What marks our programs out from those offered at other institutions is the wider access they allow to the entire panel of courses offered at the school, permitting an individualized program of study adapted to the level, profile and objectives of each student. Students are partnered with a tutor (who is usually the supervisor at the M2 level) whose responsibility it is to supervise work and to assist the students in making informed decisions about the direction in which they intend to take their research. This is true also for all students enrolled in the EHESS under joint supervision. For each program, there are ‘enseignants orienteurs’, i.e. teaching staff on hand to offer students guidance in choosing their tutor and specialization. To find out the names and contact details of these staff within your department, please enquire with your department secretary.
The Master’s program is structured around the UE (unités d’enseignement). These are the obligatory courses addressing fundamental and methodological topics within the social sciences. Alongside the latter are a number of optional courses whose entry requirements are set out independently by each department. The unités d’enseignement de spécialisation are courses designed to direct students towards their own specialized degree and to assist them in clarifying their research objectives. They constitute the intellectual core of the EHESS, directly linked to the life of its laboratories. The second year of the Master’s program is structured around these courses, as the first year is structured around fundamental and methodological courses. Certain departments (formations de master), however, allow students to pursue their chosen specialization from as early as the first year of the Master’s program. Students may, after consultation with their supervisor, move towards a personalized course of studies in their first year, in preparation for specialization in earnest during their second year. The students in each department are in addition required to choose a certain number of courses in other departments of the master’s program.
NB: Each master’s department has its own conditions for admission, evaluation and accreditation.
Master’s Program: Subject Areas and Routes of Specialization (In French)