Founded in 1984, the UFR Arts, Philosophie et Esthétiqueincludes the departments of the Visual Arts, Image Arts & Technologies, Film, Dance, Music, Photography and Theatre along with Philosophy, which brings a critical perspective, particularly regarding the arts.

With over 4,500 students, it is one of Europe’s largest centres for further education in the arts, and offers undergraduate programmes, as well as master’s degrees and doctorates in its Doctoral Schools.

A number of founding principles, dating back to the Experimental Centre of Vincennes, shape the teaching and learning methods of the Paris 8 University Arts Faculty, and underpin the teaching staff’s commitment:

the association of arts practice with theoretical reflection expressed through critical analysis and aesthetics classes, as well as classes focusing on artistic practice

a scientific focus on the art of the 21st, 20th and 19th centuries and its relationship with other human activities

a multidisciplinary approach, both as a path to knowledge and as a way of bringing the arts closer together and giving students insight into professional contexts

Art is an activity that requires a great variety of often highly complex techniques. Until the late 19th century, skills were passed on in studios and art schools, such as the Beaux-Arts and Conservatoires, where students learned strictly defined hierarchical techniques. The introduction of new disciplines, brought about by technological advances, marked a major turning point in the 20th century.

In France, where the art school training system was particularly prevalent, changes in university education inspired by the events of May ‘68 helped trigger a departure from this model. Some art teaching was moved to universities, which had started incorporating art departments (music, visual arts, film, theatre, etc.) from 1969.

Our faculty is a part of this history and we constantly seek out new ways to offer students a high-quality education. Our faculty is proud of the great variety and originality of the work it produces, thanks to the diverse make-up of the faculty. The courses combine theory and practice, and focus on the overarching and specific technical skills required for the professional world.

The main characteristic shared by all our disciplines — from undergraduate to doctoral level — is this close interrelation of creation, education and research.

Following the LMD (Bachelor’s/Master’s/Doctorate) reform in France, Paris 8 University introduced a new range of Arts courses with three priorities in mind, namely the transparency of the qualifications, the consistency of the courses on offer, and their impact on graduates’ career prospects.

The cross-disciplinary nature of artistic practice that has developed over the last few decades in the contemporary international cultural landscape has led the Paris 8 University Arts Faculty —and since its creation — to progressively broaden its fields of teaching, creation and research to include multiple academic fields, ranging from human and social sciences, information and communication sciences, as well as educational sciences, cognitive sciences, computer science and electronics.

This open-minded approach has resulted in the creation of new internationally recognised educational and research fields, such as the digital arts, new media and computer-aided music composition. New ties are also being created with the departments of philosophy and aesthetics, psychoanalysis, ethnology, sociology, anthropology, history and history of art.

For this reason the Paris 8 University Arts faculty is unique in France, forging genuine strong bonds with the sciences. In the scientific field, as in other areas, researchers are aware of the power of these sometimes unlikely collaborations that give rise to invention, innovation and creation.

The Arts faculty and the various degrees it offers, with the support of the university, are all approved by the French Ministry for Higher Education, Research and Innovation, which recognises the importance of artistic disciplines at Paris 8 University in both education and research.

Deeply rooted in the dense urban fabric of Seine-Saint-Denis and Île-de-France, our faculty provides courses in a variety of multi-faceted and constantly developing artistic disciplines.