Duration
30h SEM
Number of credits
Lecturer
Laurence Bouquiaux, Frédéric Claisse, Bruno Frère, Kim Hendrickx
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The seminar will be organised during the second period of the year . Laurence Bouquiaux, Frederic Claisse, Bruno Frère and Kim Hendrickx are in charge of this seminar. The aim of the seminar is to familiarize students with questions and issues that concern the place of scientific knowledge in contemporary societies. The 2024-2025 seminar will be dedicated to exploring the notion of evolution (see below for more information).
The course is given in the form of seminars where the sessions are presented by the students themselves. The aim is not to help students memorise a subject but to encourage them to take up a question and prepare a presentation. This preparation is supervised by the teachers.
Consequently, there are no exams, and marks are awarded on the basis of an assessment by the teachers of the preparation and presentation of the presentation. Each group submits a written mark at the end of the period summarising its presentation.
The arrangements set out in this teaching agreement may be adjusted according to the number of students enrolled, which may vary considerably from one year to the next. To maintain the seminar format, enrolment is limited to 20 students.
THEME FOR THE YEAR 2024-2025
This year's theme will be the notion of evolution. The notion of evolution inevitably evokes the controversies that accompanied the development of Darwinism: the questioning of religion and traditional finalist conceptions, the origin and/or ideological misappropriation of themes such as natural selection or the survival of the fittest, the interpretation of evolution in terms of progress, and so on. We will also explore other dimensions of the notion of evolution: what can it mean sociologically? Why should it be distinguished from the notion of progress and, above all, how can we compare common representations of evolution?
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The seminar is based on an inverted classroom approach: students are divided into groups and each group prepares a presentation with the help of a teacher. The students are assessed on the basis of their presentation, so there is no final exam.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
A previous knowledge of basic epistemology or philosophy of sciences is higly recommended.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Students will be in charge of organizing seminars on the basis of lectures or readings.
The main requirement on which students will be assessed is their ability to explain to the whole class what they have understood from the texts they have worked on. The clarity, pedagogical nature and liveliness of your presentation will be decisive. It is therefore not a question of reading or reciting summaries of what you have read, but of making your summary interesting by using a powerpoint (or an equivalent device).
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Further information:
The seminar will be held in the second quarter. A total of six sessions are planned, but this number may change depending on the number of registrations.
ATTENDANCE IS COMPULSORY
As there is no final exam (see above), attendance at the sessions is compulsory. In concrete terms, except in duly justified cases, students who are absent from more than two sessions will not receive a mark.
Overlapping courses do not provide a justification for absence: if you have another course with compulsory attendance at the same time as the 'science and society' seminar, you must choose which of the two you wish to take.
Course materials and recommended or required readings
documents will be available
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
oral exam
- Remote
oral exam
Continuous assessment
Further information:
The evaluation will be based on the quality of the work done during workshops or seminars : quality of presentation, participation to to the discussion. Each student will have to produce a short synthesis document.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
The first seminar session will take place on Thursday 6 February.
This first session will be devoted to a presentation by each of the co-teachers of the sub-theme they wish to study with the students. The various working groups will be set up on the same day. It is therefore essential that all registered students attend this first session.
We will then answer any practical questions you may have.
At this first session, we will also present students with a portfolio of readings on the theme of evolution, which they will be required to read for the following session.
The second session of the seminar is scheduled for Thursday 20 February. It will be devoted to a discussion based on the texts in the reading portfolio. To fuel this discussion, each student must prepare (at least) one question or comment on one of the texts.
The rest of the timetable will be set at the session on 6 February.
Contacts
See French Version for adresses of teachers.