History of International Relations
Ph.D. in History of International Relations, Department of History, Law and Sociology.
Programme director: see the Organisational Chart.
University of the Alliance of Civilizations between Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe
Saint Louis – Mediterranean University of Nations
Saint Louis – Mediterranean University of Nations carries out four missions: research, continuing and professional education, university publishing, and cooperation between Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe.
Research DivisionContinuing & Professional EducationPublishing DivisionCooperation & Partnerships
Intake — 22 October 2026
Degree programmes for the new academic year
Six programmes open their intake on 22 October 2026, four degree-granting and two certificate. Each is placed under the responsibility of a named member of faculty; full programme details are given in the Academic Structures and Education sections of this site.
Apply — contact the university
Requirements, supporting documents and deadlines communicated on request, programme by programme.
Arabic
Degree programme in three tiers: Certificate, Diplôme, Bachelor — Luigi Pareyson Training Centre.
Programme director: see the Organisational Chart.
Hebrew
Degree programme in three tiers: Certificate, Diplôme, Bachelor — Luigi Pareyson Training Centre.
Programme director: see the Organisational Chart.
Graphic Design and Artificial Intelligence
Bachelor over three years and six semesters — AFFORDANCE Training Centre.
Programme director: see the Organisational Chart.
French as a Foreign Language
Levels A1 to C2, preparation for DELF, DALF and TCF certifications — Luigi Pareyson Training Centre.
Programme director: see the Organisational Chart.
Professional English
Levels A2 to C1. A TOEIC preparation track is under review; arrangements and fees will be announced after the pre-term faculty meeting.
Programme director: see the Organisational Chart.
These six programmes also draw on a cross-cutting instructional support function, shared across all programmes and not attached to any one of them in particular.
Instructional Design — cross-cutting function
Afia Attolou — Instructional Designer
Needs analysis, design of digital learning resources, and support for learners in their use of digital tools.
A seminar also opens its new term in September 2026, outside the degree-granting framework of the six programmes above; full details are given in the Education section of this site.
Practice of Philosophical Discourse Applied to Lived Experience — seminar, non-degree
Yigal Dawidowicz — Seminar Programme Director
New term in September 2026, ten three-hour sessions, in person.
A faculty member in security professions also joins the university, outside the framework of the six degree and certificate programmes above.
Security professions
Mr Mustapha Tahar — Faculty member
Arrangements and content to be announced after the pre-term faculty meeting.
University of the Alliance of Civilizations between Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe
Saint Louis – Mediterranean University of Nations
Saint Louis – Mediterranean University of Nations traces its origin to a double act : the Bourbon-Montpensier Foundation and the Montpensier University Institute jointly opened, in May 1988, the enclosure of this university between Naples, Marseille, Saint-Louis du Sénégal and Casablanca. These four ports already carried their own intellectual commerce. Dispatches circulated there. Languages converged. Merchants, clerks and officers exchanged papers and learning, so that the shores they linked were, before any act of foundation, shores of the same understanding. The University draws from this precedence its charge : to hold open the paths that history has at times closed.
The custody of knowledge is the primary office. The University gathers the letters, the archives and the books that the centuries have deposited ; it ensures their conservation, then their study, then their transmission to the generation that follows. Conservation comes first. Study follows. Transmission delivers the deposit intact to those appointed to receive it. Knowledge that falls short of this end has served only the one who held it.
The three mottoes
Nobilitas Obligat
The responsibility of knowledge
The privilege of learning creates a debt toward those who will one day take delivery of the deposit constituted today. Nobility binds ; it charges.
Traditio Manet
The permanence of heritage
To transmit is to keep the relay active between ancient learning and present use. Tradition endures because successive hands carry it forward.
Sapientia ad Altiora
Elevation through knowledge
Knowledge tends toward a wisdom that orders the disciplines according to an end that surpasses them all : the service of the common good. That end measures everything else.
The university inscribes its action in the heritage of the studia humanitatis. This tradition, born of the encounter between ancient culture and Christian thought, placed at the forefront the study of letters, history, moral philosophy, rhetoric and languages. It did not form scholars withdrawn from the world, but men and women destined for councils, administrations, courts, academies and public office. Saint Louis – Mediterranean University of Nations pursues this ambition through the humanities, the social sciences, law, international relations, artificial intelligence and digital technologies.
University life
News
15 June 2026
Registration of Saint Louis University Press
AFNIL publisher prefix 978-2-489285 assigned; each volume now receives its number before legal deposit at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
September 2026
New term for the philosophical practice seminar
In-person opening of Yigal Dawidowicz's seminar on the practice of philosophical discourse applied to lived experience.
October 2023
Colloque de Casablanca
LAHRA · INTELEN · LALITRA — La Parole, héritage, nouvelles cléricatures et crise de la représentation. Proceedings forthcoming.
May 2023
Colloque de Marrakech
Scientific event on speech and artificial intelligence, held in partnership with CERIPP.
Research
Research Division
Quaerendo invenietis — In seeking, you will find.
The Research Division brings together three centres: the LAHRA laboratory and its INTELEN unit, dedicated to artificial intelligence and the digital humanities; CAEPRA, the Centre for Political Analysis, Study and Research on Africa; and ORIENT, a research centre devoted to the Mediterranean world and the Middle East.
LAHRA
Laboratory for the Humanities and Applied Research – Maria Caterina Federici
The laboratory bears the name of Maria Caterina Federici (1959–2024) in tribute to her scientific contribution.
