The University of London Institute in Paris occupies a unique position among the rich landscape of British research institutions. A centre of Franco-British academic and cultural exchange for over 100 years, research at ULIP benefits from both the diversity and richness of the University of London, to which we belong, and cultural and political life of the city of Paris, where we are located. Much of our work is inherently preoccupied with projects and perspectives that build upon the multilingual and transnational nature of our institution and its history. 

At ULIP, we take comparative and connected approaches that situate France and the francophone world in the context of both local diversity and wider global dynamics. ULIP researchers’ innovative work with different communities in Paris, for example, seeks to build its enquiries within the contemporary city where new practices and cultures are emerging. ULIP also works with a wide range of partners – including academic, institutional and cultural institutions – on different short and long-term projects that look to extend the impact of our research upon policy and society. 

This stimulating environment is supported by ULIP’s growing community of postgraduate students and by regular academic visitors. A programme of lively and thought-provoking research seminars and events – many held in collaboration with other Paris- and London-based research institutions – takes place throughout the year. 

Research at ULIP is grouped into four distinct themes:

Mobilities, Environmental Politics and City Studies

From history, both contemporary and colonial, to international politics and contemporary cultural production, our faculty explores the spaces where urban culture meets the migration of people and goods. Charlotte Legg’s work, for example, concentrates on settler colonialism, while Anna-Louise Milne’s recent research and writing have focused on migrant neighbourhoods in Paris and include the work of the Paris Centre for Migrant Writing and Expression. The Banister Fletcher Global Fellowship in Urban Studies is also a key platform for this aspect of our work. Recent fellowships have been organised around The Quantification of Urban Space (Dr Min Kyung Lee) and Green Infrastructures (Dr John Bingham-Hall). The 2022-23 Banister Fletcher Fellow is Professor AbdouMaliq Simone who will be convening a programme of dialogues and explorations in April 2023 entitled Urban Life at the Extensions, in collaboration with the Beyond Inhabitation Lab at the Polytechnic of Turin. 

Current post-graduate work in this area includes : 

• A LAHP collaborative doctoral project with the Pôle d’exploration des ressources urbaines (PEROU) entitled Hospitality as Intangible Cultural Heritage? Concept and Practice in La Chapelle, Paris (Rachele Shamouni Naghde, from September 2019) 
• A Leverhulme Doctoral Scholar working on Narratives of Intergenerational Mobility in Athens (Katherine Phipps, from September 2020)  
• A ULIP-SAS doctoral project on the Technoborder (Mickey Levin, from October 2021)  

Literary Studies, Cultural Translation and Multilingualism

ULIP’s research is always crossing boundaries to investigate subjects including plurilingualism in situations of superdiversity, postcolonial infractions and innovations in the languages of Empire, and language practices and the impact of linguistic and literary creativity on the social and political transformation of our societies. Catriona MacLeod works on contemporary graphic novels and their varied representations of women, trauma, and displacement; her monograph, Invisible Presence: The Representation of Women in French-Language Comics, was published in 2021 (Intellect). Joanne Brueton focuses on 20th- and 21st-century French and Francophone literature, particularly Jean Genet; her book, Geometry and Jean Genet: Shaping the Subject was published in 2021 (Legenda). Geoffrey Roger's forthcoming critical edition of the Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles explores this unique document of French usage at the court of Philip III of Burgundy. Anna-Louise Milne and Russell Williams offer a new mapping of French fictional writing since the 1980s in their collective volume Contemporary Fiction in French (CUP, 2020).  

The launch of a new seminar series entitled French Research in Culture, Thought, Imagination, or FRICTION in 2022, reflects our interest in the rub between disciplines and practices, inviting critical and creative writers to discuss how they work in and across languages and borders. 

Contemporary Politics and Critical Theory

Drawing on the rich resources of French and international critical theory, ULIP’s research focuses on the origins, forms and responses to political, social and environmental crises. Key questions addressed by Eugene Brennan, Edouard Morena, Davide Gallo Lassere and Shela Sheikh include non-state actors’ responses to the climate crisis and their shaping of the climate debate; how various stakeholders are improvising and innovating in response to the matrix of political crises shaping contemporary urban life; and new currents in contemporary critical theory and political philosophy that can help us understand, and create connections between, a wide range of unfolding social movements. 

Eugene Brennan’s research is grounded in contemporary French thought, with a specialism in the work and ongoing critical influence of Georges Bataille, as well as new research on contemporary crisis theory. Recent publications include articles in Theory & Event (2021) and Theory, Culture & Society (2021, 2018) . He convened the ULIP seminar series Theory in Crisis (2020-22) and is currently guest-editing a special issue of Cultural Politics titled ‘Crisis Theory: The Politics of the Present’, working closely with Davide Gallo Lassere. Gallo Lassere’s forthcoming article for the special issue is titled ‘Transnational Temporalities’ and forms the basis of his book project which rethinks internationalism in the contemporary political conjuncture. Beyond this, he has recently published articles on global capitalism (Actuel Mar,, 2020), Mario Tronti’s thought (Routledge, 2020), the Yellow Vests movement (Southern Atlantic Quarterly, 2019; Socio, 2022) and the ecological crises (Verso web site, 2022).

Edouard Morena’s current research focuses on elite networks in international climate politics. His recent publications include co-editing the book, Just Transitions: Social Justice in the Shift Towards a Low-Carbon World (Pluto Press, 2020) and two articles on climate philanthropy and international climate negotiations in International Politics (2021). Building on his work on philanthropy and climate justice, he will be publishing a monograph in French in February 2023 (La Découverte) on the role of elites in the international climate debate. Shela Sheikh addresses questions of global environmental justice from a decolonial perspective, foregrounding contributions of artistic and performative practices. She has published in this area in journals such as Third Text and Kronos: Southern African Histories; related editorial projects include ‘The Wretched Earth: Botanical Conflicts and Artistic Interventions’ (Third Text, 2018) co-edited with Ros Gray and the ‘Planetarities’ series (Goldsmiths Press and MIT Press), edited with Ros Gray and Jennifer Gabrys. She is currently working on a monograph, Staging Environmental Justice, which reads global people’s tribunals alongside staged trials and hearings, asking how grassroots experimental, speculative forums might enact a decolonial imaginary of environmental justice.  

Knowledge Diplomacy: Research, Innovation and Higher Education Institutions in International Relations

Led by ULIP’s CEO, Tim Gore, the Knowledge Diplomacy project is developing multifaceted work on the impact of scholarly research, innovation and international higher education institutions on inter-state cooperation, and vice-versa. A collaborative venture, the initiative brings together various University of London federation members, the Centre for Online and Distance Education, the British Council, Goethe Institut, and ICR Research. 

Tim Gore, whose main area of research is strategic university management, is involved in numerous cross-border aspects of higher education and is the Knowledge Diplomacy programme lead. Lilija Alijeva is Project Manager, providing research, management, administrative, and advisory support. Her research interests primarily focus on International Relations theories, specifically theories of norm socialisation among state, non-state stakeholders and international organisations. Alexander Lake, Project Officer at ULIP, is supporting the project’s activities. He is currently a PhD candidate at Sorbonne University, where his research focuses on the soft power potential of the British higher education system. 

The Knowledge Diplomacy project team has successfully conducted two annual seminar series, which explored the roles of universities in addressing pandemics, climate change, city diplomacy, cultural relations, knowledge exchange, and crises. They are currently working with a number of authors on a planned book publication titled Knowledge Diplomacy: Developments and Future Trends.