Joan Wallach Scott Awarded Honorary Doctorate from Université Paris 8

Joan Wallach Scott, Professor Emerita in the School of Social Science, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Université Paris 8.

The university, which cited her foundational 1968 text “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis,” recognized her decades of accomplishments, numerous influential publications, and history of academic distinctions, including the 2016 Talcott Parsons Prize. In 2018, Scott was named Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur of France, the country's highest decoration, in a ceremony held at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.

Scott’s groundbreaking work has challenged the foundations of conventional historical practice, including the nature of historical evidence and historical experience and the role of narrative in the writing of history. Broadly, the object of her work is the question of difference in history: its uses, enunciations, implementations, justifications, and transformations in the construction of social and political life. 

First established as the Centre Universitaire Expérimental de Vincennes (CUEV) in 1969, Université Paris 8 has become a leading center for the study of humanities education and research, offering fields of study such as psychoanalysis, geopolitics, cinema, visual arts, and gender studies.

The honorary degree was officially presented during a ceremony on November 22, 2022.