HumanitiesHistoryLawSocial sciencesInternational relationsApplied researchArchives and corpora
INTELEN
Unit of LAHRA – Artificial intelligence and digital humanities
Work on digital corpora, natural language processing architectures, networks, information governance and digital transformations.
Digital corporaArchivesDataArtificial intelligenceInformation technologies
CAEPRA
Centre for Political Analysis, Study and Research on Africa
The Research Division's second centre, alongside LAHRA and its INTELEN unit. It conducts political analysis, study and research on African countries.
Political analysisCongo-BrazzavilleCongo-KinshasaCameroonEquatorial GuineaMaghreb
ORIENT
Research centre on the Mediterranean world and the Middle East
The Research Division's third centre. It conducts historical, political, social, religious and strategic study of the Mediterranean world and the Middle East.
HistoryIslamologyPolitical scienceHistorical sociologyAnthropologyHistory of lawInternational relationsStrategic studies
Research programmes of LAHRA · INTELEN
Humanities, history, law and social sciences
The laboratory's disciplinary core: humanities, history, law, social sciences and international relations, grounded in the study of archives and corpora.
Digital corpora, archives and artificial intelligence
The work of the INTELEN unit: digital corpora, archives, data, uses of artificial intelligence and information technologies.
Speech, language and representation
The programme already carried by manifestations held: the Lexis et Logos Programme (2023), the Marrakech Colloquium with the CERIPP (May 2023) and the Casablanca Colloquium on La Parole (October 2023).
ORIENT — Research centre on the Mediterranean world and the Middle East
The ORIENT laboratory is a research centre devoted to the historical, political, social, religious and strategic study of the Mediterranean world and the Middle East.
The laboratory's approach is interdisciplinary: it draws on history, islamology — to which particular emphasis is given —, political science, historical sociology, anthropology, the history of law, international relations and strategic studies.
Research forms the laboratory's organising principle; teaching extends it. ORIENT carries the project of a Mastère (postgraduate diploma) in islamology, not yet open: enrolment will open in June 2027 for a September 2027 intake, together with the Mastère in Graphic Design and Artificial Intelligence carried by the AFFORDANCE Training Centre; ORIENT also carries specialised training programmes.
The relationship between research and teaching remains organic: students are trained in research methods and documentary analysis, then guided toward the dissertation, collective works or doctoral research. The expertise thus built can serve public institutions, international organisations and universities.
ORIENT is thus defined as the place where research, higher education and regional expertise devoted to the Mediterranean world and the Middle East converge.
Research programmes of ORIENT
History, islamology and historical sociology
The core of the centre's descriptive text, with the particular emphasis given to islamology among the disciplines it draws on.
Political science, international relations and strategic studies
The political and strategic study of the Mediterranean world and the Middle East, oriented toward expertise mobilisable by public institutions and international organisations.
Anthropology and the history of law
The two complementary disciplines of the centre's interdisciplinary approach.
Associate researchers of ORIENT
Section under construction. No associate researcher has been named to date; names will be added as they are confirmed.
Colloquia and scientific events of ORIENT
Section under construction. ORIENT's colloquia, seminars and scientific events will be presented here as they are organised.
Publications of ORIENT
Section under construction. ORIENT's work and publications will be presented here as they appear.
President of CAEPRA
Prosper Nganbai
President of CAEPRA — honorary function
Civilian life: President of CNPS Cameroon
Associate researchers of CAEPRA
Sébastien Magand Tardy
Consultant in African politics — specialist in Gabon and the two Congos (Congo-Kinshasa, Congo-Brazzaville) · Communication, qualitative and quantitative studies, political polling
Nestor Ndoudi
Director of International Cooperation of the University, associate researcher — specialist in Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea · Public policy expert, France–Africa, culture and memory
Christian Mouandjo
Associate researcher — specialist in Cameroon
Mourad Janati Cherkaoui
Associate researcher — specialist in the Maghreb and its diasporas · Geopolitical communication, social media, the role of influencers
Research programmes of CAEPRA
Political analysis by geographic area
Central Africa — Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, Gabon, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea — and the Maghreb, the areas of specialty of the centre's associate researchers.
Political communication and public opinion
Polling, qualitative and quantitative studies, social media and the role of influencers in political communication.
Public policy, France–Africa cooperation, culture and memory
Public policy expertise on France–Africa relations and on culture and memory, carried by the centre's associate researchers.
Colloquia and scientific events of CAEPRA
Section under construction. CAEPRA's colloquia, seminars and scientific events will be presented here as they are organised.
Publications of CAEPRA
Section under construction. CAEPRA's work and publications will be presented here as they appear.
Figure of reference
Maria Caterina Federici (1959–2024)
Sociology · University of Perugia
Full professor of sociology at the University of Perugia and director of the Centre for Research on Human Security, Maria Caterina Federici (1959–2024) holds a founding place in the intellectual history of LAHRA and accompanied from the outset the formation of the university project. The laboratory bears her name in tribute to her scientific contribution and her commitment to dialogue between disciplines, societies and the cultural spaces of Europe and the Mediterranean.
Sociologia della sicurezza. Teorie e problemi (ed. with A. Romeo), Morlacchi Editore · L'immaginazione sentimentale, Mimesis, 2016 · Un défi pour la sociologie : sécurité et formation, Sociétés, no. 147, 2020 · Dove fondano le libertà, Borla, 2000.
