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HSS103 - Nature: Current Problems in Philosophy (2023-2024) copy 6

Is nature dead? In at least three different ways, it may be the case. 1/ First, the diversity of living creatures and ecosystems, as well as the vast majority of natural areas on the surface of our planet, have been affected or destroyed by human activity. As a result, nature itself – whether we're referring to wildlife or wilderness – is either dead or dying. 2/ Second, virtually everything in our daily lives is unnatural: not only is it our environment, but also our bodies, our actions, our language and thoughts that are shaped by technology, artificial constructs or cultural meaning. This means that if nature is opposed to culture, technology and artificiality, there is no place left for nature in our lives. 3/ Third, at this point in history, not only are the ideas of nature and “natural boundaries” constantly challenged by technological progress and cultural revolutions, but they actually seem to loose any relevance regarding what we should hope for the future. If we are to determine by ourselves what our future should be, it seems that if nature has had any normative power, it is now lost for good.

This course aims to investigate what is left of nature. This concept will appear at the center of essential questions of our time regarding ecology, politics, epistemology and metaphysics. While the current ecological crises have brought attention to nature, prominent contemporary thinkers have distanced themselves from this concept, accusing it of shaping modernity and its destructive power. With or without the concept of “nature,” it may be time to explore new relations to animals, wildlife and ecosystems, but also to reinvent politics in the Anthropocene. It is actually our very metaphysical conception of man facing nature and dominating it that should be questioned. But paradoxically, this very call to go “back to nature,” looking for a more “natural” way of life, is paralleled by a fierce criticism of any “naturalism” regarding individual choices and social issues. When it comes to bodies, gender, race or disabilities, but also inequalities and violence, any reference to nature looks suspicious. It is tempting to view nature as normative – that is, as a guide for how we should live our lives and a justification for social norms. After all, are there no laws of nature? Isn’t there a nature of things? Sure – but does nature leave us with any freedom? Or is freedom against nature?

Ultimately, preserving nature appears as a both revolutionary and conservative ambition. If the concept of nature is so embarrassing, it’s all the more reason to examine it more closely. In confronting paradoxical views of nature, we will explore the role it may play in our future.

HSS412B - Anthropologie (2023-2024) copy 6

Introduction to anthropology

What are the scientific conditions, and not merely moral, for genuine respect for others? Social anthropology arose from the difficulty of seriously applying the theory of evolution to human cultures, classifying them from the most primitive to the most evolved (that is to say, Westerners). This break was made possible in particular by the practice of fieldwork, which involves the researcher living with the people observed and learning to participate in their social life.

The seminar is an introduction to social anthropology, in other words to the comparative study of human societies. The knowledge of different societies and the consideration of "other" points of view are based on monographic facts drawn from field surveys in which the researcher immerses in another society to study ways of living and thinking different from their own. These data are the basis for comparisons between different forms of social life. It enables us to grasp the unity of the human race through its most diverse manifestations and to put into perspective some of our conceptions of reason, power, social organization, kinship, wealth and so on.

Each session is organized around a theme that is structured around a case study of a particular society.

 

Outline

A brief history of the other.

Rationality in perspective. Evolutionism, belief and witchcraft

Is nature a modern invention? Nature, culture, science.

From Elementary Forms of Religious Life to the École Polytechnique: religion and ritual.

Societies without states?

Societies against the state?

Societies against wealth?

Foreigners, here and elsewhere.

Kinship, men and women.

The anthropology of change or the limits of social engineering.

 

Evaluation methods: participation in discussions and submission of a written paper in the form of a reading note on a theme from the course or chosen in consultation with the teacher.

 

LAN462dANG - LU3 - Comics - B2C1 (2023-2024) copy 6

Superheroes are hallmarks of American culture, and they have echoed, reflected upon and even impacted modern western society for almost a century now. From the page to the screen, this course will study the political and historical, as well as ethical and philosophical aspects of characters which, under close scrutiny, prove to be anything but one-dimensional.

 

Course outline:

  • From mythology to modern times: the dawn of superheroes
  • Superheroes and history: from the Great Recession to 9/11
  • ‘Is Superman a democrat?’ From politics to propaganda
  • A reflection of society: superheroes and the gender issue
  • Watchmen: the twilight of superpowers?

