Teacher(s)
Harvey Isabel Danielle (compensates Lecuppre Gilles); Lecuppre Gilles;
Language
French
Prerequisites
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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.
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.
Main themes
This seminar is designed as a preparation for the corresponding master's seminar. During the group working sessions, based on preliminary personal work, each participant presents his analysis of an aspect of the chosen theme, paying particular attention to the heuristic and critical aspects. The procedures and stages of the treatment, as well as the global synthesis and conclusions, are brought out together. The seminar will include, with this respect, an introduction to the type(s) of source(s) studied and a practical introduction to the reading of ancient writing.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| By the end of this seminar, the student should be capable of putting the historian's procedure into practice in the context of the documentary and critical study of a precise question in modern history. |
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Content
Nature and Society during the Early Modern Period. The Environment as a Protagonist of Societal Systems.
We are in the aftermath of a global pandemic whose impacts will be felt for many years to come, and in the midst of major changes in the use and management of nature. These environmental factors influence our present-day society, which reacts and adjusts according to experience and representations acquired over time. The seminar Nature and Society during the Early Modern Period revisits the time of the worldwide explorations through the lens of environmental history, an interdisciplinary field of study that analyzes the reciprocal relationships between nature and human groups in the past. How do non-human actors (plants, animals, microbes) and non-human factors (topography, climate) influence human affairs during the early modern period? How can we consider nature as a historical actor acting on human societies? How and why have humans made changes, both accidental and deliberate, to the territories around them, and what are the consequences? How did early modern humans represent the natural world? By proposing an ecosystemic approach to the analysis of societies during the early modern period, this seminar proposes to make the study of history more complex, by examining the relationships between humans and non-humans that form, through their reciprocity and symbiosis, the systems in which the modern world emerged.
We are in the aftermath of a global pandemic whose impacts will be felt for many years to come, and in the midst of major changes in the use and management of nature. These environmental factors influence our present-day society, which reacts and adjusts according to experience and representations acquired over time. The seminar Nature and Society during the Early Modern Period revisits the time of the worldwide explorations through the lens of environmental history, an interdisciplinary field of study that analyzes the reciprocal relationships between nature and human groups in the past. How do non-human actors (plants, animals, microbes) and non-human factors (topography, climate) influence human affairs during the early modern period? How can we consider nature as a historical actor acting on human societies? How and why have humans made changes, both accidental and deliberate, to the territories around them, and what are the consequences? How did early modern humans represent the natural world? By proposing an ecosystemic approach to the analysis of societies during the early modern period, this seminar proposes to make the study of history more complex, by examining the relationships between humans and non-humans that form, through their reciprocity and symbiosis, the systems in which the modern world emerged.
Teaching methods
Following introductory sessions on the theme itself and the method of oral presentation and source commentary, students will carry out their research work under the supervision and with the help of the professor and the assistant. In subsequent sessions, students will present the progress of their work, and then give an explanation of the document. A final research paper will conclude the seminar.
Evaluation methods
The evaluation will be broken down as follows:
- Reading and discussion in group of four articles. 5%.
- Oral presentation: overview of the subject (in team). 10%.
- Bibliography and summary of sources (2 pages, in team). 10%.
- Oral presentation: source commentary (in team). 25%.
- Final paper of 10-15 pages (maximum) for the remaining 50%.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) must be used responsibly and in accordance with the practices of academic and scientific integrity. As scientific integrity requires that sources be cited, the use of AI must always be reported. The use of artificial intelligence for tasks where it is explicitly forbidden will be considered cheating.
- Reading and discussion in group of four articles. 5%.
- Oral presentation: overview of the subject (in team). 10%.
- Bibliography and summary of sources (2 pages, in team). 10%.
- Oral presentation: source commentary (in team). 25%.
- Final paper of 10-15 pages (maximum) for the remaining 50%.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) must be used responsibly and in accordance with the practices of academic and scientific integrity. As scientific integrity requires that sources be cited, the use of AI must always be reported. The use of artificial intelligence for tasks where it is explicitly forbidden will be considered cheating.
Online resources
Powerpoint projections of the course sessions, as well as all the documents analyzed and methodological advice, will be available via the Moodle platform on the course website.
Faculty or entity
