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Symposium

The Animal

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    Albrecht Dürer, Lucan (1505) - Public domain.

    2026–2027 Opening Symposium

    Animals

    More than ever, animals have become an issue: ecological (health and environmental crises), social, economic, and political (agriculture and livestock farming), legal, and philosophical. In recent years, the field of animal studies has expanded considerably.

    The Collège de France’s 2026 opening symposium aims to offer an in-depth examination of some of these issues through an interdisciplinary approach spanning the life and natural sciences, the humanities, literature, the history of religions, and law. From foundational texts to contemporary challenges of coexistence, from animal intelligence to ethical and legal questions, it explores how animals challenge our thinking and reshape our responsibility within the living world. Guided by a central principle: our understanding of animals cannot be separated from our understanding of humans. Any inquiry into animals necessarily involves an understanding of humanity, its knowledge, its practices, and its norms.

    Scientific Committee: Nalini Anantharaman, Thomas Lecuit, Antoine Lilti, William Marx, and Alain Prochiantz.

    Program

    The Animal: Philosophical Dialogue and Literary Interpretations
    Florence Burgat, Claudine Tiercelin & Éric Ruf

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    The animal problem
    William Marx

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    Animals in the Bible
    Thomas Römer

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    The Biologist's View of Animals: Machine, Organism, Agent
    Thomas Lecuit

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    The Orangutan in Enlightenment Anthropology
    Silvia Sebastiani

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    Zoopoetic Arches: Literature and Contemporary Floods
    Anne Simon

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    The Horse: Before and After Our Shared History
    Ludovic Orlando

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    Are animal diseases acts of vengeance against humans?
    Frédéric Keck

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    Preclinical and Clinical Studies in Translational Research
    Erwan Bézard

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    Animals in the Law: The Roman Perspective
    Dario Mantovani

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    The Place of Humans in Biology Compared to Animals: Just Another Animal, or the Cause of the Worst Biodiversity Crisis?
    Virginie Courtier-Orgogozo

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    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    Sapiens in the History of Life: To Be or Not to Be an Animal
    Alain Prochiantz

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    The Origins of Language: What Can Our Primate Cousins Teach Us?
    Adrien Meguerditchian

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    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    The Cognitive Complexity of a Miniaturized Brain: Cognition and the Brain in Bees
    Martin Giurfa

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    Collective Movements in Animal Groups: When a School of Fish Encounters AI, Virtual Reality, Robots, and Drones
    Clément Sire

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    Conceiving of Animal Thought? Some Attempts in Ancient and Medieval India
    Isabelle Ratié

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    From Tragedy to Farce: Variations on the Greek Sacrifice as Murder
    Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge

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    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    The Torments of an Empathetic Predator
    Charles Stépanoff

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    From “What Makes Us Human” to Philosophical Ethology
    Dominique Lestel

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    Symposium
    The Animal
    Marguerite-de-Navarre Amphitheater, Marcelin-Berthelot Site
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    See also

    Opening symposia