University of Rennes 2 – Upper Brittany

University of Rennes 2

Université Rennes 2
Type	Public
Established	1969
Endowment	€106,000,000
President	Jean-Emile Gombert
Academic staff	645
Administrative staff	1,095
Students	21,445
Undergraduates	14,145
Postgraduates	5,183
Doctoral students	478
Location	Rennes, Brittany, France
Campus	Urban
Website	www.univ-rennes2.fr

The University of Rennes 2 (Université Rennes 2, UR2) is a French university in Upper Brittany, one of four in the Academy of Rennes. The main campus is situated in the northwest section of Rennes in the Villejean neighborhood not far from the other campus, located at La Harpe.

Asked by Francis II, Duke of Brittany, the Pope created the first university of Brittany in Nantes in 1460. It taught arts, medicine, law, and theology. In 1728, the mayor of Nantes, Gérard Mellier, asked that the university be moved to Rennes, Nantes being more trade oriented. The Law school was thus moved to Rennes in 1730. This city already had the Parliament of Brittany, so it was more suited to have this school. In 1793 the national government closed all universities in France. It was not before 1806 that the Law school reopened in Rennes.

In 1808, Napoleon I reorganized the universities in France, creating the University of France. From the 2 original cities housing the University of Brittany, only Rennes was included in this University. Nantes had to wait until 1970 to have its university again. In 1810 a faculty of letters opened, which gathered in 1835 five schools (French literature, foreign literature, antic literature, history, and philosophy). The science faculty opened still in Rennes in 1840. Those 3 faculties remained without clear boundaries between them until 1885 with the creation of a "Conseil des facultés" which took in 1896 the name of University of Rennes. In the middle of the 19th century, they were gathered in the Palais Universitaire, located currently in the Quai Émile Zola, but were then scattered downtown. The Faculty of Letters was thus relocated in 1909 to the Séminaire, located currently in the Place Hoche.

In 1967, the Villejean campus opened, dedicated to Arts, Letters, and Human Sciences.

In 1969, in order to enforce the growth of French universities, a law was passed, splitting the University of Rennes into two new entities. This new university took the name of 'University of Upper Brittany'. The Villejean neighborhood was then still in development, building housing facilities for students, along with other university facilities.