walls of which all the teaching staff and students lived, worked and went through training. In the near future, the college was reorganized into a theological university faculty, dubbed the Sorbonne. Since the beginning of the XVII century, the University of Paris has become the center of philosophy and theology in Europe. He gained fame and glory.
In the same period, the Sorbonne was updated and expanded. Meanwhile, the French Revolution stopped the scientific life in Paris until the 1920s. For a sufficiently long period, one of the leading universities in Europe was in a state of long and deep sleep. However, with the opening of the university, significant changes took place again. After a couple of decades, cardinal reforms have borne fruit: the French university has become the largest educational center.
Fundamental reforms and structural features of the Sorbonne
The next historical stage in the transformation of the Sorbonne was the events of 1968. Mass student strikes resulting from the riots of the "May Revolution" led to a comprehensive optimization of the education system in the state. As a result, the largest university was divided into separate segments, each of which was given the status of an autonomous institution.
13 Parisian independent universities - this is the new structure of the Sorbonne, which has survived to this day. It is necessary to dwell in more detail on all elements of the main system of French higher education.
The first university in Paris
Pantheon Sorbonne. The University of Paris I consists of many faculties of humanities and mathematics. Annually, over 10,000 people in the specialties of various fields become university graduates:
- story;
- geography;
- economy;
- maths;
- philosophy;
- management;
- archeology;
- tourism, etc.
A network of institutes involved in the professional training of specialists in the field of law, insurance, banking and customs is also successfully operating here. If you have a bachelorâs diploma, the student has the opportunity to immediately enter the second year of the master 's program .
In the Pantheon, training takes place in accordance with English-language qualification programs, while an in-depth study of the French language is characteristic of any specialties.
Assas, Sorbonne Nova and Rene Descartes
Pantheon Assas. In the legal education system, this university is the undisputed leader. Over the past few decades, he has been confidently occupying a leading position among the specialized legal universities of France.
New Sorbonne. The relatively modest size and fewer academic buildings do not play a big role in choosing the best linguistic university. At present, about 20,000 students wish to speak several languages ââperfectly under the Sorbonne program. Moreover, this university has no equal in the quality of training in such humanitarian disciplines as film studies, theater studies, phonetics, the media, literature, phonetics and much more.
Paris-Sorbonne. The University of Paris IV specializes in the areas of clergy and intelligence. In addition to philosophy, religious studies, sociology and archeology, more than 20,000 students study foreign languages, undergo training at the school of innovative management and communications, as well as at the Institute of Physical Training and Sports.
Paris Descartes. The next element of the central system of higher education, graduating medical professionals. The university, named after Rene Descartes, from year to year carries out recruitment for various specializations, taking in its walls about 30,000 applicants. Everyone who wants to get here directly or indirectly plans to connect their lives with medicine: dentists, medical law specialists, pharmacists, psychologists, homeopaths, etc.
An integral part of the university is the Paris
Museum of Medicine and the Institute of Technology. By the way, the building of the main building Paris-Descartes is a national treasure of the state.
Sorbonne Experiments and Research
The next three universities in Paris, proudly bearing the name "Sorbonne", are, rather, large research centers. We are talking about the university of Pierre and Marie Curie, the University of Paris VII - Didro and Vincent - Saint-Denis. Their specializations are exact sciences, medicine, odontology.
Among the economic and legal universities of the Sorbonne, Paris-Dauphin and Nanterre-la-DĂ©fense should be separately distinguished. The first is an unconditional and almost unique educational institution that trains specialists only in areas of the economy. Nanterre la DĂ©fense is an equally prestigious university in Europe, has a law faculty and is famous for compulsory study of several foreign languages.
Paris south. The best choice for applying for a specialty related to the exact sciences. Often receives the title of best educational institution in France.
Val de Marne. This university is known throughout Europe. It has 7 faculties for training professional administrators, managers and civil servants.
Paris north. Last, 13th university in the capital of France. It includes 5 existing faculties providing training in the humanities, social, economic and natural sciences, and the Galileo Institute.
The University of Paris has a peculiar structure in which the place of honor belongs to higher schools. The diploma of such institutions is highly appreciated throughout the state. The first schools were institutions created long before the start of the French Revolution. At the end of the 18th century, the Mining School was established, and a little later, the School of Road Construction. It is believed that one can get into politics or big business only after passing through these stages of training and becoming a modern successful person. Honorary consider higher pedagogical (Ekol Normal) and agronomic school. The institution that prepares politicians and government officials - the National School of Administration, is the most prestigious educational institution of this type.
