Rennes teams up with Harvard

RENNES 2 University has signed a partnership deal with Harvard over the teaching of Breton.

The plan means that teachers from Rennes will be giving crash courses in the language at the prestigious American university and there will be student and teacher exchanges.

Masters and doctorate students at Rennes will, for example, get to spend a term in America.

The agreement formalises a relationship that dates from 2010, when staff from the Centre of Breton and Celtic Studies of Rennes 2 gave talks at Harvard.

It is intended to “enrich the study of languages, literatures and culture” for students at both universities and “intensify collaboration on research”.

About 300 students do Celtic studies at Rennes, which is the capital of the region of Brittany.