ISIT, the Grande Ecole for those passionate about languages and cultures
Discover the history of ISIT, the Grande Ecole of Multilingualism and Intercultural since 1957. ISIT was founded in 1957 as part of the Institut Catholique de Paris, in the context of European integration and the Treaty of Rome. The objective of our Grande école of international management is to train people to create links and meet the needs of international companies and organizations. Our name, the Institut de Management et de Communication Interculturels, reflects our mainspring.
An international identity since 1957
A little history
ISIT was founded as part of the Institut catholique de Paris in 1957, the year the Treaty of Rome was signed, with the aim of training language experts for the nascent European institutions. These days, our objective is broader: to produce graduates who are capable of building ties to meet the needs of international organizations and companies. This purpose is reflected in our name, the Institute of Intercultural Management and Communication.
ISIT has longstanding ties with the world of international diplomacy, including international organizations such as:
- the UN
- NATO
- UNESCO
- the European Commission
- the European Parliament
- the Council of Europe
- the Court of Justice of the European Union
- the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs
- international chambers of commerce.
Our international identity is reflected in the day-to-day life of our school, our students and our teachers.
ISIT’s international credentials in figures:
A few key dates from our history
1957
Creation of the school, as part of the Institut catholique de Paris (ICP). In the year the Treaty of Rome was signed, the school aimed to train professionals to facilitate linguistic and cultural exchanges. ISIT remains a partner school of the ICP to this day.
2005: ISIT joins the FESIC, a federation of 27 engineering and management schools.
2006: ISIT’s diploma becomes a government-accredited 5-year Master’s degree.
2008: ISIT reflects the career paths chosen by many of its graduates by becoming the “Institute of Intercultural Management and Communication”.
2009: ISIT becomes a member of the EMT (European Master’s in Translation) network, a quality label created by the European Commission. An agreement is signed with the Ecole Normale Supérieure ULM.
2010: ISIT joins the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles (CGE) and the BEL (Banque d’épreuves littéraires) of the ENS. ISIT and the UN sign a memorandum of understanding to facilitate access to language careers within the United Nations.
2011: ISIT signs a double degree agreement with Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU).
2012: Government accreditation for ISIT’s degrees is renewed for a further 5 years. Memoranda of understanding are signed with the European Parliament and the US State Department.
2014: ISIT joins the European Master’s in Conference Interpreting consortium (EMCI) and the the Agence bibliographique de l’enseignement supérieur (ABES).
2015 : ISIT is recognized as a private higher education institution with public-service missions (EESPIG). A partnership is signed with the Agency for French Teaching Abroad (AEFE) and all French lycées outside of France. Another partnership is signed with Panthéon Assas Paris II University for our lawyer-linguist program.
2017: Government accreditation for ISIT’s degrees is renewed for a further 5 years.
2018: EESPIG status renewed until December 31, 2023.
2019: ISIT becomes an associate member of the EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development).
2020: ISIT opens a Joint Bachelor’s Degree with EFREI Paris, a Grande Ecole specializing in digital engineering.
2021: Double-degree partnership agreements are signed with CFJ Paris, Université de Paris and Excelia Business Group La Rochelle.
2022 : ISIT becomes a member of the experimental public establishment (EPEX) Paris-Panthéon-Assas Université.
State accreditation for the Grande Ecole Program is renewed until 2027.
