The Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne is organized by the Robert de Sorbon fondation which succede to the Société des Amis des Universités de Paris .
The creation of the Société des Amis des Universités de Paris (SAUP), a non-profit association officially recognised as a public utility association (1901 association), dates back to 1899. It has been presided by a number of prestigious chairmen: Raymond Poincaré (French President), René Cassin (Nobel peace prize-winner), etc.
This association, intended to develop French culture, created the Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne in 1919 just after the First World War. Initially, it was primarily attended by Americans but it has developed considerably since then to worldwide students.
The Robert de Sorbon foundation, a public utility foundation, bears the name of the founder of the Sorbonne. It is headed by a Directory under the supervision of a Supervisory Board of ten members which includes the Ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs, and the Rector of Paris Academy.
In addition to the Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne, three others programs are more recent: - Sorbonne dans la Ville , a series of lectures given by professors from Paris universities intendend to the general public as well as students of higher level (www.sorbonne-dans-la-ville.fr).
- A program of cooperation with foreign universities wishing to develop the teaching of French in the spirit of the Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne (development and follow of programs, selection and training of teachers, provision of educational material, assistance through Internet for teachers, missions of teaching and audits... The first agreement was concluded in 2009 with the Effat University (Jeddah).
- A book collection realized with the famous academic publisher Belin, " FLE Français langue étrangère ”, whose first two books were published in 2007 and 2008.
The headquarters are situated in the Sorbonne University. Between eight and nine thousand students attend the institution each year. They come from all over the world: almost 130 nationalities are represented with, currently, a prominent presence of students from Anglo-Saxon, German, Brazilian, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Japanese, Polish, Russian and Swedish-speaking countries.
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