"À l'école des Anciens". War and its representations from the perspective of ancient rhetoric
Explore an interdisciplinary approach to the notion of war and its representations through theoretical and practical tools of ancient rhetoric, and by means of thematic lectures, case studies and collaborative projects
← Back to courses- CIVIS focus area
- Society, culture, heritage
- Open to
-
- Bachelor's
- Master's
- PhD
- Field of studies
-
- Social Science and humanities
- Type
-
- Blended Intensive Programmes (BIP)
- Course dates
- 21 February - 20 June 2025
- Apply by
- 31 October 2024 Apply now
Contemporary phenomena such as misinformation on political and social events (conspiracy theories, "fake news", uncontrolled use of social networks) are giving rise to growing concerns and reveal the need to raise public awareness. An educating in argumentation and rhetoric can offer people a tool to understand and counter such fallacious forms of communication: an education in democratic citizenship based on the rhetorical model of the Ancients.
The course will concern war and representations of violence, a particular hot topic in the current geopolitical situation. Various sub-themes will be tackled, giving this subject an interdisciplinary dimension at the crossroads of history, religion, philology and philosophy: especially war and religion, exile, immigration, women and war etc.
The course will have a diachronic approach (from Antiquity to the present day) to the subject of rhetoric and address issues related to the representation of war and communication in times of war, with the aim of stimulating critical reflection among participants and developing their technical skills.
The development of cognitive and relational abilities, such as critical thinking, empathy, tolerance, creativity and self-confidence are other learning goals of the program.
This BIP will consist of 12 online lectures, that will be followed by a 5-day workshop bringing the students and instructors together in person in Lausanne.
Main topics addressed
- Education in democratic citizenship based on the rhetorical model of the Ancients
- Ancient rhetoric
- Representations of war and violence
- Communication in times of war
- War & religion
- Exile & war
- War & immigration
- Women & war
- Public speaking
Learning outcomes
By taking this BIP, the participants will gain:
- knowledge of ancient rhetorical theory and practice;
- the ability to critically analyze ancient and modern discourses on warfare;
- the ability to develop reflections on war-related discourses from a multidisciplinary perspective;
- the ability to develop collaborative work with students of different nationalities, cultures and backgrounds;
- the ability to compose a discourse for a non-academic audience;
- the ability to adapt one's discourse to the enunciation situation;
- the ability to master enunciation, voice and body language;
- discover leading European and international institutions.
Dates: 21 February - 20 June 2025 | Total workload: 155 hours |
Format: Blended | ECTS: 6* |
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland | Language: French (B2) |
Contact: danielle.vanmal-maeder@unil.ch |
*Recognition of ECTS depends on your home university.
Physical mobility
The workshop will be held in Lausanne, between 16-20 June 2025.
- Day 1: recap of material studied in distance learning + training in public speaking (actio 1): 6 hours
- Day 2: training in public speaking (actio 2) + drafting of final declamations on the theme of war: 8 hours
- Day 3: Visit to the Fondation Jean Monnet or the Musée romain de Vidy and participation in the Rhetoric Festival (Grange de Dorigny). BIP participants will declaim the speech they will have composed on the theme of war: 8 hours
- Day 4: Visit to the Cinémathèque suisse (film screening) + debate on the theme of war (rhetorical improvisation exercise): 8 hours
- Day 5: Visit to the UN Palais des Nations and/or the Red Cross Museum: 6 hours
Total: 36 hours, including student work-sessions.
Virtual part
The online courses will take place between 21 February and 23 May 2025 - 12 session of 2 hours each (on Fridays, between 14:15-16:00 CET):
- 21.02.2025: Introduction à la rhétorique antique I - Les Tétralogies d'Antiphon: un manuel d’argumentation (Anne Balansard)
- 28.02.2025: Introduction à la rhétorique antique II - "Logos, pathos, ethos", les trois piliers du discours persuasif selon Aristote (Isabelle Koch)
- 07.03.2025: Introduction à la rhétorique antique III - "Quid sit rhetorice?" Quelques problèmes de rhétorique latine (Benjamin Sevestre-Giraud)
- 14.03.2025: Introduction à la rhétorique antique IV - Les progymnasmata, exercices de rhétorique préparatoires (Danielle van Mal-Maeder)
- 21.03.2025: Lecture
- 28.03.2025: Exercice de l’éloge et blâme: La rhétorique religieuse de la guerre en Grèce et à Rome (Alessandra Rolle et Julie Dainville)
- 04.04.2025: Exercice du parallèle: La rhétorique religieuse de la guerre en Grèce et à Rome (Alessandra Rolle et Julie Dainville)
- 11.04.2025: Exercices sur les lieux: "Des hommes illustres ont pour tombeau la terre entière" (Thucydide). Pourquoi et comment faire l’éloge des morts? (Sabine Luciani)
- 02.05.2025: Exercice de la description: Faire voir la bataille qu’on n’a pas vu: récit de bataille et ekphrasis (Benoît Sans)
- 09.05.2025: Exercice de l’éthopée: "Guts to grease the threads of our tanks" (George S. Patton): la harangue militaire à travers les âges (Benoît Sans)
- 16.05.2025: Exercice de la réfutation: Réfutation et Auditoire Universel (Sébastien Chonavey)
- 23.05.2025: Vers l’exercice-roi: la déclamation (Danielle van Mal-Maeder et Alessandra Rolle)
Requirements
The course is open to Bachelor's (3rd year), Master and Phd students at CIVIS member universities.
