Description
The undergraduate Licence in Humanist and Scientific Culture is a programme of study that is based on multidisciplinary teaching. The programme aims to favour a thorough and varied contact with knowledge and learning, thanks to the historical and epistemological approaches taken to the disciplines concerned, together with artistic practice that confronts research processes with creative processes.
Specialised teaching staff deliver the teaching, across four course blocks of equal weighting: ‘Literatures and Languages’, ‘Science and Technology’, ‘the Arts’, and ‘Human and Social Sciences’. Together, these blocks constitute the basis of what has come to be called ‘Culture’. It is a matter of understanding the particularities and issues concerned, via a comparative approach that is possible thanks firstly to the choice of semester-wide themes which are common to all the disciplines studied, meaning that the course blocks can be structured and connected rather than simply juxtaposed, and secondly, to the interdisciplinary seminars (three per semester), which are joint-led by specialists who come from different fields but who nevertheless are all responding to the same object of study.
Objectives
Within the French university landscape, there are no programmes of study that offer a truly interdisciplinary approach that confronts art with knowledge. Yet a great many areas of employment and social functions demand this interdisciplinary approach to learning: for example, education (where the idea of a ‘common knowledge base’ is often discussed), information technology (where the non-technical and the expert work alongside one another), outreach and communication (whether cultural or scientific), human and social relations (HR departments; administration; politics), and professions related to the book trade and archiving.
The first entry cohort was welcomed in September 2011.
Training content
Three years of study
A range of course units, blending elements of theory, practice, and critical reflection:
Each semester is composed of four units, with a journey through the history of those disciplines, which then better enables students to grasp the issues raised and questions asked by the discipline of Humanist and Scientific Culture.
The ‘Literatures and Languages’ unit offers literature and language classes that aim to shape better-informed readers, who are able to more effectively grasp and understand the linguistic resources at their disposal.
The ‘Sciences and Technologies’ unit places great importance on epistemology and on the history of science, with classes in mathematics, biology, physics, geology, and information technology.
The ‘Arts’ unit closely links theory, cultural history, and artistic practice, offering a series of workshops in mixed-media arts, and in music, theatre, architecture, image, and dance.
The ‘Human and Social Sciences’ unit brings students into contact with human knowledge in all its diversity: philosophy, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science, law, and communications.
Interdisciplinary seminars and cross-disciplinary themes:
A seminar, organised by researchers and creatives, exposes students to a range of thinking and practices, based on teaching from course units seen throughout programme of study.
Pre-specialisation:
In the third year of this undergraduate Licence in Humanist and Scientific Culture, two further study options are offered, called ‘Education’ and ‘Outreach’.
Importance is also placed on modern languages, via the ‘Internationalisation’ and ‘Occitan’ options. Each semester features a unit on foreign languages. Students who may wish to specialise in English (with a view to studying abroad) or in Occitan (with a view to benefiting from the Ensenhar grant offered by the Regional Council of Aquitaine) can add further optional units to the compulsory modern foreign language units.
Entry capacity
The entry capacity of this programme is limited to 40 students.
Access condition
Find information regarding enrolment procedures and the supporting documents to be provided, according to your profile and your level of studies :
Career pathways
Would you like to...
be a primary school teacher?
This programme is for you, as you will have contact with all the subjects that are taught at nursery and primary school levels. Students interested in pursuing this career path undertake further study at Master’s level, to prepare for teacher recruitment competitions.
become a cultural mediator?
This programme will give you the means to reflect on the diversity of the fields of art and knowledge. Students interested in pursuing this career undertake further study at Master’s level, within a Master’s in Cultural Engineering or Master’s in Scientific Mediation.
take the competitive recruitment examination to enter French public service?
This undergraduate Licence can be considered as a first stage in the preparation for these recruitment examinations, which often demand a multidisciplinary skillset.
become a journalist?
This undergraduate Licence will enable you to tackle a varied range of contemporary themes. A study pathway entitled ‘Journalism’ is also offered in the third year of study.
work in professions related to the book trade (as a librarian, publisher, or bookseller for example)?
Thanks to the wide scope of subjects tackled, this undergraduate Licence will help you to better advise and guide your readers.
Perhaps you have not yet decided on a future career path, but you are curious about science and modes of thought, in all their rich diversity.
This undergraduate Licence offers students the possibility to develop and refine their sensitivities to certain questions and to discover their own path, without anticipating a particular future specialisation.
Further studies
This undergraduate Licence enables students to undertake further study in the fields of education, cultural outreach, information sciences, and indeed any sector that is founded on a need for versatility and a flexible skill set.
