UCLA Research Centers

Organized research units (ORUs) are study centers and research institutes that bring together faculty and students from various departments to engage in continuing collaboration in specialized research areas. In the humanities, arts, and social sciences, ORU's provide students with unique opportunities to participate in interdepartmental scholarly exchanges. Some ORU's award research assistantships to students from participating departments. They regularly co-sponsor departmental events.

The International Studies and Overseas Programs, under Dean John Hawkins, is the administrative center of UCLA's programs of teaching and research in international education, including the Education Abroad Program. UCLA has ten multi-disciplinary research centers that focus on major world regions. Through them, the student in French studies can find a number of educational resources. ISOP and its units provide financial support for students through fellowships and scholarships, research assistantships, work-study and other type of employment.

The Center for the Study of Women, directed by Prof. Kathryn Norberg, promotes interdisciplinary research on women focusing on three programmatic areas: women, work, and the economy; women, language, and the arts; and women, science, and health. The Center supports innovative research in these areas by sponsoring conferences, publications, a visiting scholars program, the Graduate Gender Studies Union, and on-going colloquia on Women, Culture, and Theory, and Women in Science. Students should also be aware of the program of courses offered each quarter by the Women's Studies Program.

The Critical Studies and the Human Sciences Group, directed by Prof. Vincent Pecora, organizes interdisciplinary colloquia, conferences, public lectures, and discussions. The topics focus on recent developments in the area of critical studies. Past colloquia have centered on semiotics, the Holocaust, the Frankfurt School, Gender Studies, and Urbanism. Influential figures in critical theory are invited to speak on their work-in- progress. They have included A. J. Greimas, Jacques Derrida, Stephen Heath, and Jean-Luc Nancy.

The UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, directed by Prof. Patrick Geary, brings together more than 130 faculty members from some 20 departments. The Center provides an institutional forum for scholarly research and exchange in all areas of medieval and Renaissance studies. The Center publishes Comitatus, a graduate student journal, and Viator, a scholarly journal of international reputation. The Center also offers a number of research assistantships to students specializing in medieval and Renaissance studies.

The Center for Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Studies, directed by Prof. Peter Reill, works in collaboration with the Clark Memorial Library. It provides a forum for the research activities of more than 60 faculty members studying the development of civilization in the early modern period. The Center appoints pre-doctoral and post- doctoral fellows, organizes conferences and colloquia, and sponsors research publications.

The James S. Coleman African Studies Center, directed by Prof. Edmond Keller, participates in the interdisciplinary M.A. degree program in African Area Studies. The Department of French maintains close ties with the Center and regularly offers courses on Francophone African literatures. The Center offers a number of grants-in-aid to graduate students specializing in areas related to African studies. In addition, it has overseas study centers and exchange programs in Togo, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Benin, Somalia, and Liberia.

The Center for European and Russian Studies, directed by Ivan Berend, promotes, assists, and coordinate interdisciplinary teaching and research in order to strengthen European and Russian studies. In addition, the Center strives to make European and Russian area studies accessible to the University and the community as a whole. It sponsors and co-sponsors lectures, seminars and conferences.

The Latin American Center, directed by Prof. Shirley Arora, encourages and coordinates interdisciplinary research and academic programs related to the French-speaking Caribbean. The French Department regularly offers courses and lectures on French Caribbean authors and problems.

The Folklore and Mythology Program, directed by Prof. Donald Cosentino, supports the study of comparative folklore and mythology. Included under its auspices are the Wayland D. Hand Library with strong holdings in the folklore of Europe and the Americas, the Visual Media and Folk Medicine Archives, the Archive of Folk Song and Music, and other collections of field recordings, records, and films. A number of research assistantships are awarded each year to graduate students pursuing studies related to comparative folklore and mythology.

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