“More than 150 of the world’s foremost academics have intervened in a simmering row over the banning of debates on the Israel-Palestine question at one of France’s universities, calling the move a threat to free speech …” (more)
[Kim Willsher, Guardian, 21 March]
“According to Article 11 of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 16 August 1789, the right to free expression of ideas and opinion is one of the most precious human rights …” (more)
[Laurent Pech, EJIL: Talk!, 21 March]
“… But it’s hard to view the Mines ParisTech effort as anything but cynical. Yes, other global rankings have many shortcomings; there’s absolutely a case to be made that they don’t do justice to the strengths of certain French institutions, among others. Still, I don’t buy Mines ParisTech’s argument that it is simply engaging in the business-world equivalent of the academic honor-counting undertaken by the Shanghai rankers …” (more)
[Ben Wildavsky, Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 March]
“The attempted prosecution of Professor Joe Weiler by a disgruntled academic unhappy with a harsh book review has been dismissed by a French Court …” (more)
[William A Schabas, PhD studies in Human Rights, 5 March]
“On March 3, 2011, the Tribunal de Grand Instance de Paris issued its decision in the Criminal Libel Case brought against me based on a complaint by Dr Karine Calvo-Goller. It would appear that the Court ruled in our favor on all issues …” (more)
[EJIL: Talk!, 4 March]
“A journal editor who was sued in France for criminal libel because of a negative book review has won his case, he told The Chronicle today. Joseph HH Weiler, a professor of law at New York University, said that a French court had ruled against the complaint …” (more)
[Chronicle of Higher Education, 3 March]
“In a little more than a week, a court in Paris will decide whether a law professor in New York committed criminal libel by publishing a book review …” (more)
[Adam Liptak, New York Times, 21 February]
“The souvenir shops outside the Université Paris 1, also known as Panthéon-Sorbonne, have been hawking cheap ‘Paris University’ sweatshirts for years. In the coming weeks, though, the university itself will introduce its own official line of branded clothing, accessories and trinkets, and so join a growing number of French schools adopting one of the pillars of the American collegiate tradition: sales …” (more)
[Scott Sayare, New York Times, 20 February]
“My entire professional life has been in the law, but nothing had prepared me for this. I have been a tenured faculty member at the finest institutions, most recently Harvard and NYU. I have held visiting appointments from Florence to Singapore, from Melbourne to Jerusalem. I have acted as legal counsel to governments on four continents, handled cases before the highest jurisdictions and arbitrated the most complex disputes among economic ‘super powers’. Last week, for the first time I found myself in the dock …” (more)
[Joseph Weiler, EJIL: Talk!, 25 January]
“The French higher education landscape is changing as universities assume greater autonomy, according to the first regional analysis of all France’s universities, published this month …” (more)
[Jane Marshall, University World News, 23 January]
“French higher education starts 2011 with a new team at the head of the university presidents conference and the third wave of newly autonomous universities …” (more)
[Jane Marshall, University World News, 9 January]
“A physics and chemistry professor at the University of Reims in France’s champagne region says the best way to pour bubbly may not be the way sommeliers currently serve the sparkling wine …” (more)
[Toronto Star, 29 December]
“The French Government has awarded the honour of ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ to Dr Charles Benson, Keeper of Early Printed Books and Special Collections in Trinity College Library. The Ordre was established in 1957 to recognise significant contributions to the diffusion and public appreciation of French culture …” (more)
[Trinity Communications Office, 20 December]
“The brain drain of French academics and researchers to the United States has been accelerating in recent years, and although the number is relatively low it tends to be the most talented who choose to move, according to a report from think tank Institut Montaigne …” (more)
[Jane Marshall, University World News, 21 November]
“A new French government survey that ranks public universities by graduate students’ employment rates after graduation has already earned both praise and criticism from academics …” (more)
[Maïa de la Baume, New York Times, 15 November]
“La Sorbonne a été occupée aujourd’hui, mercredi 3 Novembre, par une cinquantaine de grévistes. L’action a commencé vers 16h30 par une assemblée générale, a continué par des tours d’information en amphis et salle de TD …” (more)
[Parar Bolonha, 5 November]
“A ranking of French universities according to their graduates’ job prospects has been published by the Ministry for Higher Education and Research and welcomed by Minister Valérie Pécresse. But the exercise has been criticised by a specialist in graduate employment rates, the body representing university presidents, and by a national students’ federation …” (more)
[Jane Marshall, University World News, 31 October]
“France’s plans to build a science supercampus – Paris-Saclay – a 30-kilometre drive southwest of the capital are shifting into high gear. President Nicolas Sarkozy officially launched the scheme on 24 September in a speech at the Optical Institute Graduate School at Saclay. His ambition is to make Paris-Saclay one of the world’s top universities and science parks by 2020 …” (more)
[Declan Butler, Nature, 20 October]
“French students stepped up their support action as the third straight day of nationwide strikes over retirement reform also raised fears of possible fuel shortages …” (more)
[Independent, 14 October]
“… Denunciations of the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ bias and arbitrary methodology of the rating systems was a common theme last week, when representatives from some 135 grandes écoles – literally ‘great schools’, the specialized academies of engineering, business, science and management that form the elite of the French higher education system – gathered in Paris for their annual conference …” (more)
[DD Guttenplan, New York Times, 11 October]
Ninth Level Ireland 