Missions and partnerships
ILARA, the Institute for Linguistic Heritage and Diversity, is one of the four Institutes of École Pratique des Hautes Etudes – PSL. The EPHE–PSL institutes act as an intermediary between the world of research and civil society or public institutes.
Established in 2020, ILARA is a centre for training in, expertise on and resources relating to languages that are rarely studied in a university setting, whether ancient or modern, oral or written, which is supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation under the SHS 2020 Plan.
ILARA trains people from all walks of life, in basic, continuous or lifelong training, and attaches particular importance to initiation. It organizes courses, seminars, intensive training sessions in languages and field linguistics, as well as cross-disciplinary lectures in history, linguistics and literature of the different cultures that have developed around these languages. ILARA also offers conferences for the general public, in particular through its virtual branch, “ILARA online”.
In conducting its mission, ILARA relies primarily on the scientific expertise of EPHE–PSL and of the research teams, mostly in collaboration with CNRS, where its faculty members carry out their activity. ILARA welcomes new partnerships with the aim of pooling skills and expanding the training offer. Since 6 December 2021, the Atelier national de recherche typographique de Nancy (ANRT), involved in the creation of typographic fonts for rarely studied languages around the world, has been a partner of ILARA.
ILARA carries out its activities in collaboration with the academic community, as well as with state administration, establishments and bodies and local authorities, as well as the actors of the economic and associative world. It is open for cooperation with any French, foreign or international governmental or non-governmental institution, organization or association which shares its goals.
ILARA was created by an order of the Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation of August 5, 2020 (published in the Official Journal on September 11, 2020).
