Lyon was one of the last big cities in France to be equipped with a university. Being an industrial and a commercial city, this delay can be explained by the fear of turning youngsters away from the business. Lyon had to wait until the first third of the 19th century to develop the first university-like institutions: the Science faculty in 1834, the Arts faculty in 1838, then the Law faculty in 1875, and the joint faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in 1877. Each of these faculties was independent of the other. It was only in 1896, under the Liard law, that the four faculties came together under what was called Université de Lyon. The same year, the buildings situated on the Quai du Rhône, now partly occupied by Université Lumière Lyon 2, were inaugurated, and the new Université de Lyon, with all the four faculties, were united under the same roof.
The Faure law passed following the social movements of 1968 provoked the splitting of Université de Lyon into three universities. Among these three, Université Lyon 2 regroups the faculties of law, arts, and humanities. The number of students increased considerably, and the need for a new campus grew. A first of its kind campus was built in Bron: built around the main road, the campus was planned in a modular fashion with the buildings standing independent of one another and green stretches of land surrounding it.
In 1987, the university, paying homage to the Lumière brothers, became Université Lumière Lyon 2. New aspirations of the university: Lyon2 aims at offering more comprehensive access to culture and opening its doors to the world while, at the same time, maintaining its politics of quality and intellectual strength. Université Lumière Lyon 2 offers a complete range of courses in art, literature, languages, and human and social sciences. It aims to be a standard-setter at national and international levels.
The courses available prepare 30,000 students for all qualifications within the European Bachelor-Master-Doctorate scheme and university degrees (DU – Diplômes d'Université). The educational offering is accessible at all stages of life, through initial education, continued professional education, French VAE (Validation des Acquis de l'Expérience - validation of prior experience) and VAP (Validation des Acquis Professionnels - validation of professional experience) schemes. Teaching is given through conventional courses as well as sandwich courses. The Lumière University Institute of Technology (IUT Lumière) took the bold decision to include a sandwich-training element in all of its courses, enabling students to learn through practical work experience.
The educational offering includes 38 undergraduate degrees, 20 vocational, undergraduate degrees, 140 master's specializations, 10 DUT (Diplôme Universitaire de Technologie – Technological University Degree) specializations, and 49 university degrees. The development of dual-disciplinarity through 18 undergraduate degree courses is a significant asset of this offering. EOs (Enseignements L'Ouverture – introductory modules) are also available over four semesters of the undergraduate degree. These strategies aim to avoid students specializing too early and enable the richness of the master's offering to be linked to the undergraduate offering.
Numerous undergraduate, master's, and DUT courses involve close relationships with the work world. Internships are an integral part of many curricula. Research master's courses are developed along the lines of research pursued by the laboratories. They prepare the next generation of researchers.
They are intended for all students and specific segments of the student population identified as requiring extra support. The aim is to inform, welcome, provide support, and offer students the opportunity to change course to ensure that the transition from secondary school to university is as smooth as possible.
Classes on university and discipline-related methodology for all students personalized support and discipline-specific support organized for students experiencing difficulty following a call for proposals individual support for students who have taken technological and vocational baccalaureates by master's students studying the same subject closer supervision for specific courses a one-year prep course for individual courses.
All first-time undergraduate students and students retaking their first year can change course at any time during the academic year. A semester rebounds ("rebound semester") is organized in spring to prepare for the change. To promote educational innovation and improve teaching quality, a call for proposals is organized each year.
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