Participants should have a B2 level of French, critical thinking and interest in rhetoric.
NB: Visiting Students - Erasmus Funding Eligibility
To be eligible for your selected CIVIS programme, you must be a fully enrolled student at your CIVIS home university at the time you will be undertaking the programme. Click here to learn more about the eligibility criteria.
Students from CIVIS’ strategic partner universities in Africa can also apply for participation in this course. One or two African students are eligible for UNIL mobility scholarships upon selection.
Application process
You can send your application by filling in the online application form by 31 October 2024, including:
- CV
- Motivation letter
All applications will be evaluated based on:
- French skills;
- interest in the topic;
- openness to other civilizations;
- willingness to cooperate with peers from other countries.
Assessment
The assessment is based on:
- online work under teacher supervision;
- active participation in class, including debates, questions, and discussions;
- 5 written exercises (with corrections);
- revision and preparation for final exercises;
- writing of final speech (which could be given in two voices);
- in-class performances;
- improvised debates;
- final program report;
- blog;
- partial and final synthesis.
Blended Intensive Programme
This CIVIS course is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP): a new format of Erasmus+ mobility which combines online teaching with a short trip to another campus to learn alongside students and professors across Europe. Click here to learn more about CIVIS BIPs.
GDPR Consent
The CIVIS alliance and its member universities will treat the information you provide with respect. Please refer to our privacy policy for more information on our privacy practices. By applying to this course you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.
Danielle van Mal-Maeder is Professor of Latin language and literature at the University of Lausanne. Her research focuses mainly on the Ancient Novel and Rhetoric. She is director of a research centre on ancient declamation. She is also involved in a number of international projects and sits on the editorial boards of various scientific journals.
Alessandra Rolle is currently Lecturer of Latin language and literature at the University of Lausanne. Her research focuses mainly on Varro, Roman religion, Latin rhetoric and declamation. She is director of the research project 'Divina eloquentia. La religion dans la formation rhétorique à Rome entre République et Empire'. She is the author of several articles and books chapters, and of two books.
Sabine Luciani is full professor of Classics at Aix-Marseille Université. She teaches Latin language and literature, Roman civilisation, the history of ideas and mythology at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Her research interests are in the history of philosophy, with a particular focus on Hellenistic and Roman philosophy and the relationship between philosophy and literature in ancient Rome. She is interested in the Republican period and especially in two Latin philosophers: Lucretius and Cicero, on which she has published several books. She is currently working on two projects: the translation and commentary of Cicero's Tusculan disputations and an anthology of texts on consolation.
Anne Balansard is Professor at Aix-Marseille Université, in Greek Language and Literature, Département des Sciences, TDMAM. She is a specialist of Plato and in his relationship with his predecessors: Sophists and Rhetoricians. She has worked on dialogism and enunciation in his works.
Julie Dainville earned her PhD from the Université libre de Bruxelles in 2019. Her research centers on ancient rhetoric, with a particular focus on the relationship between rhetoric and divination in the Greek world, as well as on the teaching of rhetoric, notably through papyrological sources. She also teaches Greek religion, mythology and literature at the Université libre de Bruxelles.
After publishing two books, one on conspiracy theories (2019) and the other on dystopias (2022), Sébastien Chonavey is focusing his research on apocalyptic discourses. His doctoral thesis analyses the discourses of young environmental activists, their connection to catastrophe, the figure of Cassandra, and their new relationship with the universal audience. Sébastien began his academic journey with a teaching qualification in French and moral studies (2016), followed by a Master’s in French and Romance languages and literatures (2019), and a CAPAES at ULB in the same year. In 2020, a Seed Money grant launched his doctoral project. For the 2024-2025 academic year, he is completing his three-year term as a Mini-Arc doctoral candidate (ULB), supervised by Professor Emmanuelle Danblon at GRAL. He teaches as an assistant at ULB and as a lecturer for bachelor’s programmes at several higher education institutions in Brussels. He is also a reserve officer in the Belgian Navy, seconded as a rhetoric and ethics advisor. Additionally, he serves as the director of the Belgian MilClub and coordinator of the European Interconvictional Meetings.
Benjamin Sevestre-Giraud is agrégé de Lettres classiques and teaches communication at Sorbonne Paris Nord University (IUT de Villetaneuse). He will shortly be submitting his thesis entitled “Prolégomènes à une réinvention de la rhétorique : l'expression, la communication, l'argumentation et leurs imaginaires disciplinaires du lycée à l'université” (Aix-Marseille Université/ Université libre de Bruxelles).
B. Sans is an assistant professor in Latin language and literature at the Université Rennes 2 (France) where he is a member of the CELLAM Laboratory and, as a long-standing member of the Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), he collaborates with the Groupe de recherche en Rhétorique et en Argumentation Linguistique (GRAL) led by Emmanuelle Danblon. His research focuses on two complementary aspects: 1) the relationship between rhetoric and ancient historiography and more recent historical representations ; 2) the adaptation of the ancient rhetorical curriculum to contemporary needs and audiences.