The center reopened in 2017 with two co-directors: Puschner, who was at the time Professor for Contemporary History at the Friedrich Meinecke Institute (FMI), and Ulrike Schneider, professor of Romance languages and literatures. Over the last five years, Puschner, Schneider, and Marie Jacquier, the center’s coordinator for research activities, established a variety of innovative formats to help draw attention to the wide range of research being conducted on France and related topics. With a unique binational, French-German perspective, the center strives to present research in engaging ways to a broad general audience.

Professor Puschner’s successor, Michael Goebel, was appointed Einstein Professor of History at the Friedrich Meinecke Institute in fall 2021. Prior to that he held the Pierre du Bois Chair Europe and the World at the Geneva Graduate Institute (Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement). Goebel’s research focuses on migration and urban history from a global perspective with specialization in Latin American and European history.      

Professor Goebel contributed to the Center for French Studies’ program of events for the 2022/2023 winter semester even before assuming the position of director. For example, he helped plan the round table discussion that touches on his own research interests; on January 11, 2023, he will moderate a “table-ronde” with special guests Émile Chabal, Marwan Mohammed, and Christiane Reinecke on the topic “To Count is To Discriminate? Race, Ethnicity, and Statistics in France and Beyond.” More information about the Center for French Studies’ far-reaching program of events can be found on the center’s website.