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Home > Graduate : Research Opportunities

Research Opportunities

The University of Minnesota is one of the largest research institutions in the United States. We offer a comprehensive range of academic programs and the opportunity to work with faculty doing pace-setting research in a variety of disciplines.

Graduate studies at the U of M are interdisciplinary, offering many opportunities to work collaboratively in coursework, research projects, or scholarly events in numerous 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, publications, colloquia, a conference series, and a minor field in Early Modern Studies.
• The Center for German and European Studies organizes 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 masters and doctoral minors 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 Mediterranean Studies Initiative unites scholars to study the full spectrum of the history and culture of a region that has connected and divided Europe, Asia, and Africa from antiquity to the present.
• The Institute for Advanced Studies brings to campus each year a number of senior scholars in various disciplines for lectures related to the IAS’ chosen theme for the year.

L’Esprit Créateur

The Department of French and Italian promotes innovative research in French and Francophone literature and culture through its sponsorship of the journal L’Esprit Créateur. Founded more than fifty years ago at the University of Minnesota by John Erickson, the journal returned home in 2003 and is edited by Dan Brewer and Mária Brewer.

Library Resources

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.