University of Bordeaux

This course develops intercultural competence through collaborative project work in pairs made up of local and international students. Through themed modules, it explores ethical and societal issues from an international perspective while strengthening linguistic and cultural skills. Each pair produces a video or narrated presentation and presents their project in a bilingual format (English for local students, French for international students), fostering communication, critical thinking, and collaboration in a multicultural academic context.

This course introduces some of the main aspects of Britain from the First World War to the present day. The lecture begins from the eve of the war to post-Brexit Britain, and highlights the main social and political developments during this period. Some of the questions addressed include: What were the main changes which took place? In particular what were the effects of the two World Wars on Britain, and of Britain's membership of the EC/EU between 1973 and 2020? How did British society evolve during this period? In what ways has the UK become an increasingly divided country? What, particularly, were the main changes in the composition of the British population and the way the British state was governed? What has been the impact of the different nationalist movements across the UK and of devolution? The tutorial section studies contemporary documents and, by analyzing and interpreting these, attempts to better understand how modern Britain functions, how it sees itself, and how others see it.

This course offers a thematic approach to Greek archaeology, examining the material foundations of daily, civic, military, religious, and cultural life in the ancient Greek world. Topics include the archaeology of the city, warfare, death and funerary practices, spectacle, trade and exchange, and sanctuaries. Through the study of urban plans, domestic and public architecture, and major monumental complexes, students gain insight into how Greek societies were structured and organized from the Archaic to the Hellenistic periods. Emphasis is placed on developing the ability to read and interpret archaeological plans, understand spatial organization, and compare key sites across the Greek world within a solid chronological framework.

Through the study of the trial transcripts and related documents of the investigation, as well as all kinds of resources on the events of 1691-93, this course examines the Puritans’ worldview and the socio-political background that shaped their reactions to the events leading up to the trials, introduces the dynamics of this very unique succession of events from beginning to end, and assesses the historiography of the Salem witch trials. It covers the ways religious, diplomatic, political, cultural, social and economic factors combined in such a unique way to create the crisis precipitating the Salem witch trials. They offer a detailed survey of religion, spirituality, superstition, magic, the supernatural, public rituals, as understood by 17th century New Englanders and which explain this extraordinary “witchcraft craze” they indulged in. Once the context is laid out, the course moves to a detailed examination of the witch trials at Salem themselves. The economic and demographic patterns apparent during 1692 and 1693 are examined, as well as the relationships between witchcraft accusations, gender, and inheritance practices. The relationship between these witchcraft trials and the traumas faced by New Englanders at the hands of the Natives during King Philip’s and King William’s wars are also alluded to.

This course provides an overview of the history of contemporary anthropology, as well as to examine certain changes in the society of the People’s Republic of China from an anthropological perspective. To this end, students read newspaper articles and academic research articles, in French and possibly in English; class time is devoted to collectively discussing the content of these articles.

This course provides a better understanding of language‑related activities associated with the languages studied, through several approaches in psychology (psycholinguistics, cognitive and learning psychology, and neuropsychology). In the first part, different writing systems (logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic) are presented, followed by an examination of the processing and learning of written language. The second part of the course focuses on bilingualism (inter‑individual differences, language organization) and its effects on cognition.

By adopting an interdisciplinary approach (African studies, history, political sciences, anthropology), this course explores globalization from the vantage point of the Global South, taking Africa in particular as an entry point. It looks at the history and contemporary configurations of the relations between African, Asian and Latin American countries through a holistic approach that keeps the political and economic dimensions of these phenomena connected to their wider social and cultural contexts, the analysis of macro-phenomena tied to individual experiences. To do so, the course is divided into six teaching modules: history; politics and international relations; goods and infrastructures; people; religions; media and popular culture. Each module combines the discussion of larger, transversal trends with the analysis of specific case studies that, through their specificities, help understand global phenomena in their locally grounded dimensions. The course thus offers an alternative understanding of globalization process that permit to reconceptualize the European experience within a larger universe of ex-centric and multipolar interconnections that characterize contemporary politics and culture.

This course introduces the other side of the Middle Ages, which is still too often overlooked in university curricula. Yet between the 6th and 11th centuries, the Near East—dominated by two rival empires, Byzantium and Islam—constituted the center of the Old World, while the Latin West was merely a periphery. The course studies the evolution of this region beginning in the 6th century, marked by the separation between the Byzantine East and the Latin West following the failure of Justinian’s reconquest, and by the emergence of the Islamic Empire in the 7th century, born of the Arab conquests. It concludes with the turn of the 11th century, when the Near East was completely reshaped by the arrival of the Turks, who, emerging from the steppes of Central Asia and recently converted to Islam, seized power in the Islamic world at the expense of the Arabs and began the conquest of Byzantine Anatolia. The end of the 11th century also marks, with the start of the Crusades, the moment of a problematic reunion between East and West, following five centuries of gradual estrangement and differentiation. Far from limiting itself to political and military aspects, the course addresses social, cultural, and religious dimensions, which are essential to our understanding of the past. In contrast to essentialist approaches, it pays particular attention to political factors in analyzing the religious crises that punctuated the history of this region.

This course provides analytical tools to understand the causes and consequences of the digital revolution. The course first examines its historical and technical foundations, then analyzes the economic and social transformations it has brought about. These perspectives enable students to critically reflect on their own digital practices in light of broader societal changes and their implications for individuals and societies. This reflection is further developed through independent reading of recent books on the topic.

This course explores key currents in classical and contemporary anthropology through three complementary approaches. First, it examines the multiple relationships between anthropology and history, focusing not only on historical disciplines but also on how anthropologists engage with historical processes, practices, and modes of thought. Particular attention is given to ethnohistory, historical social anthropology, and reflexive approaches to the history of anthropology, as well as to dialogue with major traditions in French and international historiography. Second, the course introduces the anthropology of contemporary worlds. Rather than attempting an exhaustive account of modern society, it focuses on selected themes that characterize the present era, including globalization, (post)colonialism, multiculturalism, and their impacts on identity formation, cultural transmission, and everyday life. Topics may include cultural production (mass media, cinema, music), digital and virtual social worlds, sport, food, and other key domains of contemporary anthropological research. Finally, tutorial sessions are devoted to the close reading and discussion of classical and contemporary anthropological texts, reinforcing concepts introduced in lectures and developing students’ analytical and interpretive skills.