B357/ F311:
Modern France/ Contemporary French Civilization
Dr.
Jonathyne Briggs
Fall 2009
Tuesday/
Thursday 1-2:15
Office: Lindenwood 429 (this office might change during the
semester)
Office
Hours: Tuesday 11:30-12, Thursday 4:30-5:30, and by appointment
Office
Phone: 980-6658
Course description: The history of France from the
French Revolution to today encapsulates many of the issues that dominate both
European and world history—revolution, industrialization, imperialism, war, and
globalization. Historians have often
asserted the central position of French history in these all of these events
and in many cases deservedly so. Using
both primary materials, including film and music, and secondary materials on
these events students will chart France’s shifting economic, political, and
cultural situation during the modern era.
Required texts: Gordon Wright, France in Modern Times
Stendhal,
The Red and the Black
Michael Burns, France and the Dreyfus
Affair
Richard Vinen, The Unfree French
Azouz Begag, Shantytown Kid
All texts
are available at the IUN Bookstore and from most online booksellers (Amazon,
Half, Abebooks, etc.). When possible, these titles are also placed
on the course reserves at the university library and will be available for
checkout for two hours. Students should
consider purchasing these books, but the course reserves should help those who
could be burdened by such expenses.
Extra readings (via ERIS):
Sheryl Kroen,
“Practicing Politics in an Age of Counterrevolution”
Kathryn Amdur,
“The Making of the French Working Class”
Carolyn Eichner,
“André Leo and the Subversion of Gender”
Stéphane Audoine-Rouzeau
and Annette Becker, “Battle, Combat, Violence”
Jonathyne Briggs, “The Pot Head Pixies”
Grading:
Three 3-5 page response papers, 10%
each: The student will write an essay
responding to the longer works. The
student can choose which works he/ she will write on. These essays will respond to specific
questions provided by the instructor via the course Oncourse
page. All work submitted must be that of
the student, and any instance of plagiarism will receive a zero. Two instances will
receive a zero for the course.
French Facebook,
25%: The student
will create a Facebook page for a fictional French
persona assigned by the instructor. The
student will post on her wall, add pictures and other media, and react to
historical events in the class at least twice weekly. This assignment allows for some creativity
and requires additional research.
Two Exams, 15% for midterm and 20%
for final: The
midterm exam consists of short answer and one essay, with the final exam having
a similar format with two essays. The
exams will test on materials from the textbook, the lectures, and the longer
readings.
Class Participation and
Attendance, 10%:
Attendance and participation in
class discussions have the value of a letter grade. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of
class, and the student must alert the instructor after class if he or she is
tardy. Cell phones must be turned off
during class.
The cumulative grading system
for this course is based upon a ten-point, +/- scale: 100-93: A; 92-90 A-;
89-87: B+; 86-83: B; 82-80: B-; 79-77:C+; 76-73:C; 72-70: C-; 69-67: D+; 66-63:
D; 62-60 D-; and 59 and lower (including plagiarism and cheating): F.
The
instructor reserves the right to change the syllabus with ample
notification. An Oncourse page for the course
will contain all changes and notices on an electronic version of the syllabus
Schedule:
Week One—The French
Revolution
September
1: Course Overview/ Historical Background of Absolutism
September
3: Origins of the French Revolution, Wright 24-41
Week
Two—Napoleonic France
Reading: Kroen, “Practicing Politics in an Age of Counterrevolution”
September
8: The Terror and the Directory, Wright 41-63
September
10: Napoleon and the First Empire, Wright 63-88
Week
Three—The Restoration and July Monarchy
Reading
Assignment: Stendhal, The Red and the
Black, First paper due
September
15: The Return of the Monarchy, Wright 89-105
September
17: The Challenge of Liberalism, Wright 106-122
Week Four—1848
and Second Empire
Reading
Assignment: Amdur article (discussion on September 24)
September
22: The Second Republic, Wright 123-135
September
24: Napoleon III, Wright 136-170
Week
Five—Third Republic
Reading
Assignment: Eichner, “André Leo and the Subversion of
Gender”
September
29: The Commune, Wright 205-223
October
1: The Consolidation of the Republic, Wright 223-245
Week Six—Fin de siècle Anxieties
Reading
Assignment: Burns, France and the Dreyfus
Affair, Second paper due
October
6: Political Intrigue and Boulanger, Wright 267-278
October
8: The Dreyfus Affair, Wright 279-288
Week
Seven—Belle époque?
October
13: Paris and Modernity, Wright 246-258, 288-299
October
15—Mid-term Examination
Week
Eight—The Great War
Reading
Assignment: Audoine-Rouzeau
and Becker, “Battle, Combat, Violence”
October
20: The Guns of August, Wright 300-311
October
22: Surviving the Western Front, Wright 312-320
Week
Nine—Interwar Anxiety
October
27: “Civilization Without Sexes”, Wright 321-350
October
29: The Popular Front, Wright 351-362
Week
Ten—Strange Defeat?
November
3: The Allure of Fascism, Wright 363-381
November
5: The Collapse of the Third Republic
Week
Eleven—
Reading
Assignment: Vinen, Third paper due
November
10: The National Revolution, Wright 383-397
November
12: A French Civil War
Week
Twelve—Postwar Traumas and Rebirths
November
17: Film, Days of Glory
November
19: The Return of de Gaulle, Wright 396-410
Week
Thirteen—Decolonization and its Dilemmas
November
24: The Algerian War, Wright 411-417
November
23—Thanksgiving: No Class
Week
Fourteen—The Economic Miracle
Reading
Assignment: Begag, Shantytown Kid, Fourth paper
due
December
1: The Reconfiguration of French Society, Wright 418-422
December
3: The Events of May 1968. Wright 435-447
Week
Fifteen— The Long Eclipse?
Reading
Assignment: Briggs, “The Pot Head Pixies”
December
8: Challenges to the National Order, Wright 423-434
December
10: Multiculturalism in French Society, Wright 459-465
Final Exam—Thursday December 14,
3:00-4:50