Academic Organisation
Academic Structures
The university comprises three academic structures: the Department of History, Law and Sociology, the Luigi Pareyson Training Centre — Centre for Languages, Translation and Communication, and the AFFORDANCE Training Centre. Each constitutes a distinct institutional framework, carrying its own degree programmes and activities.
Saint Louis – Mediterranean University of Nations distributes its offices according to a settled hierarchy. Scientific direction constitutes an office in its own right ; to conduct research and to transmit a competence call for titles and responsibilities that the institution distinguishes with care. Scientific direction belongs to the body of university researchers — holders of the habilitation to supervise research and doctors — who bear authority over doctoral supervision, the research tracks of the Department and the LAHRA·INTELEN laboratory, and the validation of intellectual contents at every level. Academic instructors conduct the thematic seminars and pedagogical programmes according to the syllabuses settled by the scientific direction. Trainers deliver operational competencies within the continuing education structures, under a service agreement fixing the scope of their intervention. The scientific direction — LAHRA·INTELEN — alone holds authority to validate intellectual contents, at whatever level they are delivered.
Department of History, Law and Sociology
The Department of History, Law and Sociology is the university's reference institutional structure for teaching and research in history, public law and sociology. It is organised into three tracks: History and International Relations, Public Law, and Sociology. The History and International Relations track houses the Ph.D. in History of International Relations, the Comparative History of International Relations programme, the research activities associated with LAHRA, specialised seminars and the department's research projects.
Comparative History of International Relations — Track I
"Administering the Universal: Rome, Jerusalem and Mecca as symbolic capitals of competing international systems."
This track examines the authorities that claim to order a space extending beyond the boundaries of any particular political community. It follows the transformations of political universalism from the great empires of the ancient Near East to the imperial and religious constructions of the modern period. The programme studies the Achaemenid Empire, imperial Rome, Jerusalem, the medieval papacy, the caliphates and Mecca in order to understand the successive forms of administering the universal between Antiquity and the early twentieth century.
Comparative History of International Relations — Track II
"Empire against Distance: a comparison of Persian, Roman and Spanish communication infrastructures."
This track examines the means by which large political formations overcome the constraints of space. It compares the techniques of government at a distance from the royal relay stations of the Achaemenids to the administrative circuits of the modern monarchies. The programme analyses the Persian royal road network, the Roman cursus publicus, medieval communication systems and the circuits of the Hispanic monarchy in order to understand the evolution of imperial infrastructures between Antiquity and the modern period.
Comparative History of International Relations — Track III
"Political Anthropology of Loyalty, Hegemony and Tribute: Roman clientage, feudal allegiance, monarchical service and the tributary systems of Asia."
This track examines the bonds of fidelity linking rulers and ruled within political systems. It follows the evolution of the forms of political obedience from the Greek city-states and the Roman Republic to the European monarchies and the tributary systems of Asia. The programme analyses Greek hegemonic leagues, Roman clientage, feudal allegiances, the tributary relations of East Asia and the forms of monarchical service in order to understand the historical mechanisms of loyalty between Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the modern period.
Comparative History of International Relations — Track IV
"Cultural and Political History of Reputation in International Relations: Alexander, Charlemagne, Charles V, Louis XIV and Napoleon."
This track studies the mechanisms by which political actors acquire prestige and authority in the international arena. It traces the circulation of political reputations from the conquests of Alexander to the great empires of the nineteenth century. The programme examines the figures of Alexander, Charlemagne, Charles V, Louis XIV, Napoleon and other major references in order to analyse the historical processes of recognition and legitimation between Antiquity and the contemporary world.
Around these four directing tracks, complementary themes and specialisation seminars are organised. An assessed seminar is already accessible: Introduction to the Sociology of Complexity, Prof. Ali Aït Abdelmalek (University of Rennes 2).
Teaching staff attached to the Department, organised into three tracks. The Department's continuing education programmes are delivered by a partner operator, Institut Montpensier (see Partners in continuing education).
History and International Relations track
Nasser Michaëlene Gabryel
Field: International Relations · Ph.D. History of International Relations
Frédéric Bidouze
Field: Early modern history
Public Law track
Hager Ben Cheikh Ahmed
Public and administrative law
Arnaud Van Waeyenberge
European law · HEC Paris
Ali Sedjari
Governance and public action · UNESCO Chair in Human Rights (2005–2017)
Aziz Saidi
Public law · parliamentary law (Morocco)
Jean-Michel Mboumoua
Public Law track
Sociology track
Jean-Louis Fabiani
Historical sociology of knowledge · President of Institut Montpensier
Ali Aït Abdelmalek
Sociology · University of Rennes 2
Amina Er Rifayi
Social work, support
Christian Mouandjo
Sociology and communication
LUIGI PAREYSON CENTRE — Centre for Languages, Translation and Communication
The Luigi Pareyson Training Centre is the university's academic structure for languages, translation and communication, grouping the linguistic programmes of StL-UNI. Its programmes are delivered by a partner operator, the Lyonnaise de Formation, association loi 1901 (RNA W691102650) — see Partners in continuing education.
French language
Core teaching of the Centre
French as a Foreign Language (levels A1 to C2) · academic French · professional French · preparation for DELF, DALF and TCF certifications.
English language
Academic, professional and specialised registers
Academic English · professional English · legal English · business English.
Translation and communication
Specialised competencies
Translation · interpretation · institutional communication · international communication · language certifications.
