The Centre for the Study of France and the Francophone World (CEFMF) is an interdisciplinary institute devoted to the study of France and the francophone world.
We sponsor a wide range of programs that bring together scholars and students within the University of Toronto, from across Canada, and from around the world. Committed to thinking about French and francophone studies in global contexts and from a range of critical perspectives, we foster scholarly conversation between specialists of metropolitan France, French colonial history, and the pasts and presents of francophone places and peoples.
CEFMF people & visiting academics
Tommaso Pavone, CEFMF Director
Tommaso Pavone is Assistant Professor of European Politics and Visiting Researcher at the ARENA Center for European Studies at the University of Oslo. His research traces how lawyers, courts, and policymakers impact political development, social change, and the rule of law in Europe. Pavone has conducted fieldwork in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and Norway.
Affiliated research fellows
The Centre periodically welcomes researchers spending time at the University of Toronto as Affiliated Research Fellows. While with us, they work on their own research projects, pursue collaborations with colleagues at the University, and participate in the intellectual life of the Centre.
Visiting professors
CEFMF welcomes visiting professors in French history from a university or research institution in France, to teach a graduate seminar and participate in the research life of the University.
Visiting scholars
CEFMF welcomes scholars from France and other francophone countries to deliver lectures, lead informal graduate seminars, pursue individual or collaborative research, and participate in the intellectual life of the University campus.
Equally engaged with research in the humanities and the social sciences, the Centre’s affiliated faculty and invited scholars count anthropologists, art historians, historians, literary scholars, political scientists and sociologists. They investigate France’s multisecular past, its plural cultural legacies, and its place in Europe and the world today; they likewise consider francophonie’s global reach yesterday and today, from Africa to the Caribbean, and the Pacific to Canada.
Established in 2007 as part of a French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ initiative to create centres of excellence in French studies in Canadian universities, in 2014 CEFMF was the first of its kind to be awarded the French Embassy in Canada’s Saint-Simon Initiative distinction for the breadth and quality of its programming.
Today, CEFMF is one of the programs that make up the Centre for European and Eurasian Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, and is affiliated with Victoria College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Toronto. The Centre also enjoys the ongoing support of the Faculty of Arts and Science and the Departments of French and History.
CEFMF pilots a wide range of programs that bring together scholars and students and supports pathbreaking interdisciplinary research into various aspects of the francophone world. We encourage its study at the undergraduate and graduate levels, foster international exchange and research collaborations, and engage in outreach towards the broader community in the greater Toronto area.
The Centre builds upon and carries forward the University of Toronto’s distinguished tradition of teaching and scholarship in French studies. Home to a broad range of faculty and researchers working on France and the francophone world across a number of disciplines, to rich library and archival collections in French studies, and to the largest Department of French in Canada, as well as an active participant in faculty and student exchange programs with peer institutions in France, the University of Toronto has long been a centre for excellence in French studies.
Doctoral Research Grants
CEFMF provides short-term doctoral research grants support graduate research in French and Francophone studies at the University of Toronto. Each year CEFMF offers two to three travel grants of up to $3500 to help defray the costs of visiting libraries and archives, conducting interviews, or undertaking other field research in France, francophone countries, or other francophone contexts and institutions abroad. These grants can be held in conjunction with other funding. Eligibility is restricted to students enrolled in a PhD program who have already successfully completed their comprehensive examinations in any humanities or social science discipline at the University of Toronto.
Upon the completion CEFMF-funded field research, grant awardees are expected to write a short blogpost that will be featured on the CEFMF website to discuss their research experience and stay abroad, which will also serve as an opportunity to spotlight their doctoral research. Grant awardees will also be provided with the opportunity to participate in a bespoke CEFMF-sponsored workshop to present and receive feedback on their PhD research.
How to apply (in English)
Applications will be accepted in either English or French and should include the following materials:
- A curriculum vitae (no more than 3 pages) that includes contact information (e-mail address, telephone number, postal address)
- A project description not to exceed 1 page, explaining its purpose, its contribution to scholarship on France or the Francophone world, and a detailed statement of when and where research will be carried out. Project descriptions should also provide a project title.
- A 1-page budget specifying how funds will be spent
- A letter of recommendation from the thesis advisor, to be sent directly to the e-mail address below
Applications should be sent as e-mail attachments in PDF format to Professor Tommaso Pavone (t.pavone@utoronto.ca). E-mails should be titled: "CEFMF research grant application - [your last name]". All materials must be submitted on or before January 6, 2025.
Announcements will be made by February 1, 2025.
Conditions of grant tenure
- Research travel is to be completed in 2025.
- Successful applicants will be required to submit itemized receipts for costs incurred
- Successful applicants are expected to write a short blogpost that will be featured on the CEFMF website to discuss their research experience and stay abroad
- Successful applicants are expected to participate in a CEFMF-sponsored workshop to present and receive feedback on their PhD research
Comment poser sa candidature (en français)
Les dossiers de candidatures seront acceptées aussi bien en français qu’en anglais et doivent comprendre les documents suivants:
- un curriculum vitae abrégé (maximum 3 pages) qui comprend les coordonnés du candidat (adresse électronique, numéro de téléphone, adresse postale)
- une description du projet de recherche (maximum 1 page), décrivant les objectifs poursuivis, la contribution intellectuelle et scientifique à la connaissance de la France ou du monde francophone, et un descriptif détaillé des lieux et du calendrier du déplacement prévu. Les descriptions devraient comporter un intitulé du projet
- un budget d’une page détaillant comment les fonds seront utilisés
- une lettre de recommandation du directeur ou de la directrice de thèse du candidat, envoyée directement à l’adresse électronique ci-dessous
Les dossiers de candidature doivent être envoyés en tant que pièces jointes, en format PDF, à Professeur Tommaso Pavone (t.pavone@utoronto.ca). Votre e-mail doit être intitulé: «Demande de subvention de recherche CEFMF - [votre nom]». Date limite de dépôt des candidatures: 6 janvier 2025.
Les résultats du concours seront annoncés d’ici: 1 février 2025.
Conditions de détention des bourses
- les boursiers devront achever leurs voyages de recherche avant la fin de l’année 2025
- les boursiers devront rendre des reçus ou factures détaillés avant remboursement
- les boursiers devront rédiger un article de blog qui sera publié sur le site web du CEFMF discutant de leur expérience de recherche et de leur séjour à l'étranger
- les boursiers devront participer à un séminaire sponsorisé par le CEFMF pour présenter et recevoir des commentaires sur leur projet de doctorat
CEFMF activities
Lectures
Each academic year, CEFMF organizes a series of lectures to bring distinguished and promising young scholars from around the world to Toronto.
Conferences & workshops
CEFMF periodically organizes major conferences and smaller workshops on themes of scholarly and current importance, as well as roundtables bringing together specialists to shed light on contemporary events in France and across the francophone world.
Toronto-area French history seminar
Founded by historians at York University and the University of Toronto, this seminar series brings together scholars and graduate students working on the history of France and the francophone world. The organizers are committed to situating graduate studies at the heart of the series, and cultivate a welcoming environment and active participation by students and ensure that advanced doctoral candidates have an opportunity to present their work.
CONTACT CEFMF
TOMMASO PAVONE
Director
OLGA KESARCHUK
Business Officer
olga.kesarchuk@utoronto.ca