Damien Goetz

Social, Political, and Environmental Issues (SPE)

Course Director

The module includes lecture sessions and computer lab sessions. Total number of 1.5-hour sessions, excluding the exam: 18, of which 11 are lecture sessions, 5 are computer lab sessions, and 2 are for the written exam. Lecture Hall Sessions The lecture hall sessions are devoted partly to presenting course content and partly to interacting with students. Four major themes are covered during the sessions: - Social classes, diversity, and beliefs: 4 sessions - “Other” societies (introductory elements of anthropology): 2 sessions - Criticism, controversies, and social movements: 3 sessions - Politics of the Anthropocene: 2 sessions For each of these themes, an analytical model and the corresponding forms of evidence validation are presented. A handout is provided to students. Before each session, a newspaper article addressing issues related to the lecture (in an “opinion piece” format, debate pages of major daily newspapers, etc.) is distributed to students. During the lecture and in interactive sessions with students, this article is used to highlight the relevance of the course’s topics and the presented analytical model to current events. Small-Group Sessions The objective of the small-group sessions is to continue the process of studying and understanding analytical models in the social sciences by applying them to specific issues and starting with the students themselves: it is the students who will be required to present a social science analysis by giving a presentation on a book they have read. At the beginning of the course, students divide into groups of three and choose a book from among the 40 titles offered to them. They have one month to read the book and prepare a presentation. They receive guidance from a CSI faculty member: one week before the presentation, a “preparation session” is held during which students present their work to the tutor and can seek their help to delve deeper into the subject or improve their understanding. For the PC sessions, the class is divided into five groups. At each session, two books are presented. The presentations last 20 minutes, with 25 minutes set aside for comments and a question-and-answer period. The books were selected so that the two presented at each session would encourage the emergence of contrasting reflections and debates regarding differing analytical approaches to collective phenomena in the social sciences, and so as to cover a consistent range of topics. In total, the topics covered in the four seminar sessions are as follows: Social Issues The Construction of Modern Political Society Science, Technology, and Society Environmental Conflicts In addition to the four sessions dedicated to presentations, one session is devoted to preparing for the in-class exam.

Elective Course Period (October and January)

Course Director

Resources and Energy Transition

Course Director

Topics Covered Exploration and extraction technologies; The concepts of resources, reserves, and scarcity; The organization of extractive industries; The role of fossil fuel resources in the energy transition; The role of recycling; Resource pricing and the financialization of markets; The link between resources and development, the “resource curse” in mining and oil The course combines presentations by faculty researchers from the school (R. Coulomb, P-N. Giraud, M. Glachant, D. Goetz) and shorter presentations by professionals (from companies, NGOs, and regulatory agencies).

Ground and Basement (G&B) Option

Course Director

The track’s curriculum includes track-specific intensive sessions, supplemented by specialized courses, one of which is required. The track’s core curriculum consists of two weeks of instruction in the second year and four weeks of instruction in the third year. The second-year block [curriculum] aims to introduce students to the various industrial sectors involved in the exploitation and development of the subsurface, and then to familiarize them with the specific characteristics of subsurface-related projects (subsurface property rights and relations with public authorities, underground projects and the environment, risks specific to underground projects, and financing of subsurface-related projects). The third-year segment aims to introduce students to the analysis of the multiphysical behavior of a rock mass and its structures. Participation in the specialized course “Practical Geology,” which complements training in the observation and understanding of a geological environment (S3), is strongly recommended for students in this track. In addition, the School’s curriculum includes numerous other specialized courses related to this track, allowing students who wish to do so to further their education. These include: Descriptive and Applied Mineralogy; Gemology; Hydrogeology; Subsurface Geophysics; Exploration Geophysics; Geochemistry for Engineers; Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology; Structural Analysis; Current Topics in Geosciences; Climate Dynamics; Ecology and the Environment; Environmental Impacts; Natural Hazards. The elective project, or final thesis, is the culmination of the program at the School. Within the Soil and Subsurface track, this project is always an R&D-type project, generally more development-oriented than research-oriented. For students interested in topics related to market finance, the track—even though it does not include courses directly related to the subject—allows them to complete their final thesis in this field (related, of course, to the markets for petroleum products or mineral resources). Some examples of topics: Preliminary technical and economic feasibility study of the Tamgak deposit, AREVA, Alain Besson, Class of 2005 Analysis and improvement of blasting practices in an aggregate quarry, COLAS, Cécile Coulombez, Class of 2004 Pre-feasibility study of an underground aggregate quarry, LAFARGE, Anne-Laure Calvez, Class of 2004 Technical and economic modeling of the cobalt supply chain: from deposit to cathode, MANAGEM, Hubert Dumon, Class of 2002: Influence of Freezing on the Stability of Structures at the Cigar Lake Mine, AREVA, Jean-Felix Hubert, Class of 2006: Optimization and Planning of the Mining of Oxidized Nickel Deposits in New Caledonia, Eramet, Vincent Perin, Class of 2005: “Pre-feasibility study for the development of the Bakouma uranium deposit in the Central African Republic,” Areva, Anja Bechter, Class of 2005 Resources: The program draws on the School’s Geosciences Center, which has more than 50 full-time researchers covering a broad spectrum of expertise and fields of activity, and which maintains close ties with industry partners in the sector. In addition, the Center has developed its own simulation tools dedicated to the study of underground projects and has extensive experimental resources that support the work carried out in this specialization. In addition to this strong internal support from the School, the courses offered in the specialization feature significant participation from industry representatives (AREVA, ERAMET, TOTAL, EIFFAGE, SOLETANCHE BACHY, etc.). Finally, the course periods alternate between classroom lectures, laboratory practicals, and industrial site visits. This last component is particularly important, as the visits account for nearly 50% of the track’s time and are designed to allow students to explore construction sites or projects on a global scale (visits to Canada in 2006 and 2011, to Scotland and Sweden in 2007, to Australia and New Caledonia in 2008, to Namibia and South Africa in 2009, to Indonesia in 2010, and to the United States in 2012). In addition, the faculty associated with this track is heavily involved in supervising senior capstone projects.