Saint-Louis University - Bruxelles
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POLS1252 - Anthropology: special topics



Credits : 5

Lecturer :
Teaching assistant :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , second term, 30 hours of theory.

Timetable :
Second term
Wednesday from 10:45 to 12:45 at 109 Marais 310

Language of instruction :
French (with possibility of reading texts in English)

Learning outcomes :
This UE is an extension of the introductory course in Anthropology at BAS1. Conceived in the form of a seminar course (see below), this EU aims on the one hand to clarify and deepen a series of questions and significant issues of contemporary anthropology, and on the other hand to bring students to develop and refine their skills in the reading and appropriation of scientific texts, the ability to problematize and criticize, to understand conceptual and methodological issues in a perspective that is rigorous, broad and multidimensional.

Prerequisites :
For the Bachelor in History :

For the Bachelor in Information and Communication :

For the Bachelor in French and Romance Languages and Letters : General :

For the Bachelor in Philosophy :

For the Bachelor in Political Sciences: General :

For the Bachelor in Sociology and Anthropology :


Co-requisites :
None

Course contents :
- Some major issues arising from the process of hominisation (use of tools, articulated language, animal communication and human language, development of complex technosymbolic worlds, rules and creativity, technologies of the mind: from writing to AI ...).
- The question of relationships between nature and culture (studies and debates around different ways of representing this distinction: see P. Descola, A. G. Haudricourt, T. Ingold ...).
- Debates relating to the understanding of different cultures or life forms (culturalism and its avatars, between relativism and deconstruction of cultural identities, hermeneutical charity, the question of interpretation in a pragmatic perspective, controversies around the interpretative turn see C. Geertz, M. Sahlins, D. Cefai, F. Barth, F. Boas ...).
- The person and his disorders: relativity of these notions? insights from ethnopsychiatry and anthropology of issues related to mental health and illness (see M. Mauss, H. Ellenberger, G. Devereux, E. Ortigues, A. Zempleni, A. Ehrenberg. .).
- Between naturalism and relativism, human and "posthuman": contemporary challenges.



Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
As part of this EU, the theoretical course is completed by a reading seminar. If the number of students allows, the course and seminar can be designed in a highly integrated way. Anyway, the configuration of this UE allows to privilege a pedagogy of proximity as well as an active implication on the part of the students.

Some topics covered in the course give rise to portfolios of texts (or modules) from which students are brought to work. This work involves a thorough and critical reading of texts, the discussion of key texts, the ability to present a synthetic oral presentation, as well as the writing of a summary (respecting the conventions of scientific writing).


Assessment methods and criteria :
This UE is composed of a theoretical course and a seminar part, the two parts being partially integrated (some texts are worked within the framework of the seminar and also serve as supports for lessons of the theoretical course). The two parts of the EU are therefore not subject to a separate evaluation, although the evaluation is continuous with regard to some of the exercises to be provided in the framework of the seminar.

The distribution of points is as follows:
- Theoretical course: 10/20.
- Seminar: 10/20.

The seminar is subject to ongoing evaluation during the semester, and is partly assessed during the oral examination (see below).
An oral exam is used to evaluate the theoretical part of the course, as well as to support part of the seminar evaluation.

The evaluation of the seminar part covers the following exercises:

- (1) Presentation of a text or a module of texts in the framework of a seminar session, this presentation having to include the writing of a summary of 6 to 8 pages (condition of admissibility: respect of the conventions of scientific writing).
- (2) Back to the exam on the knowledge of the text (s) presented by the student.
- (3) Knowledge of a series of key texts (list provided).

The exercise (1) is performed in a group, while the exercise (2) and (3) are individual.

The exercise (1), carried out in groups, counts for 5 points and is evaluated by the assistant during the quadrimester (a non-respect of the conventions of scientific writing as part of the summary can lead to a 0/5 for this service. ). The mark awarded to the student may be adjusted during the oral examination (according to [2], ie the individual knowledge of the text (s) presented) as part of the seminar).
The exercise (3), i.e. the knowledge of the key texts, counts for 5 points and is evaluated during the oral examination.

