A Scientific Research Centre engaged in the major issues of contemporary India and South Asia in the face of the challenges of globalisation

In brief

The Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH) is part of the network of 27 research centres of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2007 it became an UMIFRE (no 20), a joint MAEE-CNRS research unit. The Centre's activities are primarily oriented towards the study of issues concerning the contemporary dynamics of development in India, in its regional and international context.

History

The institution traces its origins to 1980 with the shift of the French Archeological Delegation in Afghanistan, from Kabul to Delhi, as a consequence of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It then became the French Archeological Mission in India. The Centre de Sciences Humaines was officially created in 1990 and initially conducted research on history and Indo-Persian culture. In 1995, there was a shift in the research focus and the CSH became a centre specialising in contemporary India and South Asia.

Subject Fields

Social Sciences: economics, political science, international relations, international law, geography, demography, sociology, anthropology.

Objectives and missions

As a research centre, the overall objective of the CSH is to examine India as an emerging power on the international scene, and to analyse the various transition processes that affect India and the South Asian region. The research activities are thus focused on four main areas :

• Economic reforms and sustainable development
• Politics and society
• Regional dynamics in South Asia and international relations
• Urban dynamics

     Visit our Research Programmes section

 

Through its numerous collaborations with Indian and European partners, the CSH strengthens the academic links between these two regions of the world and fulfils a function of scientific cooperation.

     Visit our Links section

 

Another important mission of the CSH is that of offering training in research, by providing logistical support and training to Ph.D. fellows and student interns.

     Check out our Opportunities

 

Promoting research is also a key mission of the CSH, which is ensured through a policy of publication, dissemination of research works and the organisation of scientific events. The publications aim at reputed academic journals and publishing houses (in English and in French).(Visit our Publications section) Another objective of the CSH is to promote research whose findings are relevant for economic agents and political decision-makers (planners, senior officials, diplomats, et al.), and thus to disseminate research results beyond academic circles.

Human resources

The CSH team comprises around 25 people, half of whom are research scholars or Ph.D. students. In addition, the Centre hosts post-graduate student interns and visiting scholars for short research stays.
Do visit our Team section for detailed information on the CSH staff members and researchers' profiles.

 

Library

The CSH library is a resource centre, which has evolved to meet the research needs of its programmes in social science. This research library aims at enhancing the knowledge of scholars about contemporary South Asia and India in particular. Its collection includes books, periodicals, articles and CD-ROMs. All the CSH publications (books, CSH Contributions, Occasional Papers) are available for reference.

Books and Periodicals The library provides free access to about 14500 books in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities, in English and French, as well as to 178 periodicals including 42 ongoing subscriptions, in French (12) and English (30).   Other Resources To this may be added: 8 Indian dailies and one French daily (Le Monde); Selected CD-roms, in particular of the Census of India 2001; A subscription to Indiastat.com, a website providing socio-economic statistical data on India and to a collection of online academic journals, The JSTOR database (access restricted to the CSH researchers);

 

Delnet

The CSH library is a member of the Developing Libraries Network, Delnet, for inter-library loans and article photocopies. This network provides access to a million references indexed in 20 or so databases.

The CSH library is equipped with a efficient library management software package (LIBSYS), which enables optimized access to the reference database through local area network and facilitates consultation of the library catalogue on the internet.

The library is open to postgraduate students and research scholars.
Three computer stations are availabe to the visitor.
Photocopy is provided @ Re. 1/- per page.