Anthropology: special topics

Teacher(s)

Delchambre Jean-Pierre;

Language

French

Prerequisites

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

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.

Content

Theoretical course outline Part I: Overview of some major anthropological issues relating to the process of hominization - Evolution and hominization: landmarks and perspective. - From criticism of evolutionism to reconsideration of the question of evolution in today's context. - Some debates around the two great moments of acceleration: the "Neolithic Revolution" and the "Industrial Revolution". - The notion of the Anthropocene and the challenge of a new "global" or "planetary" consciousness, compatible with the consideration of differentiated histories (cf. D. Chakrabarty...). - The question of tools and language. - Comparison between animal communication and human communication. - Comparison between human communication and information processing by "thinking machines" (or artificial intelligence) (cf. V. Descombes, "La psychologie de l'ordinateur", recent debates around ChatGPT...). - From orality to writing, or writing as the invention of a technology of the mind (cf. J. Goody...). - New challenges: in the face of the positivist claim to naturalize the social (cf. the strong programs of evolutionary biology and cognitive neuroscience), how can we devise a consistent and robust program for the social sciences, maintaining the autonomy of an explanation or understanding "through the social"? Part II: The program of an anthropology of the "complete man [or human]" (Marcel Mauss) - a century later, a return to the question of the articulation between the social, the psychic and the biological - An overview of Marcel Mauss. His program for studying the "complete human". Cf. "Les techniques du corps"... See also F. Boas... - The notion of the person as a social category. - The critique of culturalism and the "culture and personality" program. - The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis as a borderline case of culturalism. - Some debates about the comparison of cultures or (social) forms of life: the question of "hermeneutic charity", witchcraft compared with the rationality of modern science (cf. E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Cl. Lévi-Strauss, P. Winch...), two examples of controversies (M. Sahlins vs. G. Obeyesekere on the death of Captain Cook in Hawaii, J.-Fr. Billeter vs. Fr. Jullien on translation choices from Chinese...). - Ethnopsychiatry as an analyzer. - Traditional vs. modern therapies (cf. E. Ortigues, "Qu'est-ce qu'une guérison rituelle", A. Zempléni, D. Fassin...). - The "subject wars" in the contemporary context, notably around the antagonism between clinical psychologies and cognitive neurosciences (program of naturalization of the psyche and the social...). Cf. A. Ehrenberg...

Teaching methods

The UE is made up of a theoretical course and an involving activity (AI) in the form of a seminar of readings and presentations of texts.
As part of the IA, group work is expected (reading, appropriation and presentation of texts, including a written summary of the presentation).
For a more detailed presentation, see the "Instructions" document on the EU Moodle page.
In the lecture, the teacher presents the material in a way that is both pedagogically effective and interesting. Students are invited to ask questions and engage in debate, with the size of the audience allowing for interactive teaching.
Students have access to written material (documents, texts, etc.).
Please note that course notes are not exhaustive.
Good note-taking is strongly recommended.

Evaluation methods

This UE is made up of a theoretical course and a seminar section (AI). The distribution of points is as follows: - Theoretical course: 10/20. - Seminar: 10/20. The seminar is assessed on an ongoing basis during the term, and part of it is also assessed during the oral exam (see below). An oral examination is used to assess the theory part of the course, as well as taking part of the seminar assessment. The seminar section is assessed on the following criteria: - (1) Presentation of a text or a module of texts in a seminar session, including the writing of a 6-8 page summary (admissibility condition: compliance with scientific writing conventions, particularly with regard to quotations and referencing). - (2) Return exam on texts discussed and worked on during the seminar.  Performance (1) is carried out in a group, while performance (2) is individual. Performance (1), carried out in a group, counts for 5 points and is assessed by the assistant during the term (note that failure to respect the conventions of scientific writing in the abstract may result in a 0/5 for this performance). Performance (2), i.e. knowledge of the texts in the reading portfolio, counts for 5 points and is assessed during the oral exam. Seminar attendance is compulsory. More than 2 unjustified absences will result in a 0/10 mark for the seminar section. A student who has not taken part in group work during the term may not be prevented from registering for the examination, but will receive a zero overall mark for failure to complete the work. Students who have been absent more than twice (without justification) and/or who have not completed any work during the term must submit a double personal synthesis in the August-September session, based on the list of texts or text modules (see Moodle page for details). To complete this double synthesis, the student will not be able to benefit from the assistant's supervision. Written work must be e-mailed to the assistant no later than the day before the start of the session. Students will also be assessed on their knowledge of texts in the reading portfolio. If a student who has completed his or her work during the term does not register for the June session, the mark awarded for his or her seminar work is retained for the August session (however, there is no carry-over from one year to the next).

Bibliography

Bibliographie indicative : - Emile Benveniste, «Communication animale et langage humain», Diogène 1, 1952, pp. 1-8. - 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. - 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. - 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). - André G. Haudricourt, «Domestication des animaux, culture des plantes et traitement d'autrui», L'Homme, 1962, tome 2, n° 1, pp. 40-50. - Nastassja Martin, Les âmes sauvages. Face à l'Occident, la résistance d'un peuple d'Alaska, Paris, La Découverte, 2016. - 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. - 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. - Charles Stépanoff, L'animal et la mort. Chasse, modernité et crise du sauvage, Paris, La Découverte, 2021. - Alain Testart, Eléments de classification des sociétés, Paris, Errance, 2005.

Faculty or entity

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