University library
It is impossible not to say about the Sorbonne library. In 1770, she first met everyone in her reading rooms who were thirsty for knowledge. From the moment of opening, the accessibility of the library made it possible to be regular visitors not only to representatives of students and members of the teaching staff, but also to ordinary people who have nothing to do with studying at the Sorbonne. The initial fund of the book treasury was a rather impressive number of different volumes - about 20 thousand copies. A regularly updated list of literature in the library allowed us to summarize the positive dynamics - by 1936, about a million volumes had been saved on its book shelves.
An interesting fact from the history of the book depository can be called the fact that during the same period the administration of the institution decided to replace comfortable cozy chairs in reading rooms with less comfortable wooden benches. This, in their opinion, helped to compensate for the missing space, since every year the number of visitors grew exponentially. Today, the Sorbonne collection of intellectual works is the largest in the world.
Features of the education system in Paris
It is also worth paying attention to the mechanism for the implementation of educational activities, which is equal to the Sorbonne. The university operates according to other rules, which are completely different from the Russian scheme of training and students moving to the next qualification levels. For example, the meaning of the term âhigher educationâ in the French state is interpreted differently. To enter a university, you need to have a bachelorâs diploma in your hands, while in Russia you can reach this educational level only after 4-5 years at a university. Compared with the understanding of a Russian student that a bachelorâs diploma speaks only about incomplete higher education, in France the equivalent of this concept is a license. The so-called diploma of excellence - Maitrise - can be compared with a magistracy in Russia. However, a masterâs qualification also exists in France. At the same time, it can be divided into two types - the classic version of general education and having a vocational orientation.
Famous philosophers who graduated from the Sorbonne
Today and for almost a millennium, the Sorbonne was of great importance in the higher education system of the country, Europe and the entire world community. Admitting only the best of the best to her halls and audiences, she gave an excellent start for creativity and worthy formation to many talented personalities. Famous university graduates confirm the correctness of the educational strategy of the university, being a personal example.
Through the centuries, loud distinguished names that have come down to the present have convinced once again that the Sorbonne is a university worthy of the title âmost prestigiousâ.
Among the representatives of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, one cannot but say about Thomas Aquinas. The creator of the âfive evidence of the existence of the Lord Godâ is probably the most famous theologian and philosopher of his time. A graduate of the Sorbonne was an open adversary of the Christian church, carrying out the issuance of indulgences.
The world-famous international student exchange program Erasmus Mundus got its name in honor of one of the largest figures of the Renaissance - Erasmus of Rotterdam.
Prominent figures of art and literature
Gumilev Nikolay Stepanovich - a representative of Russian poetry of the early 20th century. The periods of creativity of the author of hundreds of works coincided with the Silver Age in the Russian Empire. Gumilyov Nikolai was the founder of the school of acmeism, whose participants were other Russian poets - graduates of the Paris Sorbonne (Mandelstam, Tsvetaeva). Among the prominent French writers who have received a diploma from this university, the whole world knows about Honor de Balzac. Having a significant impact on the emergence of the school of realism, Balzac created in the modern era. His work left an indelible imprint on the literature of the last century as a whole and was reflected in the works of Dostoevsky, Emil Zola, and others.
In modern times, graduates of the Sorbonne continue to gain podiums of fame and popularity. For example, figures of art and cinema have replenished their ranks with a whole list of famous names. Andre Breton is a poet and prose writer, one of the first authors to discover the direction of surrealism. A graduate of the University of Paris is Jean-Luc Godard. The legendary film director was considered a fairly influential person in the world of cinema in the 60s of the last century. Susan Sontag, who also graduated from the Sorbonne, is known in Europe for her desire to help people with HIV status.
Great scientists come from the Sorbonne
The University of Paris VI is named after graduates who have turned people's ideas about the exact and natural sciences. Pierre Curie and Maria Sklodowska Curie graduated with honors from the Sorbonne. Having discovered the secret of radioactivity to the world in 1903, they became the owners of the Nobel Prize in 1903. The couple worked together, and all the merits were considered common, however, Maria Sklodowska-Curie was considered the discoverer of the properties of chemical elements (polonium and radium).
One of the greatest mathematicians of all time, Henri Poincaré, also graduated from the Sorbonne. He managed to become famous thanks to the authorship of The Theory of Relativity and the Poincare Hypothesis.
Since the doors of the university are open to students from anywhere in the world, the policy of the institution is sympathetic to the difficulties that often arise in the learning process. To get used to a multi-level educational system, students from different countries will be helped by peculiar orientation and information centers. In addition, adaptation in France can be completed as soon as possible by contacting the International Center for Students and Interns.
The support of students and teachers from the university is obvious: every year more than 15 scholarships for graduate students in the amount of 80 thousand francs and up to 60 thousand francs are established in the universityâs office.