The Institute has been established in cooperation with the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (FMSH) in order to provide Fellows with further institutional assistance and expanded intellectual contacts. Opportunities to work collaboratively with scholars visiting from other universities and research institutes are available.

Re-inscribing Paris as a cosmopolitan intellectual location, the Institute strives to create a climate of exchange that will give Fellows the support they need to develop their research and contacts with others in a space specially conceived for that purpose. At this time, scholars invited to the Institute provide their own funding.

The Institute is housed in Reid Hall, the site of Columbia University's undergraduate and graduate educational programs in Paris since 1964. Reid Hall also hosts the overseas programs of other American universities and maintains close relations with the MSH and other French academic organizations.

Located in the Montparnasse (sixth) district of Paris near the Luxembourg Gardens, Reid Hall is within walking distance of the Latin Quarter and several branches of the University of Paris. The Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme is a short bus or metro ride away at 54, boulevard Raspail.

The Institute's Director is Dr. Danielle Haase-Dubosc, Associate Provost and Director of Reid Hall and Adjunct Associate Professor of French and Romance Philology. Dr. Mihaela Bacou and Dr. Naby Avcioglu serve as Research Coordinators for the Institute.