Teaching staff attached to the Centre:
Mustapha El Majdouli
Programme director, Arabic
Mery Benaroya
Programme director, Hebrew
Mélanie Sathoud
French as a foreign language
Sebastian Kreitz
Business and legal English
Jyotee Mungu
Professional English
Amina Er Rifayi
Social work, support
Degree-granting programmes of the Luigi Pareyson Training Centre
Hebrew and Arabic
Degree-granting track structured in three stages: Certificate, Diploma, Bachelor.
Programme heads: Mery Benaroya (Hebrew) · Mustapha El Majdouli (Arabic). Admission conditions, assessment arrangements and tuition fees for each stage are provided on request at direction@stl-uni.org.
AFFORDANCE Training Centre
The AFFORDANCE Training Centre is the academic structure of StL-UNI dedicated to artificial intelligence and the digital humanities, the counterpart of the Luigi Pareyson Training Centre in the field of degree programmes. It carries the Bachelor in Graphic Design and Artificial Intelligence, as well as the project of a Mastère in Graphic Design and Artificial Intelligence, not yet open: enrolment will open in June 2027 for a September 2027 intake, together with the Mastère in islamology carried by ORIENT. Its programmes are delivered by a partner operator, Orléans Bragance Formations — see Partners in continuing education. Its work covers digital corpora, natural language processing architectures, network analysis, information governance and digital transformations.
Complex systems and AI
Artificial intelligence · network analysis · natural language processing architectures · data governance.
Digital humanities
Digital corpora · electronic editing · automated source processing · digital humanities applied to history and the social sciences.
Digital transformations
Information governance · digital transformations · professional and institutional uses of AI.
Teaching staff attached to the AFFORDANCE Training Centre:
Abderahman Janati
Programme director, Graphic Design and AI
Samuel Sarfatti
Head of the Prompt to Rank module
Nabil El Moutawakil El Alami
Applied AI in sport
Jyotee Mungu
Professional English
Mery Benaroya
Commercial development, sales
Continuing and professional education activities of these three structures are delivered by partner operators, presented in the Partners in continuing education section of the Cooperation and Partnerships Division.
Organisation
Organisational Chart
Institutional architecture of the university: five divisions, their components, and representation and direction.
Detail of the divisions and their components: Academic Structures · Education · Cooperation and the Bourbon-Montpensier Foundation.
Programme directors
Each continuing and professional education programme of the university is placed under the responsibility of an identified member of teaching staff, distinct from the partner operator that delivers it in practice (see Partners in continuing education).
Degree programmes
Nasser Michaëlene Gabryel
Scientific direction — Ph.D. in History of International Relations, Department of History, Law and Sociology
Mustapha El Majdouli
Arabic — Luigi Pareyson Training Centre
Mery Benaroya
Hebrew — Luigi Pareyson Training Centre
Abderahman Janati
Graphic Design and Artificial Intelligence — AFFORDANCE Training Centre
Certificate programmes
Mélanie Sathoud
French as a Foreign Language — Luigi Pareyson Training Centre
Jyotee Mungu
Professional English — Luigi Pareyson Training Centre
Degree Programmes
Degree Programmes
One degree programme is open at this level. It is carried by one of the university's three academic structures and engages a higher-level university education, supported by the laboratories and teaching staff of StL-UNI. The degree programmes of the other two academic structures — Arabic, Hebrew, Graphic Design and Artificial Intelligence — are presented in the Continuing and Professional Education Division section.
Department of History, Law and Sociology
Ph.D. in History of International Relations (Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy · Doctoral research
A doctoral research programme in the history of international relations, conducted under the direction of the LAHRA–Maria Caterina Federici laboratory. The thesis engages original inquiry, grounded in verifiable primary sources, in the field of the history of international relations, diplomatic studies, comparative history of empires or international political systems. Thesis supervision is provided by qualified members of the academic staff.
The thesis draws on four comparative research themes that the programme sets side by side. The first examines the authorities that claim to order a space extending beyond the boundaries of any particular political community: the Achaemenid Empire, imperial Rome, Jerusalem, the medieval papacy, the caliphates and Mecca are studied here as symbolic capitals of competing international systems, tracing the successive forms of administering the universal between Antiquity and the early twentieth century. The second turns to the means by which large political formations overcome the constraints of space: the Persian royal road network, the Roman cursus publicus, medieval communication systems and the circuits of the Hispanic monarchy are compared to follow the evolution of imperial infrastructures between Antiquity and the modern period. The third examines the bonds of fidelity linking rulers and ruled, from Greek hegemonic leagues to Roman clientage, from feudal allegiances to the tributary relations of East Asia, to understand the historical mechanisms of loyalty across Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the modern period. The fourth, finally, studies the means by which political actors acquire prestige and authority on the international stage, tracing the circulation of political reputations from the conquests of Alexander — Charlemagne, Charles V, Louis XIV, Napoleon — to the great empires of the nineteenth century. An assessed seminar is already attached to the programme: Introduction to the Sociology of Complexity, Prof. Ali Aït Abdelmalek (University of Rennes 2).
Admission requirements, assessment procedures and tuition fees for each programme are communicated on request to direction@stl-uni.org.
Notice on the status and recognition of degrees
Applicable to all of the university's degree programmes — Ph.D., the Arabic, Hebrew and Graphic Design and Artificial Intelligence programmes. Does not apply to seminars, which constitute neither a national diploma, nor a university degree, nor a regulated professional qualification.
The degree programmes of Saint Louis – Mediterranean University of Nations lead to the award of institutional diplomas with an international vocation, according to the pedagogical and institutional conditions specific to each programme. The official record of each programme specifies the length of the course, the teaching arrangements, the admission conditions, the competencies assessed, the projects completed and the rules governing the award of the diploma.
