Founded in Saint-Denis in 2001, the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Paris Nord (House of Human Sciences), a unity of humanities and social sciences supported by the CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research) and universities Paris 8 and USPN (USR 3258), is a structure that hosts, impulses, promotes and disseminates humanities and social sciences, based on project-oriented research. The MSH Paris Nord is a member of the Réseau National des MSH – RnMSH (National Network of MSH).

The MSH Paris Nord promotes the five i of the RnMSH: interdisciplinarity, internationality, interinstitutionality, scientific identity, territorial implantation for a North Parisian academic territory described as a territory of creation and de facto a territory of social inequalities. On this territory, the CNRS, University of Paris 8 and the USPN identified four research axes.

  • Arts, industries of culture, creation
  • Body, health & society
  • Globalization, innovation, regulation
  • Thinking the contemporary city

The MSH Paris Nord finances research projects through an annual call for projects based on its four research axes, and in collaboration with Plaine Commune and the Campus Condorcet. The MSH Paris Nord disseminates and promotes the research results, organizing scientific and/or artistic events for researchers, students and for the general public.

The MSH Paris Nord hosts and regularly carries out projects that are financed by external calls for projects, from ministries, local authorities, Europe or the ANR (National Research Agency).

The scientific activities of the MSH Paris Nord take the form of hosting scientific journals and structures linked to its research axes: GIS (Scientific Interest Group), Labex, EUR.

The MSH Paris Nord has the ambition to be part of its territory and collaborate with its multiple actors. The MSH Paris Nord maintains long-term partnerships with the cities of Saint-Denis and Aubervilliers, with the Public Territorial Establishment of Plaine Commune, and with the Campus Condorcet.

The MSH Paris Nord hosts several federative structures

  • The Gis « Gender Institute »
  • The Gis « Democracy and participation »
  • The Gis « Gestures »
  • The Labex « Cultural industries and artistic creation » (ICCA)
  • The EUR ArTec
  • The Association Appuii
  • The platform research end-of-life
  • The Network of Young Researchers in Health and Society
  • The House of Wisdom translation
  • ANR: BDMI projects, HyperOtlet

Labeled by its Scientific Council in response to its call for projects launched each year in June, its programs have a maximum duration of two years. Its Scientific Council is composed by French and foreign scientific personalities, and is chaired by Manola Antonioli and Alain Bertho.

The MSH Paris Nord contributes to the development of research on its axes within the territory of Plaine Commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis region, in the rest of Île-de-France and at a national and international scale.

Dissemination of research results in the humanities and social sciences.

According to its missions, the MSH Paris Nord also contributes to the dissemination of knowledge. It organizes and hosts seminars and conferences on a regular basis opened to the general public.

 © Flavie Jeannin

The new building of the MSH Paris Nord is opened since March 2015, near metro 12 (Front Populaire) and Campus Condorcet.