Duration
24h Th
Number of credits
| Master in agricultural bioengineering (120 ECTS) | 2 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
1. The sociological approach
- Sociological discourse, its specificity, particularly in distinguishing it from other human sciences.
- The status of space in sociology, the space of social life is not a cartographical universe, a neutral and undifferentiated milieu, it is rather a topological universe, a network of socially fashioned places.
2. Rurality in the XXIième century
- Representations and rural realities today. Correcting commonly held notions that in fact witness to a profound ignorance of the reality; or even the very existence, of the rural. Examination of data with a view to readjusting our apprehension of rural phenomena, demography, economic activities, employment, etc...
- Rural sociability and urbanization theory. How can we characterize rural sociability today in a largely urbanized society?
- The role and specific place of agriculture. Its present situation, its foreseeable evolution and the impact that will have in the land management area.
3. What will be the status of the rural in the XXIième century?
- The rural Occident: Is rural space just a land reserve? Is it empty essentially because it has not yet been built on? The environmental stakes: what are they and for whom? Should we sacralize nature? What will be the place of rural space in a world where we reason more and more in real time and virtual space?
- The rural in developing countries: rural development and the implicit model of society, progess or deculturation? Is carrying out rural development simply making a technical gesture or is it above all a political gesture? Isn't it also a gesture with far-reaching symbolic consequences? The stakes of development, actors and relationships to power.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The goal of this course is to introduce non-sociology students to sociological procedures in working on problematics of rurality and rural development from a specifically sociological viewpoint.
Additionally, being introduced to sociological procedures in a programme centred on rural development means acquiring tools that will allow one to understand the impact of social determinants on the organization of societes and human activities and, particularly, on economic activity.
After completing the course the student is expected to
By the end, the students should be capable of adopting the sociological perspective in analysing rural problematics. He shoul furthermore be able to implement the investigatory methods proper to sociology in studying social phenomena linked to rurality
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
There is no prerequisite
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
lectures
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
Lectures : 24h
Recommended or required readings
A detailed course outline is available to students. Students must also read five recent articles listed rural sociology varies from one year to another.
Assessment methods and criteria
Written examination (100%)
Work placement(s)
No training
Organizational remarks
not applicable
Contacts
BODSON Daniel
Bât. GE Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech
Passage des Déportés 2
5030 Gembloux