Academic recognition of a diploma, in particular for admission to or continuation of studies at another institution, is a matter for the decision of the university, the administration or the competent authority of the country concerned. Professional recognition is subject to the rules applicable to the employment or profession in question. Where a profession is regulated, authorisation, a supplementary assessment, a professional examination, practical experience or registration with a competent body may be required.
International conventions on the recognition of higher education qualifications, notably the UNESCO Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education and the Lisbon Convention for the European region, establish principles for a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory assessment of foreign qualifications. These conventions organise recognition procedures; they do not confer an automatic and uniform equivalence in every country.
Before enrolling, each candidate is invited to check with the higher education institution, employer, public authority, national recognition centre or competent professional body that the intended diploma meets the conditions applicable to their academic or professional project in the country concerned.
Saint Louis – Mediterranean University of Nations provides candidates with the information available on the status of the programme and issues each graduate with a diploma, a transcript of courses and assessments, and a descriptive document specifying the length of the programme, the competencies acquired, the validation arrangements and the level attained. These documents enable the competent authorities and institutions to examine the qualification on the basis of complete pedagogical information.
The final decision on recognition, equivalence, admission, authorisation to practise or recruitment rests exclusively with the authority, institution or competent body of the country in which the holder wishes to continue their studies or pursue an activity.
Education
Continuing and Professional Education Division
The Continuing and Professional Education Division brings together the continuing-education programmes of the university's three academic structures. Their delivery is entrusted to partner operators, presented in the Partners in continuing education section of the Cooperation and Partnerships Division; the teaching staff attached to each structure appear in the Academic Structures section.
LUIGI PAREYSON CENTRE — Centre for Languages, Translation and Communication
Degree-granting and certificate language programmes
French as a Foreign Language, academic and professional French, academic, legal and business English, translation, interpretation, institutional and international communication, preparation for language certifications.
Degree-granting programmes of the Luigi Pareyson Training Centre
Hebrew and Arabic
Degree-granting track structured in three stages: Certificate, Diploma, Bachelor. Programme heads: Mery Benaroya (Hebrew), Mustapha El Majdouli (Arabic).
Admission conditions, assessment arrangements and tuition fees for each stage are detailed in the fee schedule below.
AFFORDANCE Training Centre
Digital skills and professional competencies
Artificial intelligence, digital technologies, computer graphics, information systems, commercial development and management.
Degree programme of the AFFORDANCE Training Centre
Bachelor in Graphic Design and Artificial Intelligence
Visual communication, computer graphics and design assisted by generative systems. A degree programme over three years and six semesters, from foundational graphic skills to art direction and professionalisation. Programme director: Abderahman Janati.
Admission conditions and assessment arrangements are provided on request to direction@stl-uni.org; tuition fees are detailed in the fee schedule below. Full syllabus (PDF, French) · LinkedIn profile.
AI and digital visibility component of the programme
A Prompt to Rank module — artificial intelligence, digital marketing and search visibility — reinforces the applied-AI component of the Bachelor, under the direction of Samuel Sarfatti, within the programme directed by Abderrahman Janati.
Department of History, Law and Sociology
Humanities, law, social sciences, international relations
Multidisciplinary continuing-education programmes in humanities, history, law and social sciences, based in the Department of History, Law and Sociology.
Seminars
A category distinct from the Education Division: seminars are open to all, sanctioned by a university certificate of training, and do not constitute a national degree, a university grade or a regulated professional qualification.
The seminar teaches the practice of philosophical discourse as a discipline bearing on the relations between the event, thought, lived experience, language, otherness and the world. Its object is not a general history of philosophical doctrines, but the exercise of a speech capable of elucidating the logical representations produced in the face of facts; the participant works on the event, sensation, feeling, thought, judgement, lived experience, doubt, mirror-consciousness, request and action. Human language unfolds in three forms, saying, writing and showing, which establish a relation between thought and the world; the method distinguishes the fact from its representation, then observes how a sensation and a feeling contribute to the formation of a judgement, so as to restore contact between language, its use and the experience to which it relates.
Practice of Philosophical Discourse Applied to Lived Experience
Yigal Dawidowicz — Seminar Programme Director
In-person format for the first year, opening to distance and online delivery in subsequent years. Starting September 2026, ten three-hour sessions. Open to all, no prior university background in philosophy required. Venue: in person. Enrolment and contact: contact@stl-uni.org.
Publication: La loi de l'équilibre temporaire, Éditions Elkana, 2018 — Book page (Fnac)
Tuition fees
Reference tuition fees. Specific agreements may be concluded with public institutions, companies, associations and academic partners. Preparation for DELF, DALF and TCF certifications is provided in accordance with applicable regulations; these certifications are issued by officially accredited centres.
