The missions of the EFEO

missions

Fieldwork in Asia

The mission of the EFEO, a public institution under the aegis of the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, is to study the classical civilizations of Asia through the humanities and social sciences. From India, to China and Japan, and covering all of Southeast Asia, the EFEO's research areas include almost all the societies have been under Indian or Chinese influence in the course of history. Leading scholars working at the EFEO's 18 centres and branch offices in Asia have been essential in the development of the School's research programme. Interdisciplinary projects bring together leading scholars in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, history, philology, and religious studies. Since the vast majority of EFEO members carry out field studies in Asia, the emergence of contemporary issues is obviously of relevance for the School.

A Network of International Excellence in Scholarship

For decades the EFEO and its Asian centres have worked in many Asian and European partnerships. Today centres in Pondicherry, Chiang Mai, Siem Reap, Hanoi, Vientiane and Jakarta have their own premises, whereas several EFEO branch offices are hosted by prestigious universities, research institutes and museums. This is the case of Pune, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon, Phnom Penh, Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo.

The EFEO regularly welcomes scholars for extended periods of field study in its Asian centres, particularly for EFEO led research projects. Visiting scholars benefit from the School's local academic partnerships and its rich documentary collections that represent over a century of research. In view of improving scholarly exchanges, the EFEO and 20 leading European institutions for higher education created the European Consortium for Asian Field Study (ECAF) in 2007. As such the EFEO is now in the centre of an international network of leading scholars in Asian studies.

EFEO News
New Publication
Paris, France,

Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient 108 (2022), École française d'Extrême-Orient, Paris, 2022, 456 pages


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26th Rendez-vous de l'histoire in Blois
Blois, France,

The Réseau des Écoles françaises à l'Étranger - ResEFE - is taking part in the 26th Rendez-vous de l'histoire in Blois as part of its Carte blanche: "À tombeaux ouverts: les vivants face aux morts de l'Europe à l'Extrême-Orient."
Saturday, October 7, 9-10.30 a.m., Site Jaurès University, Amphi 2, Blois.

From October 8 to 10 the 5 EFEs will have a book stand at the Blois history book fair, represented by the bookshop Lerycerp (space N, stands 76 to 80, on the map).
Death of Bruno Dagens
Strasbourg, France, 17 September 2023
It is with great sorrow that we have learned the passing of Professor Bruno Dagens on September 17, 2023. He was a member of the EFEO from 1969 to 1986. A renowned specialist in India and Cambodia, many of us followed his teaching of the history of Cambodian art at the Sorbonne-Nouvelle University (Paris-III). Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
In Memoriam Damian Evans
Paris, France, 12 September 2023
It is with deepest regret to inform you of the passing of Damian Evans on Sept 12 in Paris, France. For the last two years our dear friend and colleague had been tenaciously fighting an aggressive form of cancer. He died peacefully, accompanied by close family and will be deeply missed by those who knew and worked with him.

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Death of GĂ©rard Diffloth (1939 - 2023)
Surin, Thailand, 21 August 2023
It was with great sadness that we learned of the death on August 14 of our former colleague Gérard Diffloth, who was a member of the École française d'Extrême-Orient from 2000 to 2004, and then an associate researcher at the EFEO from 2004 to 2020.

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New publication
Kyoto,

Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 31 (2022)
New Perspectives for Chinese History?
Local Society and Archives


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EFEO Java-Bali Palmleaf Manuscripts Digitisation Project
London, United_Kingdom, 10 July 2023
Read the article "EFEO Java-Bali Palmleaf Manuscripts Digitisation Project" about the collaboration between the EFEO and the British Library on the digitisation of the complete collection of 70 palm-leaf manuscripts from Java and Bali, written in Old Javanese, Javanese and Balinese.