Qualitative research in humanities

Transdisciplinary Approaches to Vulnerability – Training Series

As intelligible as the term "vulnerability" may seem, being vulnerable, feeling vulnerable, or experiencing vulnerability in an individual or collective context highlights the diverse and varied forms that the notion of vulnerability can take.

From its Latin root vulnus ("wound") to its current meanings, such as fragility or resilience, vulnerability is frequently associated with mental or physical distress. It is also linked to material or systemic failures that impact the autonomy of living beings or threaten human capacities, according to Paul Ricoeur’s approach. The ethical and scientific intrigue in making vulnerability a research subject is therefore inevitably tied to the experience of otherness.

All living beings are vulnerable. As individuals and as part of populations—whether at the local, regional, or continental level—our exposure to environmental conditions can make us vulnerable. Climate emergencies and pandemics are just some examples of this reality. This observation also extends to the systems and institutions established for "living together," particularly when addressing medical deserts, pension crises, limited access to dignified housing, or polluted environments.

Conflicts, migrations, demographic shifts toward aging populations, inequalities, inflammatory processes, pathological or atypical conditions, emerging pandemics, and other chronic diseases are just a few examples of vulnerability conditions that threaten living beings and compromise the exercise of rights and freedoms, as understood by John Rawls, Martha Nussbaum, and Amartya Sen.

The multidimensional concept of vulnerability has sparked significant scientific interest in human and fundamental sciences research, aiming to grasp its complexity. Governments worldwide, international organizations, and civil society actors with expertise in this field are particularly attuned to advances in the study of vulnerability, its approaches, and its categorizations.

This SERIES offers 20 hours of training on transdisciplinary approaches to vulnerability, based on qualitative research in the humanities. It presents diverse perspectives from philosophy, ethics, political science, economics, geography, and information sciences.

The SERIES will explore, among other questions:

• What is the correlation between vulnerability, fragility, resilience, and adaptation?
• What methods in the humanities can be used to identify, approach, understand, and explain vulnerability in living beings and institutions?
• Do categories exist in the study of vulnerability? If so, how are they constructed across different human sciences?
• How should vulnerable populations be approached?
• How can the challenges of addressing vulnerability be better integrated into public policies?
• What is the impact of artificial intelligence on the conditions that make us vulnerable in the age of the technological revolution?

Learning Objectives

• Acquire key qualitative research methods in the humanities to study and address vulnerability.
• Identify correlations and distinctions between vulnerability, fragility, resilience, and adaptation.
• Understand how to approach vulnerable populations.

Course Content

Chapter 1 – Paradigms, Methods, and Disciplinary Knowledge

Chapter 2 – One Health in Question: Caring for Living Beings?  

Chapter 3 – Approaching vulnerable groups

Chapter 4 – Ethics, Autonomy, and Vulnerability

Chapter 5 – Vulnerability and Resilience Throughout the Life Course: Methodological Approaches and Geospatial Determinants. 

Chapter 6 – Resilience and Vulnerability in Public Health Policies. 

Chapter 7 – Multidimensional Vulnerability: Conflicts, Migrations, and Integration. 

Prerequisites

No prerequisites are required to follow this SERIES.

Training Period

Academic year 2025–2026

Duration

20 hours
Mandatory SERIES with elective options