Sophie CHIARI is Professor of English literature at Clermont Auvergne University, as well as being an expert in the Early Modern period, in particular SHAKESPEARE and his contemporaries. She was appointed head of the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Clermont-Ferrand on January 1st, 2021: “The Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (…) is not only a full research facility, under the administrative supervision of Clermont Auvergne University and the CNRS, (…) but also fulfils a support role for its lecturers and researchers by offering them all the necessary services to carry out their research projects (…)”.
Presentation
A Foreword from our Director
Our Missions
The Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Clermont-Ferrand is a Support and Research Unity, jointly managed by Clermont Auvergne University and the CNRS. It initiates interdisciplinary research projects in fields such as foreign languages, Social Sciences and Humanities (SHS), and provides support for the researchers and university lecturers of its 15 associate laboratories during every step of the conception, realization and dissemination of their scientific projects.
Research
Interdisciplinary research within the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Clermont-Ferrand mainly revolves around two scientific axes : “Territories, environment, adaptation” and “Ruptures, revolutions, innovation”. These axes focus on SHS (Social Sciences and Humanities) -related dynamic phenomena on the scale of individuals, social groups, natural spaces, and regions. These processes are covered by all the fields within SHS, and in addition collaboration is encouraged with the “hard sciences”.
Plateforms & Services
As a research unit, the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (UAR 3550) conducts its own research projects, but its mission is also to support the projects of its associate laboratories and the Social Sciences and Humanities lecturers of Clermont Auvergne University. Thus, it provides eight specific services and five technological platforms.
Our History
In 2016, celebrating the ten years of the existence of the MSH was an opportunity to look back on all the accomplished work, the process which enabled the local Social Sciences and Humanities (SHS) to be clearly identified on a national level: the various Maisons des Sciences de l’Homme are indeed a prominent marker of the twenty greatest French universities. Moreover, this anniversary demonstrated to a large extent the importance of SHS research, in a constantly evolving world in which landmarks and explanation about the meaning of life are as necessary as ever. On this day, a round table discussion reunited the successive directors of the MSH since its very creation, to build a feedback on the first ten years of existence of the institution, as well as a reflection on how the most important dimension of its missions, interdisciplinarity, is implemented.