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Research Opportunities

The College of Liberal Arts Graduate Research Partnership Program (GRPP) is a graduate student fellowship program that supports research partnerships between faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and students enrolled in graduate programs housed within the college. The program provides a summer research stipend to CLA graduate students to support their professional, scholarly, and creative development while collaborating with a CLA faculty project adviser on scholarly research and creative activity.

With over five million volumes, the University of Minnesota Libraries constitute a world-class research center, ranking fifteenth among academic research libraries in North America. The University’s libraries include some 130,000 French titles and subscriptions to more than 250 French periodicals. You can make use of several rich collections of rare books, maps, and manuscripts, including the James Ford Bell collection documenting European expansion and immigration, and the Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine, with 48,000 rare books and manuscripts dating from the early 1400’s to 1920. Other nearby humanities research centers include the Newberry Library in Chicago, and the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library at St. John's University.

Academic Resources

The University of Minnesota is one of the largest public research institutions in the United States. It offers a comprehensive range of academic programs and the opportunity to work with faculty doing pace-setting research. You will benefit from interdisciplinary, collaborative work by participating in coursework, research projects or events in several academic centers:

• African American and African Studies offers an interdisciplinary minor that is of particular interest to students specializing in Francophone literatures and cultures.
• The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition supports research and training in second language learning, teaching, and assessment. Opportunities for graduate students include research assistant positions, summer institutes for teachers, and fellowships.
• The Center for Early Modern History promotes a comparative approach to world history between 1350 and 1750. CEMH coordinates research groups, colloquia, and a conference series.
• The Center for German and European Studies organizes a lecture series, symposia, and projects that bring together students and scholars from all areas of the humanities and social sciences whose research has a European focus.
• The Center for Medieval Studies offers a masters and doctoral minor in medieval studies, and organizes numerous lectures and conferences.
• The Immigration History Research Center promotes the study of immigration and ethnic history, with extensive archives, conferences, and internships.
• The MacArthur Program supports interdisciplinary and cross-cultural study and research on issues of conflict, social change, justice and human rights, social and ecological sustainability, and the consequences of an increasingly global economy and culture, particularly in contemporary developing societies.
• The University of Minnesota Humanities Institute offers a range of interdisciplinary events and collaborative research opportunities for faculty and graduate students.

L’Esprit Créateur

The Department of French and Italian promotes innovative research in the area of French and Francophone literature and culture through its sponsorship of the journal L’Esprit Créateur. Founded more than forty years ago at the University of Minnesota by John Erickson, the journal returned “home” in 2003 and is edited by two department members.