History

This course focuses on the therapeutic relationship between physician/surgeon and patient, at a time of major socio-economic change, political turmoil, and advent of the clinical gaze in medicine. After a first phase of contextualization, the course is organized in thematic subsections, in which text pertaining to these questions as well as some historical sources is read and discussed. The course examines the economic dimension of medicine and the impact it has on patients’ agency in the therapeutic relationship in a context of competition between surgeons, physicians, and other health practitioners. The course also focuses on the question of pain management and the sensory experience of surgery before the advent of anesthesia. Finally, there is a focus on the doctor/patient relationship in institutional contexts such as hospitals and prisons, with a deeper look at the case of military surgery. The colonial context, while not at the heart of this course, is also included. The question of power dynamics between physician and patients, including questions of in particular of class, race, and gender are present throughout.

This course involves the study of a range of literary styles in the genre of the short story and novel: contemporary realist fiction, historical novels, children’s literature, counter-factual narratives, even dystopian novels of the future. Literary works studied may include such works as Jane Austen, NORTHANGER ABBEY (1817); Andrew Miller, PURE (2011); James Joyce, DUBLINERS (1914); Philip Roth, THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA (2005); Esi Endugyan, WASHINGTON BLACK (2018); Kate Grenville, THE SECRET RICER (2004); Margaret Atwood, ORYX AND CRAKE (2003).

This course offers an introduction to the evolution of the French monarchy from the sixteenth to the seventeenth century, a period marked by profound political, institutional, and administrative transformations. It examines the foundations of royal authority in the sixteenth century and traces the development of absolutism under the kings of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Attention is given to the principles of sovereignty, the institutional structures supporting monarchical power, and the central role of the curia regis in shaping royal governance. The course also explores how royal authority was exercised in the provinces, the mechanisms through which the monarchy expanded and consolidated its power, and the financial and fiscal systems that sustained the state. Finally, it analyzes the formation and evolution of the royal army as a key instrument of monarchical authority. Together, these perspectives provide a comprehensive understanding of the political and institutional foundations of early modern France.