France

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 considers the profound changes which marked British literature from the Restoration to the beginning of the Romantic Age and contributed to the cultural shaping of the country. The first half of the century (the Augustan Age) saw a revival of classical standards in prose and verse, appealing to reason to edify, amuse, and criticize. With the reopening of theatres in 1660, new forms of drama also emerged, especially the “comedy of manners,” which reflected on the corrupt morals and hypocrisy rife in the upper-classes. Satire and parody thus became the main literary weapons during the Enlightenment period. The rise of the middle-class, the development of newspapers, the increase in literacy, together with the domination of Empiricism in philosophy and science and a new interest in feelings led to the invention of the novel. The latter not only appealed to wider audiences than previous literary genres but offered unprecedented insight into contemporary British society and history. Finally, in the second half of the century (the Age of Sensibility), public concerns yielded to more private ones and reason gradually lost ground to sensibility and imagination, thus paving the way to Romanticism.

This course focuses on sociological concepts and methods to link theory with evidence and asks how sociological concepts can be applied to the world around us. It develops the key skills of academic writing: how to write an effective academic research paper and how to read academic papers to link theory with evidence. A key learning objective is close reading of texts, understanding the key argument of each text, and applying concepts to the real world. This course has a theme of the "city" to focus on producing original research work on a focused domain. It uses key sociological readings, case studies, and in-the-news topics to study society as a complex space where buildings, people, animals, laws, policies, and international financial flows, intersect to produce our lived experience. The course examines sociological concepts through walks around in the city. It explores foundational texts and addresses specific questions related to inequality, power, conspiracy theories, global finance, environmental crisis, social policy, violence, segregation, and so on.

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 reassesses the multi-medial and genre-averse nature of the works of Samuel Beckett. The first part of the seminar focuses on modern interpretations of Beckett’s works in areas such as disability studies, queer studies, transhumanism, and feminism. The second part examines how Beckett challenges the boundaries and norms of the written word through various cross-generic mediums.

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 history of British radicalism, with a focus on two moments: the late 19th century around the work of William Morris, and the post-war years, up to the 1980s. It explores the intellectual, artistic, and material production both of Morris and his circle and of alternative cultures in the post-war period. The course first examines the evolutions of radicalism in post-war Britain through the development of alternative cultures and “new social movements,” while exploring intellectual debates within the British left. It pays close attention to artistic expression and cultural practices within radical cultures. The themes covered include the intellectual debates of the New Left in the late 1950s and early 1960s; the cultural politics of the underground in the 1960s; the challenges of feminism; the emergence of participatory forms of political action around “community politics” and “community arts” practices; the influence of Black and Asian political and cultural organizations on a post-colonial critique of Britain’s imperial legacies; the cultural and class politics of Punk and the question of its position in the British history of radicalism. The second part of the course focuses on the work of William Morris. NEWS FROM NOWHERE (1890), “a Utopian romance” as well as a book supporting anarchist ideology, details the radical reconstruction of society. It serves as a base for the exploration of late-Victorian aesthetics and politics, and highlights the contemporary scope and significance of William Morris’s revolutionary cultural legacy.

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 explores the evolution of women's work inside and outside of the home; traditional and emerging views relative to women and domestic and/or care work; and current models that include greater State involvement and societal support for domestic and care work as prerequisites for gender equity and more robust democracies in Latin America. Students derive the conceptual tools for their own critical analyses, developing an amplified understanding of the role of care and domestic work in Latin America; the role that women play in the same, and what this classic equation has meant for the region's development trajectories. Likewise, the course introduces existing models and policy alternatives. It is divided into two parts: the first part covers Latin American women's inequality in labor and in society, and the second part considers emerging responses.