"Anthropocene" has been trending in environmental circles since the onset of the new millennium. It first caught public attention when scientists used it to describe the human impact on Earth's biosphere. Soon, also a lively discussion started amongst environmentalists perturbed by the destruction of earth's biosphere, because of human induced climate change. In the field of environmental and earth sciences there followed a strong initiative for a new geological epoch called the "Anthropocene". It implied that the current scientific stratigraphic dating system of the Earth requires revision. Humankind is said to have disrupted the global support system of life on planet Earth to the extent that we are heading for an imminent disaster. Resource scarcity, environmental destruction and climate change are considered as the symptoms of these human activities. In the early phase of the emergent public discourse the pronounced human ecological footprint was said to have started with the onset of the eighteenth century's British Industrial Revolution. By the early 2000s scientists, activists and politicians warned we were heading towards an imminent crisis. The large-scale extermination of many living organisms was said to have pointed directly to human resource over-consumption. Humankind has now left a profound imprint on geological processes that previously were shaped only by nature. Geologists have not yet reached consensus on an "Anthropocene epoch". One group views climate change as a natural process. Working in strictly demarcated parameters of so-called "golden spikes" registering in sophisticated geoscientific classification hierarchies, many are critical of collaboration with non-geological scientists. They insist that traces of the "human footprint" in most parts of the planet, do qualify as indicators of a new geological epoch. Several geoscientists have come out in support of the idea of an Anthropocene epoch. An outstanding feature of their approach to geoscience has been to integrate the field into comprehensive interdisciplinary study groups focusing on the effects of human activities on earth. Geological sciences, they insist, should now focus more on the present. The focus of working on the past - primarily on Earth's history "before humankind" - should shift to the present and the imminent future. In 2018, the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) rejected a proposal for the formalisation of the Anthropocene by a specialised Anthropocene Working Group (AWG). Yet, the debate continues in the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). It may take several years before the Anthropocene epoch is formally accepted. In the discipline of History, the discussion on the Anthropocene implies that the natural and social/human sciences should move forward towards a new historical consciousness of a distant past and explore contemporary history with a view to the future. There have been several calls for a more integrated endeavour and ethical self-consciousness for contemplating Earth's past, present and future. SUMMARY OF CONTENT This brief overview concerns the origins of the concept "Anthropocene" at the start of the new millennium in the 2000s. The reader is familiarised with definitions of the term and its use by the Nobel Laureate, Paul Crutzen. The word Anthropocene, first coined in 1922 by Russia's Aleksei Pavlov (1854-1929), forms part of Crutzen's assessment of Teilhardt de Chardin and Vernadsky's conception of a noösphere that emerged in the 20th century as an impressive assemblage of integrated knowledge. Crutzen's discontent with the term "global change" in the field of atmospheric science, sparked off a discussion on the new "Anthropocene epoch" in international science institutions. Simultaneously, global society, especially environmental activists, started using the term to describe the profound changes in Earth's natural systems as a result of rapid human-induced disruptions of natural systems. The United Nations Organisation created an awareness among its member states on a critical phase of human-induced change on planet Earth. Of growing concern was global climate change, pollution, and the destruction of Earth's life-sustaining natural ecosystems. The positive mainstream response to the Anthropocene as a new terminological twist in the discourse, had its origins in the 1960s when environmental awareness flourished primarily in Western democracies in all parts of the world. Mounting fears, inter alia, about fossil fuel that induced acid rain, causing respiratory problems for plants and humans living in urban industrial complexes all over the planet contributed to a sense of environmental awareness. Therefore, the subsequent call for an Anthropocene epoch, came at a time when globalisation and modern communications systems had extended at exponential rates in all parts of the world. Aware of waste accumulation, air pollution and anthropogenic destruction of ecosystems, mainstream global human society readily embraced the idea of the Anthropocene as a moral commitment to the environment. However, in academia, the concept was slow to gain traction. Despite several preliminary forays on the topic, the first comprehensive geosciences research on the Anthropocene only emerged in the 2010s. That was after the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) established an Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) to explore the idea of a new epoch - one which had the potential to factually verify the end of the Holocene in the comprehensive field of geosciences. The institutional politics of engagement between a mature "establishment" and a group of courageous and well-informed mavericks and their growing support base in other disciplines, sheds light on a creative research phase in many academic circles. There is evidence of interaction, multi-faceted and transdisciplinary research, as well as a pronounced shift in making use of history - in the context of the past, the present and even the future - to develop complex and advanced database modelling systems to make new assessments and predictions. But obstacles remain. In 2018 the ICS declined a request for the approval of the Anthropocene as a new geological epoch. Yet, supporters of the new "epoch" remained determined to persevere in the realisation of their objective. By engaging with experts in a variety of natural and social/human sciences, a new and mainly younger generation of geoscientists gained valuable ethical insights. In many cases they have not been over-eager to summarily accept new trends and potentially "spurious" thinking on long held views of earth's intrinsic history. The lively ongoing debate has attracted more participation of researchers working beyond the natural sciences to explore the Anthropocene as a comprehensive expression of an undesirable human domination and wanton destruction of Earth's biodiversity. There are indications of cross-fertilisation in advanced thinking on the Anthropocene in a variety of disciplines. In terms of history and its philosophy, a sense of cohesion in the natural sciences and social/human sciences has emerged from collaborative thinking about the Anthropocene. In the discipline of History there is a keen awareness of the need to explore new methodologies, but a collective historical consciousness remains problematic. For example, historians working in the field of hermeneutics acknowledge their limitations of insight into emergent views on the history of nature. Their historical consciousness is often too confined to customary knowledge of specific human cultures and places. However, there are indications of far more comprehensive forays into incorporating new ideas in the natural sciences. Several well-informed historians have promoted the need for the reconsideration and relevance of current source materials and existing methodologies. JR McNeill, for one, recently called on a new generation of historians to focus on an array of new technologies and ideas previously inaccessible to historians, to shed light on the past and the present in exploring the Anthropocene.

