In 1980, François Furet established the first visiting chair in North American studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in partnership with the French-American Foundation. And in 1984, with the election of Jean Heffer as permanent full professor, the Center for North American Studies (CENA) came into being. Despite pioneering efforts in some English departments and the creation of the first university chair in North American history at the Sorbonne in 1967, there was significant disparity between the importance of the USA in the contemporary world and the weakness of North American studies in France. Over the last thirty years and under the supervision of Jean Heffer and François Weil, the CENA has become one of the leading institutions for North American scholarship in France and Europe. Its professors, researchers, and graduate students wish to mark this 30-year anniversary with an international conference that both takes stock of past research and look into new heuristic and interdisciplinary approaches in history, anthropology, sociology, geography, and political science. The goal is to further promote North American studies, which have remained marginal in the French academic world, and to participate in transatlantic dialogue with scholars of the United States and Canada.

Mercredi 4 juin
EHESS - Amphithéâtre François Furet, 105 bd. Raspail 75006 Paris.
Métro : Notre-Dame des Champs (L12), Saint-Placide (L4).

Jeudi 5 et vendredi 6 juin
Fondation Singer-Polignac, 43 av. Georges Mandel, 75116 Paris. Métro : Rue de la Pompe (L9), Trocadéro (L6 et 9).

Program