Blog

2022 is a year rich in celebrations for Egyptology. The bicentenary of Jean-François Champollion’s deciphering of the hieroglyphs and the centenary of Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings mark this year. In 1822, Jean-François Champollion (1790-1832) announced that he had cracked the mystery of hieroglyphics in his famous Lettre […]

For some time now, you’ve been able to see some changes in the open-access record collection. We started by airing out our collections by changing the furniture: no more squatting on the floor or climbing a stepladder to choose your records. Just pull out a drawer and leaf through the albums. The space also features […]

With the ecological transition, climate issues and biodiversity, cities are going to have to adapt and reinvent themselves. How can public spaces be designed to meet the challenges ahead? Scorching summers, heat islands: this year, cities are feeling the full brunt of climate change. It’s hard to escape the ambient heat of concrete and tar. […]

Witchcraft trials have been the subject of academic study at the UNIL for several decades, and are now attracting renewed interest from the general public. In this context, the BCUL has a heritage that deserves to be (re-)discovered. A series of articles highlighting the treatises on witch-hunting and demonology that haunt the Réserve précieuse. We […]

“You really should read Proust, it’s magnificent!”“But nobody cares about Proust!”“Never read it, I only know the famous madeleine!”“Proust… it’s an inimitable style, it’s 300 pages to talk about a bedroom!” Such were the reactions I received from my colleagues when preparing this article! Marcel Proust’s work seems to fascinate, bore or intimidate… in any […]

400 years ago, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin dit Molière, one of France’s most illustrious comedians and playwrights, was born in Paris. We are taking this opportunity to pay tribute to him through a selection of documents, on display in the Agora of the BCUL, site Riponne, until January 2023. The selection is also available on eLectures. Why […]