Sedert die vroeë 2000's het die "Antroposeen" 'n gonswoord geword waarvan natuur- en menswetenskaplikes asook die breë samelewing kennis geneem het. 'n Voorgestelde klassifisering van 'n "Antroposeen-epog" in die geologiese stratigrafie van die planeet, beteken dat die huidige geologiese stratigrafiese tydsindeling uitgebrei word. In werklikheid word verklaar dat meer dissiplines selfs buite die natuurwetenskappe, nodig is om kennis te neem van die toenemende mensgedrewe vernietiging van die aardse ondersteuningstelsel wat lewe onderhou. Hulpbronskaarsheid, omgewingsvernietiging en klimaatsverandering is die gevolg van die mensdom se ekologiese voetspoor. Daar word aanvaar dat vooruitgang en ongebreidelde ekonomiese groei nie volhoubaar is nie. Die toenemende uitwissing van endemiese plant- en dierspesies dui regstreeks op die antropogeniese oorbenutting van menslike hulpbronne. Die mensdom word tans selfs as die agent van omvangryke geologiese verandering uitgesonder - vandaar die gebruik van die term "Antroposeen". Geowetenskaplikes het nog nie konsensus oor die Antroposeen bereik nie. Een groep reken klimaatsverandering is bloot 'n natuurlike proses. Heelwat is krities teenoor die potensiële waarde van samewerking met wetenskaplikes in ander vertakkings van die natuur- en menswetenskappe. Hulle is huiwerig om, sonder die nodige bewysgronde, veranderinge van "sogenaamde nuwe insigte" in die breër raamwerk buite hul spesialiteitsterreine te aanvaar. Op hul beurt meen Antroposeen-voorstanders die tyd is ryp vir die aaneenskakeling van geowetenskappe by ander natuur- en menswetenskappe. Ten spyte van omvattende internasionale media-publisiteit en akademiese navorsingswerk, het die Internasionale Kommissie vir Stratigrafie (IKS) in 2018 die voorstel vir 'n nuwe "Antroposeen-epog" deur 'n spesialis Antroposeen Werkgroep (AWG) van die hand gewys. Die werkgroep het juis in opdrag van die kommissie gewerk. Die debat duur egter voort in die Internasionale Unie van Geologiese Wetenskappe (IUGW). Dit mag etlike jare duur voordat die Antroposeen as epog erken word. In Geskiedenis as dissipline, beteken dit dat 'n nuwe historiese bewussyn ontwikkel, waarin vereis word dat die gesprek oor die Antroposeen natuur- en menswetenskappe betrek. Daaruit moet 'n etiese selfbewussyn ontspring om verantwoordelik oor die aarde se verlede, hede en toekoms te besin.

La evaluación de la formación universitaria en la Enseñanza del Francés, realizada por los entes patronales, se ve reflejada en las condiciones del contrato laboral de los egresados de este campo del conocimiento. El resultado de dicha valoración orienta a los formadores dado el compromiso educativo de proveer a la sociedad profesionistas que respondan a sus necesidades emergentes. En este artículo se realizó una entrevista abierta a 19 empleadores de diferentes niveles educativos y modalidades de enseñanza del francés, en la ciudad de Puebla, México, durante el 2014, abordando su apreciación sobre la calidad de la formación de competencias: ocupacionales, humanas y de mercado. Los resultados convergen en algunos puntos: necesidad de elevación del nivel de certificación de lengua, especialización de FOS (negocios y turismo), orientación al público de educación básica y media superior, relaciones públicas y comunicación, y el manejo de marketing. La concientización de las necesidades explícitas señaladas por el sector patronal, permite vislumbrar los cambios que experimenta la demanda en este momento histórico en cuanto a la formación de formadores de francés lengua extranjera se refiere. El resultado de este trabajo puede ser útil a los formadores de profesores de lengua extranjera en general, en un macro-contexto que rebase los límites del contexto de estudio.

