THE ÉCOLE DU LOUVRE — THE MUSEUM’S SCHOOL
The École du Louvre is a higher education institution overseen by the French Ministry of Culture. Founded in 1882, it is a school that prides itself on its observation-based approach, on its artworks and its objects. Each year it welcomes more than 1,800 students of all backgrounds and nationalities, selected by competition and divided across three university cycles (Bachelor-Master-Doctor, with two preparatory courses for students working towards the conservator and restorer competitive exams) and destined to become future actors in the world of museums, heritage and art.
The School provides teaching in archaeology, history of art, epigraphy, anthropology, the history of society and museology, with a unique approach to teaching based on the direct study of material evidence from different cultures, including artworks, objects, collections, sites and monuments. Situated in the heart of the Palais du Louvre, it also offers special tutorials, in situ extensions of its lecture courses, in the rooms of the Louvre, and in other museums and galleries in Paris, in the Ile de France and, thanks to new digital technology, worldwide. As a vocational school, it follows a strategy of offering master’s degrees in multiple areas, reflecting the modern requirements of museums, heritage establishments, public and private, in France and abroad.
A place of study open to the world, boasting numerous national and international partnerships and a thriving research team, the School plays a dynamic role in academic life and publishes dissertations, handbooks, specialist publications and an online research journal.
The School also allows non-enrolled ‘listener’ students (almost 12,000 are registered) to attend certain classes for enrolled students and to follow specific day and evening training courses; there are also regional courses, ‘discovery’ courses, junior classes for younger students and, since 2020, online courses available to everyone, everywhere.
The École du Louvre in figures
- 1602 candidates sit the École du Louvre entrance exam
- 330 are admitted
- 770 professors, associate professors, lecturers and other speakers each year
- 2103 students in the year 2021-2022
- First cycle
- 1054 students
- Tuition fees 2021-2022: €438
- Second cycle
- 447 students
- Tuition fees 2021-2022: €633
- Third cycle
- 73 students
- Tuition fees 2021-2022: €274
- 14 students in partnership with the Sorbonne Abu Dhabi
- 14 dual degree external students (Science Po Paris, Essec, Paris XI)
- 23 regional partner towns and cities
- 12,000 ‘listener’ students, 16,000 enrolled students
- 100 students studying towards the heritage curator examination
- Tuition fees 2021-2022: €589
- 2550 tutorials in front of artworks
- 401 partner and seminar students
- 71 students accepted by equivalence
- 582 placements arranged in France
- 27 placements arranged abroad
- 26% of students on scholarships (first and second cycle)
The library in figures
- 760m2
- 1,200 linear metres of storage
- 9.00—19.00 open Monday to Friday
- 38,000 publications
- 150 reader posts
- 1 library curator
- 15 librarians, documentalists, receptionists
The research centre
As a higher education institution overseen by the French Ministry of Culture, the École du Louvre participates in scientific research in the fields of art history, the history of civilisations, archaeology, anthropology and museology. To build and coordinate the research work conducted at the School, there is a doctoral team consisting of permanent members, associate members, associate researchers, post-doctoral students, guest researchers and postgraduate students at the School.
Today, the School’s community of around 70 PhD students is rapidly expanding, and one of the objectives of this campaign of works was to offer these students working conditions that meet the needs of their activities and development.
The creation of the research centre fulfils this need and provides a facility that is able to welcome guest researchers from France and abroad, enhancing the School’s profile and offering genuine visibility to the research conducted at the École du Louvre.
Research is, of course, inseparable from teaching. All higher education institutions connect the two and Claire Barbillon — who was herself a teacher-researcher for many years — has long believed that the very best teaching is that which comes from the research being conducted alongside it.
The research centre in figures
- 80m2
- 3 permanent research team members (educators-researchers)
- 5 associate members
- 11 associate researchers
- 73 PhD students
- 1 coordinator
Document and IT service
An extension of the restructuring of the document areas, the redevelopment of the document and IT services is also an integral part of the programme, with a global reconfiguration to improve staff working conditions.
The cafeteria
For enrolled students, ‘listeners’, teachers and researchers, there can be no community life without meeting socially, and there is no better place for this than a cafeteria. In addition to the redevelopment of the library, the cafeteria too has been refurbished and reconfigured as a social space where people can meet and talk.