The New College of Political Studies

The New College of Political Studies is a communal educational establishment of Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis and its partner university, Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, built on a strong partnership with several international universities (USC California, Todai, Bologna, Vienna, Buenos Aires…). Its inauguration is scheduled for September 2014. It offers a multidisciplinary approach to politics, free from disciplinary categories (such as political science, political sociology, political philosophy, political history…); instead, it deals with living standards, violence, practical ethics, justice and discrimination, political vocabulary and categorization. The “College” also intends to introduce a renewed conception of political studies. From the outset, it aims to foster a detailed and critical approach to political studies, with particular attention to its recent reconfigurations, and with the goal to establish a long-standing dialogue with internationally developed theories. It thus prepares students for the fast-changing job market, giving them wide ranging expertise in politics, as well as the social and solidarity economy.

NCEP applicants can submit entry applications for the L2, after a year studying a discipline represented within the College. The NCEP degree begins with the L2 and continues to the L3. During this final year, all students must spend one full academic term (3.5 months approximately) abroad, in one of the NCEP partner universities, whether in Europe, America, or Asia. During their two years of studying, students will shift towards one of the four thematic trajectories of the degree, namely: “Practices of social justice”; “Violence and war”; “Words of politics”; “Ethics and politics”. This experimental degree will be initially open to a limited number of students, chosen according to their levels of motivation, in compliance with their previous study path and their intellectual or professional prospects in terms of the NCEP’s themes of study.

Roughly 60 graduate students (in M1 and M2) will be accepted, either with a degree from the College or with degrees in other disciplines represented within the NCEP. Their teaching will be organized into 4 professionalizing pathways: “Territory and dynamics of equality”; “Violence and politics”; “Language, categorization and political figures”; “Ethics, standards, and responsibility”. For these students, as for degree students, there will be a particular focus on the international aspect of political studies, with foreign language acquisition being an important element of the cursus.