SEMINARY

Roundtable 1: "Experimenting with Interdisciplinarity" (10:30 am - 12 pm).

Facilitator: Sophie PARDO (Economic Sciences, LEMNA, Nantes University)

Although one can theorize or situate interdisciplinarity from the perspective of the institutions that support it or from that of a general epistemology of knowledge and understanding, interdisciplinarity is most often a matter of "lived experience" or experimentation encouraged by certain scientific programs. This lived experience allows for discoveries, questioning, critical distance, but is also marked by obstacles and resistance.

This roundtable aims to examine some feedback on the experience of interdisciplinarity from the perspective of researchers who have faced it or have attempted it. The focus will be more empirical than theoretical. We posit that interdisciplinarity is enriched by individual stories and relies on the sharing of insights and doubts.

Pierre-Étienne KENFACK, Deputy Director IEA Nantes (Law, Cameroon)
Mirjam KÜNKLER (Law and Political Science/Islamic Studies, Germany)

Isabelle LIGIER-DEGAUQUE (Performing Arts, LAMO, Nantes University)
François VIGNALE (History & Digital Humanities, 3.LAM, Le Mans University)

 

Roundtable 2: "What is a Discipline?" (1:30 pm - 3 pm).

Facilitator: Franck LAURENT, Deputy Director MSH Ange-Guépin (French Literature, 3.LAM, Le Mans University)

There can be no interdisciplinarity without clearly identified disciplines firmly rooted in an academic context. It is necessary to be able to define and understand the very concept of a "discipline" in order to promote rigorously their intersection and interconnections.

This roundtable aims to revisit the question of academic disciplines, which can be addressed in their historical dimension (places and institutions of knowledge), their cultural dimension (differences in academic cultures: e.g., CNU sections in France, studies in an Anglophone context, etc.), and their pragmatic dimension (specific practices and methods).

Florence NINITTE (Medieval Literature, Belgium)
Erick SOURNA LOUMTOUANG (Contemporary History, Cameroon)

Aline DURAND (History and Archaeology of the Middle Ages, CReAAH, Le Mans University)
Nathalie RICHARD (Contemporary History, TEMOS, Le Mans University)

 

Roundtable 3: "The Delicate Notion of Science" (3:30 pm - 5 pm).

Facilitator: Frédéric LE BLAY, Director MSH Ange-Guépin (Languages, Ancient Literature and Civilizations/Philosophy of Sciences, CFV, Nantes University)

The various disciplines within the specified field of Humanities and Social Sciences inevitably grapple with the very definition of what science is and what characterizes the scientific approach. Some disciplines may not entirely align with it, such as research on arts or literature – the term "research" itself allowing for divergent understandings or referring to heterogeneous practices. Both research and science can be experienced outside the "laboratory."

This roundtable aims to revisit the paradigm of science as applied to Humanities and Social Sciences, especially in their relationships with other fields of academic science.

Valeria GUZMAN VERRI (Architecture and Urbanism, Costa Rica/Italy)
Ali HOSSAINI (Philosophy, United States)

Karine DURIN (Language, Literature, and Civilization of Modern Spain, CRINI, Nantes University)
William PILOT (Greek History, TEMOS, University of Angers)