The evaluation of university formation in the teaching of French, made by the employer entities is reflected in the conditions of the employment contract of the graduates of this field of knowledge. The result of this assessment, guides trainers given the commitment to provide educational professionals to society, to meet their emerging needs. In this article an unstructured interview with 19 employers from different educational levels and modalities of teaching French was performed in the city of Puebla, México, addressing their judgment as to the quality of the formation of skills: occupational, human and marketing. The results converge on some points: The need to raise the level of language, specialization of FOS (business and tourism), facing the public of basic and high school education, public relations, communication management and marketing. Explicit awareness of the needs identified by the employer sector offers a glimpse of the changes in demand in this historical moment in terms of the training of trainers of French language is refereed. The result of this work can be useful to foreign language teacher educators in general, on a macro - context that goes beyond the limits of the study context.

La lenteur est un trait inhérent ou imposé au mouvement propre à l'univers habité par des rythmes multiples ; l'émancipation historique humaine est passée d'une forte attache au naturel à son artificialité, ce qui implique des altérations rythmiques, aujourd'hui dominées tout particulièrement par la vitesse des technologies de la communication par un ensemble de symboles appartenant à la noosphère où la rapidité est mise en exergue en tant qu'emblème omniprésent à tous les niveaux de la viehumaine, qui se traduit par une cosmovision dromophile. À partir de ce cadre axiologique, la lenteur est signifiée à la fois comme une opposition et comme une sorte de contre-culture, de même que sa richesse sémiotique et métaphorique, sous les formes de subjectivation ancrée dans le faire doucement, le calme, l'empressement et la mesure dans la « perte » de temps est mise en valeur, afin d'apporter une contribution esthétique d'un multivers.

Slowness is an inherent or imposed feature to consubstantial movement to the universe inhabited by multiple rhythms; the historical human emancipation has travelled from a strong attachment to the natural toward its artificiality, which involves rhythmical alterations dominated today by the speed of communication technologies, especially, by a group of symbols belonging to the noosphere in which the value of the speed is hoisted as an omnipresent emblem in all levels of human life, which is translated into a dromophilic cosmovision. From this axiological framework, slowness is therefore defined as opposition and as a kind of counterculture, at the same time that its semiotic and metaphorical richness is underscored in forms of subjectivation anchored to the poky, calm, the rush itself and rhythm in the "loss" of time, all this as an esthetic contribution of a multiverse.

La lentitud es un rasgo inherente o impuesto al movimiento consustancial al universo habitado por ritmos múltiples; la histórica emancipación humana ha transitado de un fuerte apego a lo natural hacia su artificialidad, lo que conlleva alteraciones rítmicas dominadas hoy por la velocidad de las tecnologías de la comunicación, especialmente, por un conjunto de símbolos pertenecientes a la noosfera en donde se enarbola el valor de la celeridad como emblema omnipresente en todos los niveles de la vida humana, que se traduce en una cosmovisión dromofílica. Desde este marco axiológico, la lentitud es significada a la vez como oposición y como una especie de contracultura, al mismo tiempo que se subraya su riqueza semiótica y metafórica en formas de subjetivación ancladas en lo despacio, el sosiego, el afán propio y el acompasamiento en la "pérdida" de tiempo, todo ello como contribución estética de un multiverso.

The nature of humanness is discussed from observations made by Aristotle in 4th-century Greece, through to those of Charles Darwin, Teilhard de Chardin and William Shakespeare. Attempts to define humanness upon a narrow range of criteria, as some have tried, is argued as flawed, for humanness is more elusive than a single or a few demonstrated phenomena. The path that Darwin pursued in determining the place of humans in nature in his book The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex is assessed from a 19thcentury perspective; the difficulties he faced, both personally and with the broader public, are reviewed and then evaluated in a modern context. Darwin's thesis adheres to scientific principles, and is debated, defended and later verified on these principles. This is somewhat at variance to the approach adopted by the priest-scientist de Chardin a century later in his major work, The Phenomenon of Man-in which an attempt is made to reconcile a deep Christian faith with science. De Chardin scores well from a theological viewpoint, but fails on scientific grounds as his thesis moves beyond the realms of empiricism into mysticism. Surprisingly, de Chardin's predicament of a future wherein human evolution enters a new stage of consciousness through the noosphere (an invisible layer of thought encompassing the globe) has been partially realised through the worldwide web, although the nature of the web is almost certainly not what de Chardin might have anticipated, or desired. Science too fails to answer all, particularly the nature of God. Darwin considered the Creator in several of his works and does not dismiss the concept of a farseeing deity, although we are left with the notion that he died agnostic. Humanness is derived from an elevated moral code and this is reflected in our arts, particularly literature, wherein we may temporally reflect upon quintessential human traits such as mercy. However, expression of the arts is only achievable by the individual being part of a greater whole: the human community, the essence of which is distilled in the Bantu concept of ubuntu, wherein humanness is best realised through the act of living in harmony.