The Maison des Sciences humaines et sociales Mondes is a support and research unit (UAR 3225) under the umbrella of the CNRS, the University of Paris Nanterre and the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. It focuses on past, present and future worlds, as well as near and distant worlds. With a resolutely international outlook, it promotes interdisciplinarity, experimentation and innovation in the humanities and social sciences, the decentring of knowledge, and is also open to working with the arts and other sciences.
The academic activities of MSH Mondes are organised around networking and collaboration: pop-up workshops, conferences, experiments, and hosting international guests. Each year it launches a call for projects within its research areas and, every two years, a call for audiovisual and multimedia projects.
Since spring 2023, its research programme has been structured around two themes:
• Memories and heritage of societies and environments,
• Conditions of existence and epistemological transformations in the humanities and social sciences.
After an initial focus on the dialogue between archaeology and anthropology, the scope of MSH Mondes has now expanded to encompass the entire research community at the universities of Paris Nanterre and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. It also houses the ArScAn, Temps and LESC joint research units in the Ginouvès building on the Nanterre campus, bringing together over 600 people. Through the collections curated or stored within its walls, it contributes to the history of science and techniques.
MSH Mondes supports research by drawing on its professional expertise, specialised engineering and equipment. It organises the collection, conservation and access to significant scientific resources, via the Library of Archaeology and Ancient Sciences and the Archives Centre, and instigates projects aimed at showcasing and reusing these resources for teaching, research and/or creative purposes. It produces and disseminates scientific content through the Imagery of Heritage and Spatialisation (MAPS) platform, the Digital Humanities and Data Centre, the Audiovisual and Multimedia Centre, and the Editorial Centre. It contributes to training Master’s and PhD students and offers ad hoc training for research teams.
MSH Mondes is involved in and hosts the Frantiq network (Federation and Resources on Antiquity, GDS 3378). It works in synergy with several consortia of the IR* Huma-Num and is an active member of the National Network of the Maisons des Sciences sociales et des Humanités (RnMSH).