LUIGI PAREYSON CENTRE
Languages, translation, communication
FFL A1 — 40 h — €1,000
FFL A2 — 50 h — €1,250
FFL B1 — 60 h — €1,500
FFL B2 — 70 h — €1,800
FFL C1 — 80 h — €2,100
FFL C2 — 100 h — €2,500
DELF / DALF / TCF preparation — 20 to 40 h — €600 to €1,200
Professional French — 30 h — €900
Business French — 40 h — €1,200
Professional English — fees provided on request
Hebrew (Certificate / Diploma / Bachelor) — fees provided on request
Arabic (Certificate / Diploma / Bachelor) — fees provided on request
AFFORDANCE Training Centre
Digital skills and professional competencies
Introduction to artificial intelligence — 40 h — €1,200
Digital tools and productivity — 40 h — €1,200
Graphic communication and infographics — 50 h — €1,500
Commercial development and strategy — 50 h — €1,500
Cybersecurity and information systems — 60 h — €1,800
Department of History, Law and Sociology
Humanities, law, international relations
International relations — 40 h — €1,200
Mediterranean and African diplomacy — 60 h — €1,800
Public law and institutions — 60 h — €1,800
Applied social sciences — 50 h — €1,500
History and international relations — 50 h — €1,500
Practice of Philosophical Discourse Applied to Lived Experience — 30 h (ten sessions) — fees provided on request
Qualifications and certifications
Attestations
Certificate of participation, issued following a training course, seminar or workshop. Certificate of competencies, issued following assessment of acquired skills.
Continuing education certificates
Issued following validation of a complete programme with one of the three academic structures of the Education Division, in partnership with the operator responsible for its delivery. Specialisation certificate for advanced programmes with an extended number of hours.
University qualifications
University certificate and university diploma issued for programmes validated by the university's academic bodies, when the pedagogical and regulatory conditions are met.
Publishing
Saint Louis University Press
Saint Louis University Press draws its catalogue from the work deposited by LAHRA·INTELEN, the CERIPP and the Institut Montpensier. Two collections receive these contributions. De Regno holds the proceedings of the international colloquia conducted under the Institut's authority; Sciences du gouvernement registers the monographs and collective volumes submitted by researchers in public law, governance and territorial planning. The Press is registered with the AFNIL under the publisher's prefix 978-2-489285, assigned on 15 June 2026; under that prefix, each volume receives its number before legal deposit at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Saint Louis University Press
Editorial body of the university
The Press fixes, publishes and disseminates the work produced within the university: scientific works, conference proceedings, source editions and collective volumes. It inscribes its action in the tradition of the studia humanitatis and places it at the service of the common good.
Editorial charter
Principles of publication
The Press publishes peer-reviewed works, attributed to their authors and grounded in verifiable sources. It requires rigour of critical apparatus, fidelity to sources and scientific utility. No work is admitted whose references cannot be established.
Collections
Two open collections
De Regno — proceedings of the international colloquia organised by the Institut Montpensier. Sciences du gouvernement — monographs and collective volumes in public law, governance and territorial planning. AFNIL prefix 978-2-489285, assigned 15 June 2026.
Catalogue
Collection De Regno
La Parole
Proceedings of the Casablanca Colloquium, 12–14 October 2023 · Volume I · Edited by Nasser Michaëlene Gabryel
The colloquium gathered seventeen contributions around the question of speech as a political, symbolic and sovereign act. The volume examines the conditions under which speech is produced, received, legitimised or suppressed across historical, juridical, literary and philosophical registers. Contributors include scholars from Morocco, France, Italy and Senegal. The volume constitutes the first publication of the De Regno collection.
ISBN 978-2-489285-00-0 (print) · ISBN 978-2-489285-01-7 (PDF) · Forthcoming December 2026
Collection Sciences du gouvernement
Ali Sedjari · Gouvernance et démocratie
Monograph · Sciences du gouvernement
A study of the transformations affecting democratic governance in the age of digital technologies and artificial intelligence. The work examines the institutional reconfigurations produced by algorithmic processes and the challenges they pose to transparency, legitimacy and the rule of law.
ISBN 978-2-489285-02-4 (print) · ISBN 978-2-489285-03-1 (PDF)
Ali Sedjari · Mélanges Sedjari
Collective volume · Sciences du gouvernement
A collective volume gathering contributions by researchers who have worked alongside Ali Sedjari on the questions of public governance, territorial management and the conduct of public action. The volume assembles theoretical approaches and empirical analyses drawn from Morocco, the Maghreb and the Mediterranean.
ISBN 978-2-489285-04-8 (print) · ISBN 978-2-489285-05-5 (PDF)
Ali Sedjari · Territorialisation
Monograph · Sciences du gouvernement
An examination of the processes by which public policies are anchored in territory. The work analyses the mechanisms of decentralisation, spatial planning and local governance, drawing on fieldwork and administrative sources from the Moroccan and Mediterranean context.
ISBN 978-2-489285-06-2 (print) · ISBN 978-2-489285-07-9 (PDF)
Najib Mouhtadi · Lecture des défaillances des élites dans le Maroc du XIXe siècle
Monograph · Sciences du gouvernement
A historical and political analysis of the failures of Moroccan elites during the nineteenth century, a period of mounting external pressure and internal fragmentation. The work examines the conduct of political actors, the disintegration of traditional forms of authority and the structural conditions that shaped Morocco's entry into the modern era.
ISBN 978-2-489285-08-6 (print) · ISBN 978-2-489285-09-3 (PDF)
Cooperation
Cooperation and Partnerships Division
The Cooperation and Partnerships Division organises the university's academic, Mediterranean, African, cultural and intercultural relations. The Bourbon-Montpensier Foundation is its reference institutional partner. The offices presented below also appear in the Organisational Chart.
Bourbon-Montpensier Foundation
Intercultural and interreligious dialogue · Alliance of Civilizations
The Bourbon-Montpensier Foundation, at the origin of the university's creation in May 1988 with the Montpensier University Institute, develops intercultural and interreligious dialogue in the spirit of the Fez Declaration (2022) and the United Nations Programme for the Alliance of Civilizations.
