University of Bordeaux

Beyond the idea that revolutions are the driving forces of social and political transformation, this course examines revolutions in their historical time as well as across history from the perspective of political anthropology. It uses the concepts of liminality, social dramas, crowd behavior, imitation, tricksters, and meaning formation. These concepts disentangle the study of revolutions from structures and the search for causes and outcomes, as well as from ideology, culture, and agency, opening them to a comparative analysis at the level of process, form, and symbolism. After a theoretical introduction, the course turns its focus on historical experiences of the major socio-political revolutions of the modern era: the "big three" revolutions (French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions); the "third world" (Mexico, Cuba) to eastern Europe in 1989; from Iran (1978-1979) to the Arab Spring (2011). The course concludes by looking back at the main themes covered by the class and examining the prospect for revolutionary change in the contemporary world, thus considering whether the concept of revolution should be consigned, or not, to the "dustbin of history." Students are encouraged to develop comparisons across time and space.

This course is a theater workshop to develop new skills and knowledge. It strengthens the spirit of group cohesion through the feeling of belonging to a team. It allows students to free up speech through “doing” and thus gain confidence in speaking. It facilitates active, practical, and collaborative learning. Finally, it is an opportunity to discover texts and authors of French literature. Students develop oral skills through theatrical play: acting and interpreting, speaking in public; adapt to different communication situations: self-awareness and letting go; write theatrical dialogue; and discover French theater and theatrical techniques.

Building on concepts such as ecosystem structure, biogeochemical cycles, and the principles of ecological succession, this course further clarifies, through concrete examples, the interactions between the functioning of natural environments and their development and use by humans. Using case studies, primarily focused on hydrosystems, the course addresses the functioning of water‑related environments and the management challenges they present. Special attention is given to how ecological processes (matter cycling, species interactions, and habitat evolution) shape these environments over time. Lacustrine systems, rivers, and wetlands—ecosystems particularly sensitive to climate disturbances—are emphasized. These case studies may be complemented by field-based investigations

This course provides an in-depth exploration of fundamental and emerging concepts in cancer biology through a combination of lectures, student-led seminars, and hands-on laboratory work. It is designed to develop both theoretical knowledge and critical analysis skills essential for understanding cancer mechanisms and research methodologies. Topics include: cell cycle; chromosome segregation; cell-matrix interactions; cell death; Ubiquitin-Proteasome System; asymmetric cell division; DNA replication; signaling pathways; tumor microenvironment; energy metabolism; stem cells; biosynthetic pathways. 

This course introduces the fundamental principles of microcontroller systems and their peripherals. It combines theoretical foundations with practical training in the design and implementation of application software using the C programming language. Emphasis is placed on developing control-oriented applications and understanding the interaction between microcontrollers and their peripheral modules. The course builds skills to design, program, and manage microcontroller-based applications, and apply knowledge across a range of typical use cases. The course concludes with two integrative mini-projects that serve as capstone exercises, synthesizing the concepts acquired and demonstrating abilities to implement effective microcontroller solutions.

This course introduces past and present-day economic phenomena. Its scope consists in an examination and analysis of the successive stages of development of market capitalism and its variants. After a discussion of the terms used to describe an economic “system,” the enquiry proceeds by examining “primitive” or incomplete prototypes of capitalist enterprise as well as the mercantilist “system” in the preindustrial era. The emergence of industrial capitalism, the first wave of globalization, the emergence of financial capitalism and the attendant slumps as well as the regulations introduced by political authorities provide matter for discussion in the following chapters. All along this journey the connection between the diffusion of market mechanisms and political dynamics is underscored.

Based on the study of selected marine ecosystems, this course analyzes the environmental forcing variables and constraints that shape them, in order to explain the different factors structuring biological communities and to situate biology within the broader field of oceanography. A field course at a marine station illustrates several of these concepts, such as adaptations to aquatic life and the relationship between spatial heterogeneity and biodiversity. The field component includes embarkation aboard Planula 4, an INSU–CNRS research vessel (FOF).

This course explores the major areas of molecular neurobiology, from genes to the functions of cells of the nervous system. Material provides an essential theoretical framework in molecular neurobiology as well as practical approaches on cell culture and regulation of gene expression. It focuses on major concepts and recent advances in experimental molecular neuroscience.

This course introduces the influence of digital technologies on society, with a particular focus on the interplay between technology, disinformation, and society during political campaigns. As digital technologies continue to shape the political landscape, the spread of disinformation poses significant challenges to democracies worldwide. The course explores the mechanisms and impacts of false information dissemination on social media platforms, examining the sophisticated techniques employed to create and spread disinformation. A key focus is on disinformation related to elections, analyzing recent political campaigns to understand the strategies behind these efforts. The course also investigates the dual role of artificial intelligence in both generating and combating multimodal disinformation, including text, image, video, and audio. It discusses the ethical, fairness, and transparency concerns that arise from the use of Al in this context and explores strategies for identifying and neutralizing false information at scale. By engaging with these topics, students gain a comprehensive understanding of the societal, political, and economic implications of disinformation in the digital age, equipping them with the critical skills necessary to navigate an increasingly complex digital era.

This course offers a description of a system to make a link between the microscopic properties of the particles in the system and its macroscopic behavior at equilibrium. It is based on the idea that the macroscopic state of the system is realized as the average over a large number of independent microscopic states. This demonstrates the basis of these statistical principles and their applications to various problems in physics, chemistry, and material science as statistical thermodynamics bridges many disciplines as it makes the link between the physical description of a given particle and the behavior of a statistical ensemble of those particles.