The Cité Internationale Universitaire in Paris: living the difference!
A residential campus, the Cité Internationale Universitaire in Paris is a unique little world, spread over 34-hectares of wooded grounds, in which the diversity of the residents’ nationalities, languages and faces are all proof that, despite our differences, we can live together. This cultural wealth is also expressed in the 37 houses, foundations or colleges, each with its own distinctive architecture and personality, which serve as halls of residence.
The first, the imposing Maison Deutsch-de-La-Meurthe, opened in 1925, is designed in the pure Oxford tradition. The Fondation Suisse, one of the Cité’s masterpieces, was designed by Le Corbusier in 1933 and is an example of his innovative concept of modern urban development. As you walk through the campus your gaze wanders from the arcaded loggias of the Maison d’Italie to the monastery inspired design of the Maison Arménienne, from the pagoda-shaped roofs of the Maison du Japon to the columns and façades reminiscent of Ancient Greece of the Fondation Hellénique.
While each hall of residence houses its own nationals, it must also, for the sake of tolerance and cultural openness, accept at least 30% of its residents from other countries. The Collège Franco-Britannique, for instance, houses 254 people from 59 different countries.
The renovation of the old buildings and opening of new residence halls are the initial answer to this shortage. The Fondation de Monaco for instance opened its doors in 2002; the Maison du Cambodge, closed in 1973 following political events, and reopened in September 2003, as did the Maison des Provinces de France. The Maison du Maroc, currently being renovated, will accept its next tenants in 2005.
Given the extent of the need, the Cité, thanks to the support of the City of Paris and the Ile-de-France region, is to be the administrator of a new, off-campus, university hall of residence, in the 19th arrondissement. This and the current renovations will enable 1,000 more students to be accommodated between now and 2005. In parallel, the administration has initiated a programme to look into the possibility of offering 3,000 additional beds in the medium term.
Against this background, conditions of admission are, as you might expect, rigorous. The majority of periods of residence are from six months to two years, but a researcher who comes to Paris for a short assignment can also be accommodated at the Cité for a few days. There are two basic procedures used to allocate accommodation. The first, the "historic agreements", concerns over 25 countries together with three higher education institutions which have built halls of residence in the Cité, enabling them to accommodate their own nationals and students. These are usually selected by their country or school of origin, and they are almost all scholarship holders, chosen for their academic merit. This is currently the case for 3,000 residents.
The second procedure, known as "reserved rooms", reflects agreements signed between the Cité and 63 higher education institutions and universities in France or abroad. This concerns approximately 800 students. The remaining 1,000 beds are allocated by the admissions department of the Cité internationale. Priority for these is given to post-graduate students who received grants during their undergraduate courses.
Everything possible is done to make life enjoyable for those lucky enough to be chosen. The Maison Internationale, the real nerve centre of the Cité through which thousands of people pass each day, has a reception office to help new arrivals settle in easily, two restaurants, a beautiful art-deco swimming pool and a large wooden terrace overlooking the park. It also has a theatre with three auditoria, currently being renovated and due to reopen in spring 2004, and a library open in the evenings.
With over 80% of its population made up of students aged between twenty and twenty-nine, the Cité is bustling with sporting activities and cultural events, supported by a wide range of public and private partners. Paris-Université-Club offers its members a vast programme of activities including athletics, kick boxing, roller-blading, baseball, African and flamenco dancing. The Cité also hosts international sporting events in summer, such as the World Athletics Championship and the Olympic Youth Festival.
A theatre company set up on the initiative of drama students, takes part in university festivals held both abroad and in the Cité halls of residence.
Citéculture has studios and several exhibition spaces available for artists to use. It also runs jazz workshops, Latin-American choral workshops and puts on a series of contemporary music concerts called Répliques.
Télécité Internationale shows short films, made by the students, in the Cité’s function rooms, including interviews with major figures such as film director Costa-Gavras. The national Lire en fête festival is an opportunity to host approximately 3,000 people in fifteen halls of residence to meet writers from around twenty different countries. For the last few years, the Cité and the nearby town of Gentilly have organised the Paris-Banlieue-Tango festival, which lasts a fortnight. And the list of other events is long...
Claude Ronceray describes the logic behind this strong cultural commitment, "We are totally convinced that it is not enough just to put people of different nationalities in auditoria together. You have to enable them to share intense cultural, sporting or emotional experiences in their day-to-day social relationships, if they are to emerge transformed." A fine example of a utopia which, through sheer conviction, has become reality.
The Cité internationale works in close collaboration with the EduFrance agency, linked to the Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs, whose mission is to attract foreign students to France. It has a large number of programmes:
• setting up permanent information centres in countries currently poorly represented in French universities, such as India or China;
• promotional tours of foreign universities and participation in educational fairs abroad (in Peru, Russia, etc.);
• programmes of cooperation with foreign countries, to promote French educational engineering in the area of on-line education and training (virtual universities in Syria, Europe...);
• a bimonthly newsletter sent to members - 175 French educational establishments - publicising its forthcoming activities;
• an "e-France" catalogue which will provide access to detailed information about on-line training programmes provided by French higher education institutions (at the planning stage).
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