France

This course explores the politics of food. Themes include supply chains in the alimentary system, including production, transformation, distribution, consumption, and waste, as well as the politics of land and farm policies and alimentary inequities.

This course has two main objectives. The first is to provide introduction to some of the central themes and periods in economic history, ranging from the neolithic agricultural revolution in the Middle East to worldwide economic growth in the 20th and 21st centuries. The second is to introduce some of the main analytical debates in the field. The course provides a broad sense of the major epochs and revolutions in economic history, and demonstrates how economic theory and statistical evidence can help us to understand the real world. It also indicates some of the potential pitfalls, as well as advantages, of explaining the past through the lens of social science.

The death of the Prophet and his succession gave rise to two different and sometimes rival conceptions of religious authority and political power in Islam. The historical perspective enables us to understand the changing relationships, reconfigurations, and contemporary dynamics in the Middle East. This course, based on a multidisciplinary approach, examines the impact of relations between Sunnis and Shiites on the geopolitics of the Middle East, and the extent to which they are also shaped by regional geopolitics. As these divisions are part of specific political and regional contexts, it is necessary to go beyond a strictly confessional reading of regional geopolitical issues. This course develops critical thinking skills, as well as the capacity for analysis and reflection, in order to shed light on the multidimensional dimension of these interactions.

The death of the Prophet and his succession gave rise to two different and sometimes rival conceptions of religious authority and political power in Islam. The historical perspective will enable us to understand the changing relationships, reconfigurations and contemporary dynamics in the Middle East. The aim of this course, based on a multidisciplinary approach, is to understand the impact of relations between Sunnis and Shiites on the geopolitics of the Middle East, but also to grasp the extent to which they are also shaped by regional geopolitics. As these divisions are part of specific political and regional contexts, it is necessary to go beyond a strictly confessional reading of regional geopolitical issues. This study will enable students to develop their critical thinking skills, as well as their capacity for analysis and reflection, in order to shed light on the multidimensional dimension of these interactions.

This seminar is an introduction to the world's geopolitical reorganization around the Sino-American strategic competition and the resulting repositioning of the other actors, all falling within the constrained context of climate transition. What does this reorganization mean in a world of interdependence like ours? It puts an end to the so-called period of “happy globalization” (1990-2020). Facing a rising level of risks, States are reintegrating the economy and trade into national security to reduce vulnerabilities. This seminar is focused on strategic issues, linking geopolitics, economy, and technology to bring a horizontal perspective to what are the core challenges of the 21st century. Methodology learning is an important part of this seminar, putting emphasis on the studying of the rivalry taking place while developing writing and presentation skills.

This course covers global social problems and policies and develops competencies to respond to human needs emerging from interdependence between countries and societies. It introduces the broad field of global social policy by analyzing theory, social policy change, and social policy outcomes. Structurally, the course is divided in four parts. The first introduces classic social policy, discussing the main concepts and theories developed in the Western world during the 19th and 20th century. It also illustrates the main explanations proposed in the literature to investigate welfare state development and Esping-Andersen's welfare regime typologies (and the main critiques to his comparative framework). The second introduces social policy in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and East Asia. It combines a general understanding of welfare regimes in these continents with a more specific appraisal of some national case. The third highlights the main challenges (namely new social risks, family changes, economic crises) for welfare states in the Post-Fordist era and analyzes how different countries are coping with social change. The fourth and last part of the course considers welfare states as an independent variable: alternative welfare state configurations have different effects on redistribution and the economic competitive advantage of countries.

The city and language course introduces students to French history, culture, and language through team-taught instruction. In the “City as Public Forum” sessions, students are introduced to French history and culture through a series of lectures and site visits. Students discover some of the fascinating ways the core principles of social justice were tested in theory and practice on the streets of Paris in the past and explore how they evolved into the pillars of French society today. The course focuses on just how an ideal society should be forged, where all are free individuals and members of a cohesive community at the same time. Trying to make individuals believe—as religions do—in the primacy of the collective, and in its concomitant goal of protecting human rights, is at the core of social justice in France. From 52 B.C.E to today, France has been an exemplar of how—and how not—to construct a just society. To render these values visible, and therefore legible, to all by adding a physical dimension—whether constructive or destructive—to the usual means of establishing laws or setting policies, is what distinguishes the history of France's capital city of Paris. Those who control Paris—be they monarchs, revolutionaries, or presidents, past and present—believe that erecting all kinds of physical structures will render their values concrete and immutable. The ideal French society did not always necessarily mean a democratic or inclusive one. Since the French Revolution, however, institutionalizing the concept of “liberty, equality, and fraternity” has been France's greatest universal achievement and a source of constant upheaval, eliciting a unique form of secular activism that has led to targeting buildings and monuments that no longer reflect the collective's values. Students discuss how the diverse social actors, who constitute “the French,” continue to thrust their bodies and minds into the physical spaces of the public sphere in the pursuit of social justice. In the “Unlocking French” sessions, students learn targeted language skills through situational communication, so they have the opportunity to use everything they learn as they go about their daily activities.