Instructor: McRae Amoss
Office hours:
Office: Grainger 302
M 2:00-2:50
Office telephone: 395-2177
T 10:50-11:30
W 1:00-1:50
F 9:00-9:50
amossbm@longwood.edu
and by appointment
Course Description: A study of French civilization and culture with emphasis on social institutions of the current century. Prerequisite: French 202. 3 credits.
Texts:
Edmiston, William F. and Annie Duménil. La France contemporaine.
3rd ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2005.
La France contemporaine textbook website
Steele, Ross et al. La civilisation française en évolution I: Institutions et culture avant la Ve République. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1996.
The on-line editions of Libération, Le Monde, and Le Figaro.
Course objectives:
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
Knowledge:
1. Identify the principle rivers, cities, provinces, mountain ranges, and borders of France.Class Schedule:
2. Describe and discuss the political, social, and cultural institutions of contemporary France, making comparisons between these and parallel American institutions.
3. Understand and employ the lexical items, including acronyms, that are in current use in discussions of these institutions.
4. Describe the political, social, and intellectual developments that inform French history and civilization and identify the associated artistic and literary achievements.
5. Explain the ideas that form the basis for the "cultural baggage" that affects young, educated French people's attitudes towards the historical events and figures and cultural movements of their country.
Skills:
6. Present information on and analysis of French culture and civilization through formal writing, written and oral exposés, and web site construction.
Dispositions:
7. Appreciate the tensions and historical conflicts among different social, religious, political and racial groups in French history and their various understandings of social justice.
Final exam: Monday, April 30, 11:30a.m.- 2p.m.
Course Requirements:
Comptes rendus et fiches de lecture
Exams
Presence and participation
Final exam
Exposés oraux
Web page
or PowerPoint presentation
Mémoire
Grading: The final grade will be based on comptes rendus and fiches de lecture (10%), mid-term exams (20%), presence and participation (10%), a final comprehensive exam (20%), a web page and oral presentation, and a mémoire (40)%.
Comptes-rendus de films
Au cours du semestre, chaque étudiant visionnera trois
films (un de chaque groupe), qui ont été choisis pour représenter
les différentes périodes historiques en France:
Groupe 1:Le Retour de Martin Guerre (PN1995.9.F67 R469 1982 DVD and VHS); La reine Margot; Tous les
matins du monde (PN1995.9.F67
A44 1991 VHS)
Groupe 2: Danton (PN1997
.D36x VHS); L'Anglaise et le duc ();
Les Enfants du paradis
(PN1995.9.F67 E53 VHS); Germinal
(PQ2528 .E54 1998 VHS); Camille
Claudel (PN1997 .C3563 1989 VHS)
Groupe 3: La Grande Illusion (PN1997
.G69 VHS); Au revoir les enfants (PN1997 .A86 1986 VHS); Le
Chambon: la colline aux mille enfants (PN1995.9.F67 C45 1994 VHS); Indochine
(PN1995.9.F67 I53 1992 DVD and
VHS); La bataille d'Alger ( DVD); Le chagrin et la pitié (D802.F82
C623 1969 DVD)
Par la suite, vous ferez un compte rendu critique du film. En écrivant deux ou trois paragraphes (250 mots) bien organisés vous répondrez aux questions suivantes:
Web page (or PowerPoint presentation) and exposé oral
The exposé will be based on your choice of an article (see above)
that leads you to investigate a broader aspect of French culture:
régionalisme,
politique, la famille, travail et temps libre, protection sociale, religion,
immigration, éducation, économie, etc. You will
construct a web page or Powerpoint presentation that presents your information on and analysis of
this aspect of French culture. (The intended audience for your web
site will be young French speakers from elsewhere who intend to settle in France.) Your
written and oral exposé will consist of an explanation of your web
site: you will identify the problem that interests you, relate the questions
you asked yourself about this problem, explain how you went about finding
answers to the questions (including the resources you consulted and the
links you established in the web site), and explain the significance of
the problem in France today. To avoid duplication, you must consult
the instructor and receive approval for the subject of your web site.
Here is the form the instructor will use to evaluate
your web site and exposé.
Mémoire and exposé oral
The mémoire will be a research paper on a subject important
in French history. Once you have chosen the subject that interests
you, you must formulate a thesis that your paper will develop. In
class, we will discuss the different stages in the process of developing
your paper.
Attendance Policy: The attendance policy for this course is the same as the college policy in the college catalogue and the student handbook.
Honor Code: Students are expected to live by the Longwood College Honor Code. All work done for the class must be pledged.
Quizzes and Exams: Quizzes and Exams must be taken at the scheduled time except in the case of an excused absence from class (illness, participation in a college-sponsored activity, or recognizable emergency).
Bibliography:
References required of all students:
Edmiston, William F. and Annie Duménil. La France contemporaine. 3rd ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2005.
Steele, Ross et al. La civilisation française en évolution I: Institutions et culture avant la Ve République. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1996.
Recommended references:
Carroll, Raymonde. Evidences invisibles. Cultural Misunderstandings:
the French-American Experience. Trans. Carol Volk. Chicago,
U of Chicago P, 1988.
Darnton, Robert. The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French
Cultural History. New York: Basic Books, 1984.
Duby, Georges. France in the Middle Ages 987-1460. Oxford: Blackwell,
1991.
Jones, Colin. Cambridge Illustrated History of France. New York:
Cambridge UP, 1994.
Kritzman, Lawrence D. Columbia History of Twentieth-Century
French Thought. New York, Columbia UP, 2006.
Nora, Pierre, ed. Realms of Memory: Rethinking the French
Past. New York: Columbia UP, 1996.
Weber, Eugen Joseph. My France: Politics, Culture, Myth. Cambridge
[MA]: Belknap, 1991.
Winock, Michel. Parlez-moi de la France. Paris:
Seuil--Points, 1997.