Published on 5 August 2020
News

Opening symposium " Civilisations : questioning identity and diversity "

Colloquium organized by Professors Patrick Boucheron, Anne Cheng, Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, Lluis Quintana-Murci, Philippe Sansonetti, Thomas Römer, onOctober 22 and 23 2020 in the Marguerite de Navarreamphitheatre at the Collège de France (Marcelin Berthelot site).

Zoom in on an early map of America

The opening symposium is an important event in the scientific life of the Collège de France. The program for the colloquium " Civilisations : questioning identity and diversity ", to be held on October 22 and 23 2020, has been drawn up by a scientific committee comprising Professors Patrick Boucheron, Anne Cheng, Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, Lluis Quintana-Murci, Philippe Sansonetti and Thomas Römer.

Presentation

The term " civilization " entered the vocabulary of Western Europe in the 18th century , denoting a stage of material, social and cultural evolution towards which humanity was heading. Without completely losing the teleological dimension of its emergence when used in the singular, the plural term came to designate human communities historically determined by characteristics held to be specific. Lucien Febvre, Émile Benveniste and Fernand Braudel have made the Collège de France a place of reflection on this notion, and next autumn will see the inauguration of the new Institut des Civilisations building.

The opening symposium at the Collège de France in October 2020 will focus on the current scope and relevance of the term " civilisation " (singular and plural). The questions raised by this word concern both the concepts mobilized in the various fields of research and the various contents it conveys in terms of human identity and diversity. The October colloquium will bring together researchers in biology, paleontology, history, cultural anthropology, law, medicine, philosophy and sociology, to shed as much light as possible on a theme that the health crisis has just made particularly topical.

Organizing committee :
Patrick Boucheron, Anne Cheng, Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, Lluis Quintana-Murci, Philippe Sansonetti, Thomas Römer.

Speakers :
Thomas Römer (Collège de France), Céline Spector (Sorbonne-Université), Francesco D'Errico (Université de Bordeaux), Henry Laurens (Collège de France), Aparecida Vilaça (Museu Nacional de l'Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro), François Héran (Collège de France), Étienne Patin (Institut Pasteur & CNRS), Jean-Jacques Hublin (Collège de France), Anne-Marie Moulin (CNRS), Anne Lafont (EHESS), Anne Cheng (Collège de France), Raphaëlle Chaix (CNRS-MNHN), Jean-Pierre Poulain (Université Jean-Jaurès, Toulouse), Dario Mantovani (Collège de France), Samantha Besson (Collège de France), Pap Ndiaye (Sciences Po, Paris), Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge (Collège de France), Lluis Quintana-Murci (Collège de France)...