 

Students will be required to participate actively in class, complete regular reading assignments, and write one essay.

 

 

 

LAN482bANG - English C1C2 - The Long Cold War : the US and Russia, Since 1917 (2023-2024) copy 6

As the War in Ukraine rages on, we are reminded daily that this regional conflict cannot be understood apart from its global context: the century-long confrontation between the USSR and Russia, on the one hand, and the US and its Western allies, on the other. Indeed, we could be justified in looking at the current conflict as simply one more chapter in what we could call the “Long Cold War”. The objective of this course is to look at the current conflict through the prism of history. Students will be pushed to ask the historical question(s) that they find most interesting with regard to this conflict. NATO, nuclear weapons, Russian/Soviet imperialism, Ukrainian nationalism, American soft power, American military bases, ideological confrontations, economic cooperation, energy dependence, Western European unity, Eastern European liberty…These are just some of the themes on which students can ask questions. Students will then be allowed to develop their own answer(s) to the question(s) of their choice, through their own historical research. In this sense, this is not just an introduction to the history of the Long Cold War: it is also an introduction to the work of a historian.

PHY206 - Waves in Fluids, with illustrations from geophysics (2023-2024) copy 6

Prerequisites: PHY101, PHY102, PHY201, PHY202

The course describes waves in fluids, with a preference for illustrations coming from the Earth system, in particular the atmosphere and ocean. Waves are one essential type of motion present in many fluids. One goal of the course is to demonstrate how one proceeds to obtain wave solutions starting from a physical description of a system and its equations of motion. Acoustic waves will be considered as a first example, surface water waves at different scales (from ripples in the pond to tsunamis) will be derived as further examples. Basics of fluid mechanics (Euler equations, kinematics) will be introduced in order to make these developments possible. Similarities in the behavior of fluid waves and optical waves seen in PHY202 will be discussed.

At the end of the course, the students will understand how one characterizes a family of waves (dispersion relation, polarisation relations), and how to proceed to obtain, in a given system, wave solutions if they exist. Some preliminary considerations for exploring behaviors beyond linearity will have been introduced, as an opening. Finally, some elements of the study of the Earth, and of the atmosphere in particular, will have been introduced.

HSS103 - Nature: Current Problems in Philosophy (2023-2024) copy 7

Is nature dead? In at least three different ways, it may be the case. 1/ First, the diversity of living creatures and ecosystems, as well as the vast majority of natural areas on the surface of our planet, have been affected or destroyed by human activity. As a result, nature itself – whether we're referring to wildlife or wilderness – is either dead or dying. 2/ Second, virtually everything in our daily lives is unnatural: not only is it our environment, but also our bodies, our actions, our language and thoughts that are shaped by technology, artificial constructs or cultural meaning. This means that if nature is opposed to culture, technology and artificiality, there is no place left for nature in our lives. 3/ Third, at this point in history, not only are the ideas of nature and “natural boundaries” constantly challenged by technological progress and cultural revolutions, but they actually seem to loose any relevance regarding what we should hope for the future. If we are to determine by ourselves what our future should be, it seems that if nature has had any normative power, it is now lost for good.

This course aims to investigate what is left of nature. This concept will appear at the center of essential questions of our time regarding ecology, politics, epistemology and metaphysics. While the current ecological crises have brought attention to nature, prominent contemporary thinkers have distanced themselves from this concept, accusing it of shaping modernity and its destructive power. With or without the concept of “nature,” it may be time to explore new relations to animals, wildlife and ecosystems, but also to reinvent politics in the Anthropocene. It is actually our very metaphysical conception of man facing nature and dominating it that should be questioned. But paradoxically, this very call to go “back to nature,” looking for a more “natural” way of life, is paralleled by a fierce criticism of any “naturalism” regarding individual choices and social issues. When it comes to bodies, gender, race or disabilities, but also inequalities and violence, any reference to nature looks suspicious. It is tempting to view nature as normative – that is, as a guide for how we should live our lives and a justification for social norms. After all, are there no laws of nature? Isn’t there a nature of things? Sure – but does nature leave us with any freedom? Or is freedom against nature?

Ultimately, preserving nature appears as a both revolutionary and conservative ambition. If the concept of nature is so embarrassing, it’s all the more reason to examine it more closely. In confronting paradoxical views of nature, we will explore the role it may play in our future.

