French

This course includes lecture and discussion sessions which offer an opportunity for advanced exploration of documentary cinema from the second half of the 20th century and the early 21st century. It builds upon a previous course covering the early 20th century. From the early films of Nicole Védrès, Agnès Varda, or Shirley Clarke to the works of Anderson, Marker, Lanzmann, Van der Keuken, or Wiseman, among others, this course considers why documentary production has been steadily increasing for nearly 10 years—for example, in France—and why the presence of documentaries on the big screen has continued to grow over the last decade. The discussion  sessions allow students to present historical and analytical work related to films viewed in class.

The course provide a comprehensive understanding of the issues shaping today's world. The working sessions focus mainly on regional studies in order to illustrate how international issues are changing. Particular emphasis is placed on the new geopolitics of Europe and the Middle East, using the reemergence of a power such as Russia as a basis for analysis and relating it to the policies of the European Union and the United States. The course articulates global and regional scales and to shows the links between economic and geopolitical changes.

The course is aimed at students who wish to learn more both about the French language's situation and global position in the twenty-first century, and about how the French language always coexists with other languages in different societies and how it can be studied scientifically e.g. through linguistic landscapes (paysages linguistiques). The course starts with a shorter series of lectures and seminars examining the question of multilingualism and identity based on sociolinguistics but also including elements from literature about cognition and psychology in multilingualism. Participants then choose a subject area within the scope of multilingualism with a specialization in French and work on under supervision.

This course is intended for students who have achieved level B1. It develops the language and methodological skills required for level B2, enabling students to express an opinion on a current topic and explain its advantages and disadvantages in a clear and detailed manner. These expression skills are developed using primary source materials (newspaper articles, literary texts, audio or video recordings, films, images, comic strips, etc.) related to a social issue. These documents are used in oral exchanges to express reasons for or against a given opinion in the form of a debate or discussion. This personal point of view is then defended in writing in a structured, clear, and coherent argumentative text such as an essay, an official letter, a discussion forum, or an article.

This course utilizes two methodological approaches: to understand the major legal and political-institutional issues of the European Union through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach that draws not only on law but also on political science and history; and subjecting the law and institutions of the Union to a critical and balanced examination, while maintaining a distance from both the discourse of practitioners and that of political actors, who are (direct or indirect) stakeholders in the subject under study. Following a general overview of the history of the European Union, it includes three thematic modules: the study of the Union’s political and institutional system: an overview of the major political institutions (European Council and the institutional triangle), on the one hand; and considerations regarding the scope of the legislative and executive powers in the Union, on the other; the legal order of the Union, including, first, a presentation of the Court of Justice; second, a study of the constitutionalization of the Union (direct effect and primacy); and, finally, a summary of the relationship between the legal orders of the Member States and the legal order of the Union; and the status of the state and the citizen in the Union from a threefold perspective: the delimitation of the competences of the states and the Union; the issue of the reversibility and differentiation of integration; the European status of the individual as a citizen of the Union. The course concludes with reflections on the political form of the Union.

The course is intended for students in French or in other subjects who are interested in acquiring knowledge of Francophone Africa and in discussing in French issues of the relationship of France to its former African colonies. The course is taught entirely in French. The course reviews France and Francophone African countries from the perspective of their joint history and political, economic, cultural, and socio-linguistic aspects. Emphasis is placed on the present development of these countries and the remaining relations between them and France (the so-called Françafrique), and how these countries are organized in the French-speaking world. The teaching includes texts from papers and journals and television and online documents dealing with present-day Francophone Africa and la Françafrique. On the basis of this material, students practice oral skills in discussions and oral presentations in French.

This course is designed as an introduction to the sociological study of lifestyles and social relations in urban spaces. It comprises two parts. The first focuses on the history of this theme in sociology and on the evolution of approaches and paradigms in relation to the social issues of different periods. It both traces how sociology has approached the morphology of urban spaces and the lifestyles associated with them, and follows the social issues related to the distribution/cohabitation/segregation of different social and ethnic groups over time. The general idea is to shed light on contemporary debates about the city related to population dynamics and relations between groups and individuals. The course goes back to the origins of this trend in urban sociology, with the work of the Chicago School, in order to better put more contemporary work into perspective. The second part, which is more methodological in nature, consists of an introduction to urban ethnographic methods through a mini-survey conducted in three contrasting types of urban spaces.

This course deepen understanding of cooperation, forms of governance, and political institutions in the contemporary international system and its evolution, using the various analytical tools provided by theories of international relations. It explores the diversity of international actors and the complex nature of their interactions within an international system profoundly transformed by the end of the Cold War, shifts in power, and new rivalries among states. In particular, drawing on the study of the various settings, types, and levels of international cooperation, the course identifies the challenges currently facing the classical model of the international system based on state sovereignty and formal multilateralism. At the same time, it examines the extent to which this shift toward multi-actor (public and private) and multi-site international cooperation (toward what are called “complex regimes”) is impacted by the intensification of inter-state tensions.

This course explores specialized areas of contemporary anthropology, including the anthropology of health, illness, and misfortune; social worlds in transition; and the anthropology of everyday life. Through selected ethnographic case studies, it engages with key theories, concepts, and methodologies used to analyze contemporary social experience.

This course introduces applied psychology in the context of counseling and supporting individuals along their educational and professional pathways. It presents the field of counseling professions (guidance, support, and career transition assistance), as well as the theoretical and practical principles used to understand, assess, and help individuals make informed career choices.