Research

Philosophy

This Department undertakes research in a range of domains including ethics (applied ethics and its relations with fundamental ethics), philosophical and interdisciplinary anthropology (with special attention given to the contribution of the social sciences, clinical approaches and phenomenology), metaphysics (and its interactions with formal cognitive science), the philosophy of mathematics, contemporary physical cosmology and Christian theology, and aesthetics (especially in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages). Christian metaphysics is another important research theme (in the mainstream of transcendental Thomism and the philosophy of Maurice Blondel).

History

This Department engages in historical research in the following areas: the environment, editorial policies of European printers in the second half of the 15th century, the military history of Belgium at the beginning of the contemporary era, the history of the Belgian justice system in the contemporary period, the history of the police force in Belgian controlled areas in 1795-1914, the study of models, norms and social practices.

Classical Languages and Literatures

The research of this Department covers primarily the history of the Greek religious institutions, the history of mathematics, the political and religious history of Greece during the Imperial Period, historical and comparative linguistics (Indo-European) and the study and edition of Greek hippiatric texts.

French and Romance Languages and Literatures

This Department aims at analysing the workings and functions of language, to decipher its literary creations and to highlight what is at stake for society. These objectives guide the Department in its various investigations into the science of language, Belgian literature, the comparison of literature and the arts, women’s writing, French literature and literary theory.

Germanic Languages and Literatures

The research of this Department covers the German, English and Dutch language areas and it ranges from linguistics to literary and cultural studies. Areas of expertise include the literary and cultural relations between East and West, intercultural experiences, bilingualism, linguistic attitudes, cognitive and functional linguistics, Maeterlinck, translation, and Shakespeare.

History of Art and Archaeology

The research of this Department centres on a wide variety of areas and subjects including European prehistory, the glyptic of Central Asia, Roman archaeology in Italy, Gallo-Roman roads and habitats, gothic architecture, sculpture, stained glass, museology, and contemporary artist’s books and collections. All of this research involves multidisciplinary collaborations.