History and origin
Naples · Marseille · Saint-Louis du Sénégal · Casablanca, 1988
Established to carry a university of the Alliance of Civilizations between Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe, the Foundation took shape between four centres of intellectual exchange. It inscribes its action in the tradition of the studia humanitatis and the service of the common good.
Aims and objectives
Dialogue of civilizations
To foster encounter between the cultural and religious heritages of the Mediterranean, Africa and Europe, in the spirit of the Fez Declaration and the Alliance of Civilizations.
Support for research and education
To support the scientific work, training and transmission of knowledge conducted within the university and its laboratories.
Cultural action and cooperation
To conduct cultural actions and international cooperation in the service of the concord of peoples and the common good.
Partners and cooperation
Spain
Partnerships in the fields of culture, history and Euro-Mediterranean relations.
Canada
Links with Franco-Canadian communities and the cultural institutions of French-speaking Canada.
Projects and partners
École Normale project for teacher training; Association Saint Louis Ismailia de Meknès (ASLIM); Femmes Debout NGO; Casablanca Foundation Office.
Partners in continuing education
The university's continuing and professional education programmes are delivered by three partner operators, each attached to one of the academic structures presented in the Academic Structures section.
Lyonnaise de Formation
Association loi 1901, RNA W691102650 · partner of the Luigi Pareyson Training Centre
Delivers the language programmes of the Luigi Pareyson Training Centre: French as a Foreign Language, academic and professional French, academic, legal and business English, translation, interpretation, degree-granting Hebrew and Arabic programmes.
See programmes and tuition fees →Orléans Bragance Formations
Partner of the AFFORDANCE Training Centre
Delivers the digital and professional programmes of the AFFORDANCE Training Centre: artificial intelligence, digital tools, graphic communication and infographics, commercial development, cybersecurity, and the Bachelor in Graphic Design and Artificial Intelligence.
See programmes and tuition fees →Institut Montpensier
Partner of the Department of History, Law and Sociology
Delivers the continuing-education programmes in humanities, law, social sciences and international relations attached to the Department of History, Law and Sociology.
See programmes and tuition fees →Institut Montpensier — History of the presidency
Institut Montpensier originates in the Groupement Saint Louis – Pierre d'Alcantara (1988-1998), refounded under the name IESS, then Institut Turenne, before becoming Institut Montpensier in 2008. Its presidents have been: Carlo Raimundo Montecuccoli and Jérôme Sultana (1988-1989, co-direction), Carlo Raimundo Montecuccoli alone (1989-1998), Carlo Raimundo Montecuccoli and Philippe Einaudi (1998-2002, co-direction), Nasser Michaëlène-Gabryel alone (2002-2012), Moulay Ahmed Zekki and Maria Caterina Federici (2012-2019, co-direction), Jean-Louis Fabiani (2019-2021), Jacques Bouineau (2021-2023), and Jean-Louis Fabiani again since 2023.
Co-direction, which recurs several times in this history, is not a sign of fragility but a recognised principle of governance in institutions with a Euro-Mediterranean vocation: the Institute of African Worlds (CNRS, IRD, EHESS, Paris 1, Aix-Marseille University) currently operates under co-direction, and the Union for the Mediterranean enshrines North-South co-presidency in its own statutes.
Representation and direction
The presidency of the University and the direction of the Foundation are two distinct offices; their respective institutional attachment is stated under each title.
Presidency of the University
Najib Mouhtadi
President of the University
Doctorate of State in political science. Professor at Hassan II University — Mohammedia. Founder of the Moroccan Association of Political Science. Former Acting Dean, Faculty of Law of Mohammedia. Director of LaberCom. Adviser at the Centre for International Studies of Rabat. Member of the Advisory Board of the High Atlas Foundation. Editorial director of the Revue Maghrébine d'Économie, de Sociologie et de Science Politique.
Direction of the Bourbon-Montpensier Foundation
Karim El Aalj
President of the Bourbon-Montpensier Foundation
Senior technician at OCP (Office Chérifien des Phosphates), Youssoufia, Morocco. President of the Bourbon Montpensier Foundation, founding structure of Saint Louis — Mediterranean University of Nations. Head of the cultural department — Institut de Formation aux Métiers du Tourisme — Atlantic Morocco.
Nasser Michaëlene Gabryel
Director General
Habilitation to Direct Research (HDR). Doctorate in comparative political science. Founder of Saint Louis — Mediterranean University of Nations. Initiator of the institution's Euro-Mediterranean and African cooperation network since 1988.
Fouad Defaf
Secretary General
Member of the Bourbon-Montpensier Foundation · Director of the Tourism Training Division · Head of the IMSLTA.
Legal direction
Maître Oud'ghiri
Member of the Casablanca Bar. Legal Director of the Foundation. He oversees the conformity of institutional acts, partnership agreements and the Foundation's contractual commitments.
International Cooperation
Nestor Ndoudi
Director of International Cooperation of the University
See also his role as associate researcher at CAEPRA.
Representation of the Foundation for Spain
Rachid Boukhzer
Head of the Bourbon-Montpensier Foundation for Spain
Community
Scientific Community
The associated researchers of LAHRA and its INTELEN unit form the core of the Research Division. They conduct the laboratory's work in the humanities, social sciences, law, international relations and the digital humanities.