Attendance at the seminar is mandatory.
More than 2 unjustified absences result in a 0/20 for the seminar part.
Since the assessment is continuous, a student can not present the exam if he has not done the main work (presentation of a text or a text module, including a summary) during the semester.
A student who has been absent more than twice (unjustifiably) and / or who has not done any work during the semester must present at the september session a double work based on the list of texts or text modules (see details on the Moddle page). This double work does not benefit from the supervision by an assistant.e and is evaluated during the oral examination by the teacher. (It should be noted that, in addition to this double work, you have to know the key texts, as is the case for all students).
If the student does not register at the June session, the marks awarded for their work in the seminar are kept for the September session.



Recommended or required reading :
- Daniel Andler, La silhouette de l'humain. Quelle place pour le naturalisme dans le monde d'aujourd'hui ?, Paris, Gallimard, 2016.
- Roger Bastide, Le rêve, la transe et la folie, Paris, Seuil, coll. Points-Essais, 2003.
- Emile Benveniste, «Communication animale et langage humain», Diogène 1, 1952, pp. 1-8.
- Maurice Bloch, L'anthropologie et le défi cognitif, Paris, Odile Jacob, 2013.
- Dominique Bourg, «Les outils et les mots : le fondement technique de l'humanité», in L'homme-artifice. Le sens de la technique, Paris, Gallimard, 1996, pp. 117-178.
- Daniel Cefaï, «La controverse autour du tournant interprétatif en anthropologie», in Daniel Céfaï (dir.), L'enquête de terrain, Paris, La Découverte / M.A.U.S.S., 2003, pp. 181-207.
- Philippe Descola, Par-delà nature et culture, Paris, Gallimard, 2005.
- Vincent Descombes, «La psychologie de l'ordinateur», in La denrée mentale, Paris, Minuit, 1995, pp. 151-185.
- Georges Devereux, Essais d'ethnopsychiatrie générale, Paris, Gallimard, 1983.
- Germaine Dieterlen (dir.), La notion de personne en Afrique noire, Paris, L'Harmattan, 2012 (1ère éd. : 1973).
- Alain Ehrenberg, «Le cerveau "social". Chimère épistémologique et vérité sociologique», Esprit, janvier 2008, pp. 79-103.
- Henri F. Ellenberger, Médecines de l'âme. Essais d'histoire de la folie et des guérisons psychiques, Paris, Fayard, 1995 (traduit de l'anglais).
- E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Sorcellerie, oracles et magie chez les Azandé, Paris, Gallimard, 1972 (traduit de l'anglais; éd. orig. : 1937).
- Clifford Geertz, «La description dense. Vers une théorie interprétative de la culture», in Daniel Céfaï (dir.), L'enquête de terrain, Paris, La Découverte / M.A.U.S.S., 2003, pp. 208-233.
- Jack Goody, La logique de l'écriture, Paris, Armand Colin, 1995 (traduit de l'anglais).
- Ian Hacking, Entre science et réalité. La construction sociale de quoi ?, Paris, La Découverte, 2001 (traduit de l'anglais).
- André G. Haudricourt, «Domestication des animaux, culture des plantes et traitement d'autrui», L'Homme, 1962, tome 2, n° 1, pp. 40-50.
- Tim Ingold, Marcher avec les dragons, Bruxelles, Zones sensibles, 2013 (traduit de l'anglais), rééd. Seuil, coll. Points-Essais, 2018.
- Eduardo Kohn, Comment pensent les forêts. Vers une anthropologie au-delà de l'humain, Bruxelles, Zones sensibles, 2017 (traduit de l'anglais).
- Marcel Mauss, «Une catégorie de l'esprit humain : la notion de personne, celle de "moi"», in Sociologie et anthropologie, Paris, P.U.F., coll. Quadrige, 1991, pp. 333-362.
- Dominique Lestel, «Comportement animal, communication animale et langage», in J.-M. Hombert (dir.), Aux origines des langues et du langage, Paris, Fayard, 2005, pp. 74-101.
- Marie-Cécile et Edmond Ortigues, Œdipe africain, Paris, L'Harmattan, 1984.
- Marshall Sahlins, How Natives Think. About Captain Cook, For Example, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1995.
- Dan Sperber, Le savoir des anthropologues, Paris, Hermann, 1982.
- Alain Testart, Eléments de classification des sociétés, Paris, Errance, 2005.
- Peter Winch, «Comprendre les sociétés primitives. Une approche wittgensteinienne», in Daniel Céfaï (dir.), L'enquête de terrain, Paris, La Découverte / M.A.U.S.S., 2003, pp. 234-262.