Presentation

The Institut du Genre aims to:

– Strengthen the recognition and impact of research on gender and sexualities at national and international levels.

– Support emerging researchers through targeted initiatives, including awards, grants, and summer schools.

– Enhance the international visibility of research conducted in French through translation support and global networking.

– Foster innovative research collaborations within French academia and with international partners.

Research on women, gender, and sexualities is rapidly expanding. Beyond the pioneering disciplines of anthropology, history, and sociology, the field now encompasses literature, philosophy, psychology, linguistics, political science, performing arts, geography, economics, communication studies, education sciences, and law. This diversity makes gender research a rich and innovative component of the current humanities and social sciences landscape, producing high-quality work across many domains.

Despite this growth, the field remains fragmented. Researchers are often dispersed across temporary or under-recognized structures that lack the coherence needed for long-term development and international impact. This fragmentation persists even amid strong institutional demand, social interest, and the enthusiasm of young scholars.

In response, the INSHS prioritized gender studies in 2011, aiming to support a more ambitious research agenda, particularly in previously underexplored areas. Building on earlier initiatives, such as research on women and/or gender conducted by the Mission pour la place des femmes at the CNRS, in 2012, an organization was established to facilitate the connection of research units, disciplines, and projects. Its mission includes building on existing research, sustaining ongoing efforts, and fostering new initiatives nationwide, while promoting the institutional recognition of gender studies.

The Institut du Genre works to expand the reach, recognition, and impact of gender and sexuality research in France and beyond. Its mission is to unite researchers, stimulate collaboration on thematic and methodological questions, provide targeted funding, and ensure the vitality and renewal of the field.

Key initiatives include:

– Supporting emerging researchers through prizes for PhD dissertations and master’s theses, mobility grants, and summer schools, as well as maintaining resources such as a directory of gender and sexuality programs in France, Europe, and Canada.

– Advancing established research through targeted calls for projects in priority areas.

– Increasing visibility by organizing events like Jeudis du Genre and funding translations of French research into other languages.

– Promoting international collaboration by hosting distinguished researchers from abroad through the Gender Studies Chair residencies, fostering international gender studies networks, and establishing seminars outside France via CNRS units (UMIFRE).

– Organizing major conferences, including the Gender Studies Conference held every four years, bringing together hundreds of French and international scholars.

– Exploring alternative approaches to gender and sexuality, including artistic, visual, and performance-based perspectives, through programs like Genre en mouvement.

The Institut du Genre thus covers the full spectrum of issues in gender studies, a dynamic field encompassing a wide range of social and symbolic practices and spanning disciplines, methodologies, and areas of knowledge.