Associated researchers — LAHRA · INTELEN
Frédéric Bidouze
Early modern historian
Arnaud Van Waeyenberge
European law
Ali Aït Abdelmalek
Sociology
Nezha Yamani
Economics · public policy
Jean-Louis Fabiani
Historical sociology of knowledge
Jean-Michel Mboumoua
Public Law track
Lionel Nzamba Nzamba
Decentralised cooperation
Scientific output
Verified works by LAHRA and INTELEN researchers, classified by author. The section is built progressively from verifiable references.
Nasser Michaëlene Gabryel
Scientific Director · LAHRA·INTELEN
Doctorate in political science. DEA in philosophy (University of Geneva). DESS in social sciences (EHESS). Lecturer and researcher at the Institut Catholique de Paris. Associate researcher at GRET (University of Rabat) and GERM (University of Marrakech).
De la culture politique comme culture de savoir, Philosophia Scientiæ, 20-2, 2016 · Review, MIDÉO, no. 36, 2021 · Review, Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée, no. 125, 2009 · Hegel, Marx, Gramsci, Cahiers d'études romanes, no. 35, 2017.
Jean-Louis Fabiani
Sociology · EHESS · CEU
Les philosophes de la République, Minuit, 1988 · Après la culture légitime, L'Harmattan, 2007 · Pierre Bourdieu. Un structuralisme héroïque, Seuil, 2016 · Sociologie de la Corse, La Découverte, 2018 · Clint Eastwood, La Découverte, 2020 · Coluche, La Découverte, 2026 (forthcoming, 12 February 2026).
Profile · Video interview (Politika) · Publisher page — Coluche
Ali Aït Abdelmalek
Sociology · University of Rennes 2
Sciences humaines et soins, Masson, 2001 · Edgar Morin, sociologue de la complexité, Apogée, 2010 · Articles in Sociétés, Espaces et sociétés, Économie rurale.
ResearchGate profile · Video interview (MNLE Summer University, 2024)
Najib Mouhtadi
Political communication · Director, Apoleius review
Pouvoir et religion au Maroc, Eddif, 1999 · Pouvoir et communication au Maroc, L'Harmattan · Parole et libre expression, in La Parole, 2023 (forthcoming).
Conferences and scientific events
Lexis and Logos Programme
2023 · LAHRA · INTELEN
Scientific programme dedicated to speech, language and artificial intelligence.
Marrakesh Colloquium
May 2023 · in partnership with CERIPP
Scientific event dedicated to speech and artificial intelligence.
Casablanca Colloquium
October 2023 · LAHRA · INTELEN · LALITRA
La Parole — heritage, new clericatures and the crisis of representation. Proceedings in preparation.
Resources
Library and Resources
The university library brings together heritage works, historical sources and research materials in the humanities, international relations and public law. Founded in 2002 from a collection combining physical and digital works, it was transferred to an entirely virtual form in 2025. The collection, constituted under the scientific direction of LAHRA·INTELEN, is accessible to enrolled students and researchers on the digital campus.
Montpensier Human Sciences Library (BSHM)
Reserved for enrolled students and researchers — currently being constituted
Heritage works in the public domain, primary sources, reference materials and scientific publications. Holdings deposited and enriched progressively on the digital campus, organised today under the following categories: Political philosophy (Aristotle, Politics; Plato, The Republic, trans. Victor Cousin, 1833, Statesman, trans. Émile Chambry, 1969, Laws, Sophist; Gérard Granel, Course on Deleuze and Guattari, Anti-Oedipus; Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Volume I. Political Works; Karl Marx, 1844 Manuscripts) · Political science (Joseph de Maistre, Lettres et opuscules inédits, volume II, and Considérations sur la France, 1797; Thomas Hobbes, Behemoth and Leviathan; Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, 1513; Sun Tzu, The Art of War; Gérard Granel, Course on Gramsci. Bukharin and Bordiga, 1973-1974; Antonio Gramsci, Letters from Prison, 1926-1937, and Textes, 1917-1934) · History of international relations (Joseph de Maistre, Mémoires politiques et correspondance diplomatique, ed. Albert Blanc, 2nd ed., 1859; Charles V of Lorraine, Testament politique, 1697) · Public law (Theodor Mommsen, Le Droit public romain, volume I, 2nd ed. 1893, and volume II, 1st ed. 1892) · Sociology and social sciences (Georges Sorel, Le système historique de Renan, and Le Procès de Socrate, 1889; Ernest Renan, Les Évangiles et la seconde génération chrétienne; Carlo Gioda, La vita e le opere di Giovanni Botero, three volumes; Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah, two parts, 1863 and 1865) · Medieval history (Annales Fuldenses; Hincmar of Reims, De ordine palatii; Chronique dite de Frédégaire) · Ancient history (Tacitus, complete works; Philippe Fabia, Les Sources de Tacite; Gaston Boissier, Tacite; Eugen Cizek, Tacite face à Trajan) · Modern military history (F. des Robert, Campagnes de Charles IV de Lorraine, two volumes; Alfred Rambaud, Russes et Prussiens, and The History of Seven Years) · Literature (Georges Bernanos, Monsieur Ouine; Paul Valéry, Monsieur Teste; Joris-Karl Huysmans, À rebours; Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Reveries of the Solitary Walker).
Access the Montpensier Human Sciences Library (BSHM)Open sources
Public domain — freely accessible
The university draws on Gallica, Internet Archive and HathiTrust for heritage works in the public domain. These resources are freely accessible to all.
Publishing Division
Éditions de l'Université Saint Louis
The university's scientific publications are produced by Saint Louis University Press. The catalogue is accessible in the Publishing section of this site.
View catalogueContact
Institutional Contact
Institutional requests may be addressed to the university according to the relevant field.