HSS412B - Anthropologie (2023-2024) copy 7

Introduction to anthropology

What are the scientific conditions, and not merely moral, for genuine respect for others? Social anthropology arose from the difficulty of seriously applying the theory of evolution to human cultures, classifying them from the most primitive to the most evolved (that is to say, Westerners). This break was made possible in particular by the practice of fieldwork, which involves the researcher living with the people observed and learning to participate in their social life.

The seminar is an introduction to social anthropology, in other words to the comparative study of human societies. The knowledge of different societies and the consideration of "other" points of view are based on monographic facts drawn from field surveys in which the researcher immerses in another society to study ways of living and thinking different from their own. These data are the basis for comparisons between different forms of social life. It enables us to grasp the unity of the human race through its most diverse manifestations and to put into perspective some of our conceptions of reason, power, social organization, kinship, wealth and so on.

Each session is organized around a theme that is structured around a case study of a particular society.

 

Outline

A brief history of the other.

Rationality in perspective. Evolutionism, belief and witchcraft

Is nature a modern invention? Nature, culture, science.

From Elementary Forms of Religious Life to the École Polytechnique: religion and ritual.

Societies without states?

Societies against the state?

Societies against wealth?

Foreigners, here and elsewhere.

Kinship, men and women.

The anthropology of change or the limits of social engineering.

 

Evaluation methods: participation in discussions and submission of a written paper in the form of a reading note on a theme from the course or chosen in consultation with the teacher.

 

LAN462dANG - LU3 - Comics - B2C1 (2023-2024) copy 7

Superheroes are hallmarks of American culture, and they have echoed, reflected upon and even impacted modern western society for almost a century now. From the page to the screen, this course will study the political and historical, as well as ethical and philosophical aspects of characters which, under close scrutiny, prove to be anything but one-dimensional.

 

Course outline:

  • From mythology to modern times: the dawn of superheroes
  • Superheroes and history: from the Great Recession to 9/11
  • ‘Is Superman a democrat?’ From politics to propaganda
  • A reflection of society: superheroes and the gender issue
  • Watchmen: the twilight of superpowers?

 

Students will be required to participate actively in class, complete regular reading assignments, and write one essay.

 

 

 

LAN482bANG - English C1C2 - The Long Cold War : the US and Russia, Since 1917 (2023-2024) copy 7

As the War in Ukraine rages on, we are reminded daily that this regional conflict cannot be understood apart from its global context: the century-long confrontation between the USSR and Russia, on the one hand, and the US and its Western allies, on the other. Indeed, we could be justified in looking at the current conflict as simply one more chapter in what we could call the “Long Cold War”. The objective of this course is to look at the current conflict through the prism of history. Students will be pushed to ask the historical question(s) that they find most interesting with regard to this conflict. NATO, nuclear weapons, Russian/Soviet imperialism, Ukrainian nationalism, American soft power, American military bases, ideological confrontations, economic cooperation, energy dependence, Western European unity, Eastern European liberty…These are just some of the themes on which students can ask questions. Students will then be allowed to develop their own answer(s) to the question(s) of their choice, through their own historical research. In this sense, this is not just an introduction to the history of the Long Cold War: it is also an introduction to the work of a historian.

PHY206 - Waves in Fluids, with illustrations from geophysics (2023-2024) copy 7

Prerequisites: PHY101, PHY102, PHY201, PHY202

The course describes waves in fluids, with a preference for illustrations coming from the Earth system, in particular the atmosphere and ocean. Waves are one essential type of motion present in many fluids. One goal of the course is to demonstrate how one proceeds to obtain wave solutions starting from a physical description of a system and its equations of motion. Acoustic waves will be considered as a first example, surface water waves at different scales (from ripples in the pond to tsunamis) will be derived as further examples. Basics of fluid mechanics (Euler equations, kinematics) will be introduced in order to make these developments possible. Similarities in the behavior of fluid waves and optical waves seen in PHY202 will be discussed.

At the end of the course, the students will understand how one characterizes a family of waves (dispersion relation, polarisation relations), and how to proceed to obtain, in a given system, wave solutions if they exist. Some preliminary considerations for exploring behaviors beyond linearity will have been introduced, as an opening. Finally, some elements of the study of the Earth, and of the atmosphere in particular, will have been introduced.

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