The missions of the EFEO
Transversal Projects and New Technology
The EFEO's innovative research project is not only based on its scholars' fields of expertise but also on their skill to conduct transversal projects, such as The Development of Buddhism from India to Japan and The epigraphy of the Khmer World (CIK). Both of these bring together experts from EFEO centres in Asia and Southeast Asia
The use of recent new technologies in the service of Asian studies is also a key concern for the EFEO and its Asian partners. The School's electronic resources, including online journals, a digital network for all its libraries' catalogues are now available for the most part. Also Geographical Information Systems and other new tools developed in the physical and biological sciences are leading to the improvement in methods of analysis and dating, especially in archaeology.
The Spread of Knowledge
Scholarly research is the key aim of the School, yet the EFEO's academic staff are also committed to training scholars in Asian studies. This demands a high degree of specialisation and often requires unique expertise gained in field studies. The supervision and training of scholars is coordinated in France, under the guidance of various doctoral programmes and in cooperation with universities and schools (EPHE and EHESS), and in the EFEO's Asian centres, thanks to internships and scholarships awarded to doctoral candidates. The EFEO headquarters are located at the Maison de l'Asie (Asia House) in Paris, which houses its central library, and is also a dynamic platform for scholarly activity (research, courses, lectures, colloquia, books launches, etc.).
Suganya Anandakichenin (PI), Giovanni Ciotti (University of Hamburg) and S. A. S. Sarma (EFEO, Pondicherry) lead this ten-month project (August 2021-May 2022) aims to clean, digitize, and catalogue a portion of about 180 manuscripts belonging to two collections (called "Kalliṭaikuṟicci" and Villiampākkam).
These manuscripts, many of which date from the mid-19th century, contain texts of various genres, in Tamil, Sanskrit and Manipravalam, written in Tamil and Grantha. Previously neglected, these relics of the past will give us a clear idea of the reading and study choices of a Tamil and Vishnu Brahmin scholarly family from the 19th century onwards. Work on the project is currently underway at the EFEO Center in Pondicherry.
The winner of the 2021 French-Language Book Prize is "La réforme politique en Birmanie pendant le premier moment colonial (1819-1878)" by Aurore Candier, published by the EFEO !
The collection of periodicals in the Leroi-Gourhan collection includes 30 titles, the most complete of which are 民俗藝術 Minzoku geijutsu and 工藝 Kōgei, a publication co-edited by Yanagi Muneyoshi, the specialist in folk arts and "mingei studies". This monthly journal, with a print run of only 1000 copies, devoted to craftsmanship, materials and tools used in the making of objects, is rare and precious.
