French

This course explores the evolution of classic French cinema in all its diversity from the 1930s to the 1950s, while highlighting its aesthetic, ideological, and cultural characteristics through the genres, major directors, actresses/actors, and currents representative of production at the time. It looks at the technical, practical, and financial changes brought about by the transition to talkies, and the cultural repercussions on production. The Occupation sheds light on the genesis of the institutional foundations of today's cinema, with government involvement in the organization of the film industry. The post-war period also provides an opportunity to grasp the subtext of the cultural policy issues that are still relevant today, linked to cultural exception or diversity, of which the Blum-Byrnes agreements are the crucible from which subsidized cinema was born.

In a process of progressive construction of the knowledge, fields, sources and methods of the history of contemporary worlds, the introduction to the history of the 20th century constitutes an essential second stage. While the history of the 20th century is traditionally approached from the top, i.e. national and international institutions, democratic and totalitarian political regimes, and economic and social theories, and while it is primarily marked by the two world wars and the tensions of international economic crises, it must also be approached from the bottom, at the level of societies and individuals. The course studies the common experiences, cooperation, and exchanges that have developed in different areas over a long twentieth century.

This course presents our planet and its specific features within the solar system and the Universe, as well as its genesis and evolution. The lessons focus on the Earth system, the structure, nature, and dynamics of its solid and fluid envelopes, as well as certain major cycles: the water cycle and the carbon cycle. It also covers the different quantitative and qualitative methods of geological time.

This course presents scientific methods of analysis and develops a better knowledge of grammatical constructions and constraints across languages through linguistic analysis exercises. It also provides a good understanding of the division of "tasks" between the different components of grammar, as well as the link between syntax and morphology on the one hand, and between syntax and semantics on the other.

This course includes the production of short films created within small groups. It covers adaptation of scripts for filming, casting and rehearsals with the actors; location scouting and choice of sets; technical choices for filming and sound recording; and organization of a shoot. 

This course offers an analysis of films made by authors from different French-speaking areas (sub-Saharan Africa, Maghreb, Middle East, Canada, Belgium, France) dealing with issues of contemporary society (the human in the metropolis, identity, intercultural relations, the intergenerational). It presents the films and cinematographic excerpts in authentic cinematographic conditions. The courses focuses on the theme of vulnerabilities in the face of exclusion and inclusion. There are many films of French-language cinema that highlight the problem of inclusion and exclusion by questioning fragility, normality, identity, otherness and the whole system of values in which contemporary societies evolve with diversity.

This course looks at the physiology of animals with a focus on human physiology. It involves lectures, lab work, and section work. The first part of the course is focused on the regulation of homeostasis in animals. It then studies the organization and function of the nervous system and the digestive system, with a close look at the contractile motion of the digestive tract, the secretions of the liver and pancreas, and the interplay with the nervous system. It finishes with an examination of thermoregulation and how metabolism plays a role in maintaining a stable body temperature.

This course produces a project combining text productions and creative productions in different forms (drawings, photos, paintings, collages, etc.), exploring the theme of the memory of cities. Students first analyze various documents and works on the theme of the “grande mémoire” (the big memory) to inspire personal expression. This creative process allows students to develop their language skills in French by deepening their knowledge of French culture and discovering French history, as well as the culture of others. The course provides an opportunity for cooperative work between students through a group project that is ultimately displayed in an exhibition. 

This course examines the surrealist movement in the 1920s in France. It studies the history of the movement as well as the lives of the main creators, along with surrealist films and art, to give context to the poetry of the movement which focused on the idea of “l’amour fou,” or how love had the ability to change life. The course also examines the role of women in surrealist poetry and whether they were celebrated or objectified. It focuses on the works of André Breton, Robert Desnos, and Paul Éluard.

This course discusses the cultural, economic, technical, institutional, and political reasons that allowed the emergence of the New Wave. It studies the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers in France at the turn of the 60s, and the changes it brought about in the production, representations, staging, reception of films and in the future history of cinema. The course contextualizes this turning point in the history of French cinema in order to grasp its importance, as the keystone of a process of legitimization of cinema as an art that began in the beginnings of cinema. It then identifies the issues at stake in the authors' policy born within the "Cahiers du cinéma" during the 50s under the pen of the future directors of the New Wave. The course also distinguishes between the careers of filmmakers from the Paris "right bank" and those from the "left bank."