Teacher(s)
Language
French
Content
t a time of ecological catastrophe shaking the planet, and amidst the narratives of the “chaos-world” (Glissant), the Anthropocene (Crutzen), the Capitalocene (Bonneuil and Fressoz), the Chthulucene (Haraway), or the Pathocene (Bertholeyns), to name only the main ones, the anthropology of “nature” has become an essential field of knowledge within the humanities and social sciences. In Proliferations (2022: 68) and in her book Field Guide to the Patchy Anthropocene. The New Nature (2024), Anna Tsing aptly describes this as “an era made for anthropology”: ferality, hybridizations, the proliferation of non-humans, and more. The theater of the “ruins of capitalism” is thriving, all the more so as each species is understood as a holobiont (Tsing 2025: 222). This “new nature” unsettles and confuses.
The course aims to explain these assertions: to grasp how a multiplicity of modes of knowledge (“a patchwork epistemology”) is required, how to think from specific places and relational observations, and how to equip ourselves with critical thinking in order to move forward. It is about letting go of hegemonic narratives, articulating local, Indigenous, and scientific knowledge, constructing and deconstructing.
The course highlights how, beyond the unfortunate concepts of “environment” or “ecological transition”—which impoverish debate and fuel eco-anxiety, dystopia, or even utopian visions—anthropology offers other, more ad hoc conceptual tools that allow us to live with heterogeneity and the multiplicity of uses and conceptions. For example, it involves mobilizing the notion of “milieu” introduced by Von Uexküll and developed by Augustin Berque, in order to understand how planetary cosmologies—which do not all agree on the existence of what naturalism calls “nature”—can, like art, inspire us to imagine new possibilities.
The course will dwell on presenting different ways of engaging with non-humans. Through ethnographic studies and foundational texts, it will critically examine several perspectives and key concepts.
The course aims to explain these assertions: to grasp how a multiplicity of modes of knowledge (“a patchwork epistemology”) is required, how to think from specific places and relational observations, and how to equip ourselves with critical thinking in order to move forward. It is about letting go of hegemonic narratives, articulating local, Indigenous, and scientific knowledge, constructing and deconstructing.
The course highlights how, beyond the unfortunate concepts of “environment” or “ecological transition”—which impoverish debate and fuel eco-anxiety, dystopia, or even utopian visions—anthropology offers other, more ad hoc conceptual tools that allow us to live with heterogeneity and the multiplicity of uses and conceptions. For example, it involves mobilizing the notion of “milieu” introduced by Von Uexküll and developed by Augustin Berque, in order to understand how planetary cosmologies—which do not all agree on the existence of what naturalism calls “nature”—can, like art, inspire us to imagine new possibilities.
The course will dwell on presenting different ways of engaging with non-humans. Through ethnographic studies and foundational texts, it will critically examine several perspectives and key concepts.
Teaching methods
Seminar-style course (discussions based on assigned readings)
Lectures by the professor and invited researchers
Student presentations
Lectures by the professor and invited researchers
Student presentations
Evaluation methods
Continuous assessment. No final exam.
Two activities will be assessed:
Teaching Method
The course requires a substantial amount of reading (including texts in English) and the completion of an empirical project, which will be briefly presented in class. The first session will introduce the content of the course and outline the assignments. Subsequent sessions will combine lectures by the professor, guest researchers, and seminar-style discussions of the assigned readings.Assessment Methods
For each session, students are expected to complete the required readings. The texts are intended to generate debate and discussion.Two activities will be assessed:
- Written assignment (max. 10 pages): Students will prepare a dossier on a topic of their choice related to questions in the anthropology of “nature,” grounded in a specific site. This paper will be presented orally in class and submitted by December 21 to the professor (or August 15, 2026 for the resit). The topic will be determined in agreement with the professor. Drawing on the Anthropocene Field Guide and the Feral Atlas (Tsing 2025), students are expected to compile a dossier on a precise issue and provide commentary and critique.
- This exercise counts for 100% of the final grade.
- Evaluation criteria: ability to synthesize, organization and clarity of ideas, richness of the selected corpus, and quality of writing.
- Collaborative work (in pairs) is possible, except for the August resit.
- Active participation in class is expected; any absence must be justified, otherwise it will be penalized.
- The use of AI is permitted for research purposes provided that its role is explicitly acknowledged; failure to do so will result in a penalty. The writing itself must be the student’s own.
- This exercise counts for 100% of the final grade.
- Oral presentation (5–10 minutes): A short in-class presentation of the written work (length depending on the number of participants).
Other information
Please note that the first session will take place on October 2
(15h / 5 ECTS)
ERC Bat Project seminar-conference
UCL break
Sessions
Themes and readings(15h / 5 ECTS)
- Thu 2 Oct
Introduction: Farewell to the “environment” — where do the ideas of “nature” and “new nature” come from?
Course presentation - Thu 9 Oct
Milieus, ecology, and ontologies: the proliferation of non-humans
Class suspended (at the request of J. Hermesse) but readings must still be completed
ERC Bat Project seminar-conference
- Thu 16 Oct
The animal, vegetal, and mineral turns, and inter-/multispecies approaches
Guest: David Demeyer - Thu 23 Oct
Indigenous/local knowledge, ethno-ethology, and diplomacy
Guest: Leopold Beyaert (Saami)
UCL break
- Thu 6 Nov
Anthropology of nature in Asia
Guests: Margot Coetsier (Japan) and Justine Vanhaelen - Thu 13 Nov
The Anthropocene and the recomposition (rather than transition) of worlds
Guest: Martin Pierre (volcanoes) - Thu 20 Nov
Catastrophes, planetary health, and the recomposition of worlds
Lecture: Viruses, epidemics, and humans — the case of the anthropology of bats in the time of Covid-19 - Thu 27 Nov
Student presentations - Fri 21 Dec
Submission of final papers
Online resources
www.feralatlas.org
https://batsaustronesia.com/
https://batsaustronesia.com/
Bibliography
Une bibliographie sera accessible dans Moodle
Faculty or entity
