Professor Ron Levi has received the honour of being named a Chevalier in l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques. The title is an honour bestowed by the government of France in recognition of those who have made major contributions to French culture and education. France’s oldest civilian decoration, the award was presented to Professor Levi at a ceremony at the Munk School on April 26, 2019.
Professor Levi's work focuses on the role of justice during political junctures and times of global change. In much of this research, he has built on perspectives gleaned from French sociological traditions and expanded these to encompass issues of global justice, atrocities, urban crime, and human rights. His work ranges from studies of professional trajectories and organizational strategies in the fields of international criminal law and human rights, to research on urban crime and insecurity, and the relationship between law and experiences of recognition gaps among minority communities. He collaborates extensively with French scholars in his work on global justice institutions, including work published in leading outlets in France. Levi has also spoken in public and academic fora on the aftermath of terrorism in France, on current challenges of antisemitism, and on the French principle of vivre ensemble.
In receiving this honour, Levi is particularly commended for his leadership in developing and establishing links with French institutions. While serving as Deputy Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs, Levi most notably spearheaded an initiative to create a dual degree between the Munk School and Sciences Po Paris. Instigated in 2017, the dual program sees students complete both a Master in Global Affairs from Munk and a Master in Public Policy from the Sciences Po School of Public Affairs. This innovative dual degree program is among the first of its kind at UofT, and provides students with the advantages of studying under both faculty at the University of Toronto and at the Sciences Po School of Public Affairs, and anticipates ever further collaboration between the two institutions (read more about this program here).
In the celebration to receive this honour, Levi related his connections to France and its interconnections throughout his own personal and professional trajectories, and through biographies that are both individual and collective. Read more about Professor Levi's connection to what he identified as a "Global France" and his receipt of this award in an interview published in U of T News here.