French

This course is designed for students who have already completed one semester of French. It provides the language and communication skills required for the A1 level. The course introduce various aspects of Geneva and Switzerland while providing opportunities to practice French. Topics include the history, geography, and political structure of Geneva and Switzerland, as well as their traditions and other cultural aspects, presented through various written and video materials.

This course introduces the fundamental concepts of continuum mechanics, with a particular focus on the mechanics of deformable solids. Emphasis is placed on the formulation and application of the governing equations of linear isotropic elasticity under small deformations. It studies the continuum approach to modeling materials, including kinematics of deformation, stress and strain analysis, balance laws, and constitutive relations. The course then focuses on elastic solids, covering equilibrium equations, elasticity theory, and the mechanical behavior of one‑dimensional structures such as beams. Energy methods and elastic limit criteria are also introduced. Through theoretical instruction and individual problem-solving activities, students develop the tools needed to analyze and solve classical problems in solid mechanics and structural analysis.

This course covers basic knowledge in differential psychology of personality and to be able to apply it to various fields, such as the study of health processes and adaptation to stress.

This course provides an analysis of the Russia-Ukraine War through the lenses of International Relations theories in general and the realist tradition more specifically. Based on a Weberian non-positivist epistemology consisting in an interpretive understanding of social action in order to provide a causal explanation of its origins, course and effects, it looks at why the war broke out, what course it has been going through, and which consequences it may have.

This course is part of the “ethical turn” in literary studies. It posits that reading great works of fiction offers us a vicarious moral and political experience that can be discussed collectively. Learning to debate fiction means confronting our interpretations of the characters' motivations, analyzing the effects of narrative devices on us, and comparing our spontaneous judgments. It means using great works as a vehicle for genuine democratic conversation about our political disagreements and differences in moral sensibilities. The theme that serves as the guiding thread is the dilemmas faced and choices made by fictional characters. Because literature is also an archive of moral sensibilities that are no longer our own, the effort to comment on and give meaning to dilemmas that we no longer understand can shed light on our own values.

This course examines the legal structure of the federal state in Switzerland, covering topics such as the structure of the Confederation, the powers of the cantons, federalism, and political rights.

This course explores what gender studies—and feminist studies in particular—teach us about the international sphere, and how they lead us to reexamine traditional subjects such as war, power, and security. To this end, the course uses a selection of foundational and more recent texts to introduce these fields, their questions, and their methods. Sessions are structured around interactive activities (oral exercises, both individual and group, and discussions) and lectures on feminist or gender studies in international relations. Focused on examining diverse cases and contexts, the course analyzes social movements (the #MeToo movement, the Iranian uprising, eco-feminism) and international public policies, whether originating from states (France’s “feminist diplomacy” or the projection of U.S. military power worldwide) or from international organizations (UN documents or European Union policies).

Today, the European Union tends to elicit, at best, indifference and boredom, and at worst, rejection. That is why it is urgent to consider ways to foster a sense of European identity, to give substance to this Europe that is perceived as too distant and too abstract. For Europe does indeed exist; it is present in our shared history, in a common past, in cultural references so obvious that we no longer see them. This course (re)discovers literary and audiovisual works, analyzes them, and discusses them in order to build a shared reflection on the nature of European identity. Sessions begin with students’ oral presentations on the selected works, followed by a class discussion on the lessons to be drawn from these works and the avenues for reflection they offer for thinking about the construction of a sense of European belonging.

This course is designed to help students get to know and better understand the capital of Paris. Much has been said, written, and heard about Paris, yet the capital remains a place of mystery. In fact, Paris is three cities in one: an international city, a national city, and the city where Parisians live their daily lives. We know what happens there, but do we know what is at stake behind the cultural representations of Paris, its social change, the public action that takes place there, and its electoral geography? Who are the Parisians during the 2026 municipal elections? These questions are all mysteries to be solved. This course draws on a variety of approaches (culture, cinema, history, geography, sociology) and relies on the curiosity and sagacity of students to solve these puzzles, as they write and present their electoral program as candidates in the 2026 Paris municipal elections.

This course covers fundamental concepts such as cohesion and coherence, relevance, anaphora and cataphora, isotopy, sentence, and utterance. It also distinguishes between types of discourse, text genres, styles, and tones, as well as several types of textual configurations (description, narration, argumentation, etc.).