Paris 8 University is an inclusive university, a centre for teaching & learning, research, knowledge, creativity, and culture, and a place to think about and shape the world we live in

The University of Paris 8 Vincennes - Saint-Denis (founded in 1969) started life as the Experimental University Centre of Vincennes and was a result of the intellectual and educational revolution that followed the events of May ‘68. Ever since, it has embodied this spirit of equal access to education and building knowledge rooted in contemporary issues.

Paris 8 University owes its reputation to the international standing of many of the lecturers and researchers who have taught there, such as Hélène Cixous, François Châtelet, Claude Chevalley, Jean-François Lyotard, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, Madeleine Rebérioux, Robert Castel, Yves Lacoste, Denis Guedj and Daniel Bensaïd.

Based in Saint-Denis since 1980, Paris 8 University is the chosen destination for students from around the world, making it a truly international university.

The impeccable calibre of its lecturers, researchers and students, its interdisciplinary spirit, openness to the contemporary world, many international cooperation projects in teaching and research, and relationship with its social, economic, cultural and professional environment all make Paris 8 University a prestigious centre for education and research in the Arts, Literature, Languages and Human and Social Sciences.

Key dates:

• 1969: Opening of the Centre Universitaire Expérimental de Vincennes - CUEV (Experimental University Centre of Vincennes)
• 1971: CUEV becomes Paris 8 University and receives authorisation to award state-recognised degrees
• 1972: Creation of the lifelong learning department
• 1980: University of Paris 8 Vincennes moves to Saint-Denis
• 1982: Launch of Presses Universitaires de Vincennes (Vincennes University Press)
• 1998: A new university library is added to the campus
• 2008: Completion of the Nicolas de Condorcet project in Aubervilliers as part of “Operation Campus”, organised by the École des hautes études en sciences sociales, the École Practique des Hautes Études, the Universities of Paris 1, 8 and 13, the École Nationale des Chartes, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED)
• 2012: Founding of PRES Paris Lumières (Paris Lumières Centre for Research and Higher Education) with the University of Paris Nanterre
• 2014: PRES Paris Lumières is renamed COMUE Paris Lumières (Paris Lumières Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions)
• 2019: The University completes construction of its Research Institute (Maison de la Recherche)
• 2020: Creation of the ERUA European University (European Reform Universities Alliance ) in partnership with the Universities of Roskilde (Denmark), Konstanz (Germany), the Aegean (Greece), and the New Bulgarian University