University of Bordeaux

This course introduces the mathematical theory of probability, starting with the definition of probability spaces to the fundamental limit theorems, namely the law of large numbers and the central limit theorem. The following concepts are covered: measurement theory, probability spaces; conditional probability and independence; random variables, discrete random variables; density random variables; discrete random vectors; density random vectors; notions of convergence for sequences of random variables; limit theorems; Gaussian vectors. 

This course explores the evolution of classic French cinema in all its diversity from the 1930s to the 1950s, while highlighting its aesthetic, ideological, and cultural characteristics through the genres, major directors, actresses/actors, and currents representative of production at the time. It looks at the technical, practical, and financial changes brought about by the transition to talkies, and the cultural repercussions on production. The Occupation sheds light on the genesis of the institutional foundations of today's cinema, with government involvement in the organization of the film industry. The post-war period also provides an opportunity to grasp the subtext of the cultural policy issues that are still relevant today, linked to cultural exception or diversity, of which the Blum-Byrnes agreements are the crucible from which subsidized cinema was born.

This course covers African American movements including CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality (1942), which concentrated on strategies such as sit-ins and picket lines; the SCLC, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957); the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement dedicated to put an end to segregation practices and offer alternate means to achieve somewhat similar ends: the transformation of American democratic institutions. It addresses the movement from litigation and nonviolent action to a more radical approach, and later from black power to black politics and the Black Lives Matter movement. The course also covers the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, a multifaceted cultural movement which arose from the Civil Rights struggle and the Black Power movement. It included all the arts – music, literature, theater, dance, the visual arts – and relied on regional cultural infrastructure built after the major riots which erupted during the first half of the 1960s. It was embodied by African American artists and intellectuals, and deeply influenced American culture, in particular the relationship between popular culture and “high” culture, as well as other minority arts in the same period. The course looks at its history, its different forms, its sources and its heritage.

In a process of progressive construction of the knowledge, fields, sources and methods of the history of contemporary worlds, the introduction to the history of the 20th century constitutes an essential second stage. While the history of the 20th century is traditionally approached from the top, i.e. national and international institutions, democratic and totalitarian political regimes, and economic and social theories, and while it is primarily marked by the two world wars and the tensions of international economic crises, it must also be approached from the bottom, at the level of societies and individuals. The course studies the common experiences, cooperation, and exchanges that have developed in different areas over a long twentieth century.

This course explores topics of machine learning and deep learning, examining both the foundations and applications of the topics. Starting with the basics of how to pre-process data, the course then ventures into linear models. Further topics include cross validation, support vector machines, kernels, regularization, boosting, bootstrap aggregating, and stacking.

This course presents our planet and its specific features within the solar system and the Universe, as well as its genesis and evolution. The lessons focus on the Earth system, the structure, nature, and dynamics of its solid and fluid envelopes, as well as certain major cycles: the water cycle and the carbon cycle. It also covers the different quantitative and qualitative methods of geological time.

This course presents scientific methods of analysis and develops a better knowledge of grammatical constructions and constraints across languages through linguistic analysis exercises. It also provides a good understanding of the division of "tasks" between the different components of grammar, as well as the link between syntax and morphology on the one hand, and between syntax and semantics on the other.

This course includes the production of short films created within small groups. It covers adaptation of scripts for filming, casting and rehearsals with the actors; location scouting and choice of sets; technical choices for filming and sound recording; and organization of a shoot. 

This course introduces the field of California Studies in its plurality, combining elements of literary and film studies, notions and texts from civilization studies, as well as cultural studies. Starting from the question of what constitutes a “Studies” discipline, it then examines specific works and documents – literature, film, essays, and poetry – that provide insight into the specificities of California culture and its representation. Sometimes trivialized, California has a significant place in the spheres of cultural, artistic, and economic development which has had a vast impact on not only American but also Western and global cultures. Californian representations and themes are often a perfect paradox of dominant and subcultural elements, and the course explores several works and aspects of this construction. As such, it is a perfect laboratory through which to ask broader questions about culture and cultural productions. Authors studied range from Richard Henry Dana to Kem Nunn to Frederick Kohner, and films include titles such as the independent film Humboldt County (2008). In keeping with the Puissance du mode minor thematic, not only odes the course explore this smaller Studies discipline but it also looks at alternative positions in the examination of the works discussed. Students are also encouraged to explore works or concepts linked to the topic and to relate them to their own fields of emerging specialization. This is a seminar rather than a lecture, and active participation in discussions and various activities is expected.

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.