Topics for theses and internships

This non-exhaustive list can help you to think about the subject of your bachelor final dissertation, your thesis project, your thesis or a possible internship by suggesting thematic possibilities, most of which are related to my teaching and/or my research. These can be carried out in a field in Liège or abroad (countries in the North or South), with various populations (urban, rural, migrant or not; adults or children, etc.) and in a comparative manner in some cases.

You may, of course, suggest topics that do not fit into the suggested thematic areas.

Contemporary forms of kinship, parenthood and the family

Different forms of fatherhood
Different forms of motherhood
Plural and multi-parent families
Single-parent families
Homo-parent families
Recomposed families
Dispersed (transnational) families
Young children, Children and adolescents in their families
Intergenerational relations within the family

Procreation and early childhood

Pregnancy and childbirth
Assisted reproductive technologies and surrogate motherhood
Child development
The woman's personal and professional environment (family, friends, medical staff) friends, medical staff) of pregnant women, women in childbirth and small children

Children and youth cultures

Children/ young people in the streetChildren and young people in playgrounds
Children/ young people at school
Children/ young people in scout camps, holiday camps, etc.
Children/ young people and religion
Children/ young people and parenthood (learning, practices, representations, terminology, relationships, etc.)

Institutions

Institutional care (crèches, kindergartens, schools, boarding schools, nurseries, orphanages, closed centres, medical services, etc.) for infants, children and adolescents
The relationship between the family and the care structures for infants, children (crèches, kindergartens, schools, boarding schools, nurseries, orphanages, closed centres, medical services, etc.) and adolescents Conceptions of childhood and adolescence (in institutions, ASBLs, NGOs, in texts, in public policy, at the ONE, etc.) ) and adolescence
Conceptions of childhood and adolescence (in institutions, ASBLs, NGOs, in texts, in public policies, at the ONE, etc.).

Migration

Migrants'/refugees' relations with their country of origin (travel, visits, parcels, cassettes, videos, means of communication: telephone, internet, skype, etc.)
Migrants' children's travels in their country of origin (holidays, stays, etc.)
Relations between migrants/refugees and local populations
‘Early’ pregnancies and marriages
Unaccompanied minors
The transnational family
Centres and NPOs providing care/assistance to migrants/refugees
Death
Bodies and identities

Religious

Religious practices (Religions of the Book, New Churches, “Neo-religions”, shamanism, etc.)
Religious institutions
Body, person, subject & religion/religiousness

Anthropology of illness

Health/illness and misfortune
Genetic illnesses

New technologies

Conceptions of the body, the person and the subject in virtual worlds
Conceptions of kinship and relations between men/women/the environment in virtual worlds

Food insecurity

Everyday poverty
Food strategies in precarious situations
Institutional aid/devices as seen by the population

Heritagization

Cultural practices
Children and childhood in heritagization processes

Benjamin Rubbers

Marie Schnitzler

Véronique Servais

General themes:

Anthropology of nature and human-animal relations
Anthropology of communication
Anthropology of affects and sensitivities
Anthropology of psychology

More details:

1) Subjects that are part of current research in the Anthropology of Communication Department

The student is, of course, free to construct his or her own subject of study, but this must be done within a general framework set by the research programme in which it is included. All this must be discussed before the study begins.

Ethnographing zoos/visiting zoos. Zoos are relics of the past, but they continue to convey a certain conception of nature and animals. This is passed on, in particular, through the experience of visiting a zoo. In this sense, zoos can be seen as important cultural mechanisms for learning about human distinction. This is why ethnographing zoo visits and looking at the way visitors relate to animals is an important part of understanding how our society constructs its relationship with animals, and how we instil this in our children.
Ethnography of situations of enchantment. In collaboration with A. Halloy, from the University of Nice, we conducted research into the experience of enchantment in very different cultural contexts. In particular, we sought to identify the devices that lead to enchanted experiences, and to characterise the nature of these experiences more precisely. These experiences are likely to occur in a wide range of situations: immersion in nature, encounters with wild animals, rituals, dances, the practice of martial arts, and so on. It would now be interesting to continue this research by extending the ethnographic fieldwork.
Ethnography of zootherapy practices. The aim here is to place these practices in an anthropological framework, to explore the presuppositions that guide them, the way in which they are put into practice and the infra-language communication modalities that are activated in contact with animals. The place of an animal within an institution may also be addressed.
Ethnography of animal handler-primate-researcher interactions in a cognitive ethology laboratory. The aim of this dissertation would be both ethnographic and epistemological. The aim would be to see in concrete terms how animal cognition is constructed in these laboratories, and what place is given to the subjectivity, personality and emotions of animals (and humans). This study comes under the heading of the anthropology of science. It is an important piece of work with potentially far-reaching implications, as it could show that the validity of such experimental work is limited.
Anthropology of affects and affective cultures in groups of chimpanzees in a zoo. The aim is to study modes of reaction to others in two different captive groups, in order to highlight cultural differences in this area.

2) Fieldwork that is not directly related to current research but to themes addressed by the Anthropology of Communication Department

Local ecological knowledge (animals/cultures)
Alternative animal husbandry and farming practices
Animal trainers (dogs, horses, wild animals, etc.), hunters, breeders, etc.
Green tourism
Ethnographies of hunting, gathering, walking and contemporary practices in nature
Biographies of ’great men‘ or ’great women' reputed to have had exceptional contact with animals
Study of the bond with pets via a study of forms of mourning and absence when an animal dies
Anthropological studies of psychotherapeutic practices, via immersion in a psychiatric field.

3) Others

It is of course possible to propose subjects that fall outside these themes. All these subjects must be based on in-depth ethnography.

updated on 7/30/25