| Unit name | France during the Second World War: culture, politics and society |
|---|---|
| Unit code | FREN20070 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Faucher |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None. |
| School/department | Department of French |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will be taught by Dr Charlotte Faucher.
Why is this unit important?
This unit encourages students to critically engage with key concepts and issues in the political, military, social and cultural history of the Second World War and its aftermaths in global France. It considers the diversity and complexity of French experiences in the metropole, the colonies and beyond. It enables students to select, engage with, and assess primary sources, and allows them to reflect on the presentation of complex historical moments to a large audience thanks to a museum visit and a coursework linked to public engagement. The unit facilitates the acquisition of teamwork skills culminating in a portfolio and an oral presentation. Finally, it enables students to formulate and articulate historical arguments both orally, before the members of the seminar, and in written form, in assessed work. This is important preparation for the final year of the degree and will be valuable employment skills too.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit engages with important debates in French history, culture and society. It is likely that you will have already encountered some of these debates in your first-year studies. The unit will build on this pre-existing knowledge and add to your skills as students of French and European culture. It will also encourage you to think about how to articulate complex concepts in public-facing ways (in museum settings for a large audience for example) and it will introduce you to the latest research on the Second World War as well as to important approaches such as transnationalism or global history. Both independently and as part of a group, you will cultivate writing and research skills, and oral and presentation skills while gaining an insight into public engagement through archive and museum visits.
An overview of content
In the summer of 1940, the French army suffered the most humiliating defeat in its modern history as the German military progressively invaded France, leading to the collapse of the Republic and the signing of the Franco-German Armistice. This unit considers the history of France during the Second World War, not solely within French metropolitan territory, but also in the Empire and beyond, from Bristol to Beirut and Buenos Aires. It will give an opportunity to students to think about processes of collaboration and resistance; the Holocaust in France, where over 70,000 Jews perished; the presence of foreigners and people of colour on metropolitan territory; the challenges of inter-allied collaboration; and the complicated commemorative cultures of France during the Second World War. This unit therefore highlights multiple, transnational, and fragmented forms of experiences of the men and women who fought for France, either on the side of the Axis, or for an ideal of ‘Free France’.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
The debates considered on this unit are of wide relevance in European and worldwide culture. The analytical and research skills acquired during the unit will help you for the remainder of your degree and beyond, including in the final-year optional dissertation. The unit encourages students to think about transferable concepts and knowledge (between academic research and the museum world in particular) which will enable you to engage critically with related debates in academic and non-academic contexts. You will be able to showcase your independent research orally and in writing, and also through collaborative projects, enhancing your team-working skills as well as your ability to demonstrate the relevance of your studies in professional contexts.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
You will learn by engaging in lectures, seminar discussions, and reading of primary and secondary sources. In addition, you will be able to directly access primary sources through an archive visit and/or museum visit; this visit will give you the opportunity to develop, with a small team of other students, your own interests and lines of enquiry. It is hoped that group discussion and team projects will allow you to further refine your understanding of the unit’s key topics.
We will work regularly on primary source analysis and essay plans to prepare you for the summative tasks. Oral feedback will be given during seminar discussions. A meeting will be arranged with each group to provide feedback on their action plan and help them (1) write their Portfolio and (2) prepare their oral presentation.
Additional one-to-one feedback will be provided during consultation hours or by making an appointment with the unit tutor.
Sessions in the classroom will provide you with knowledge and solid theoretical and historical grounding in the topic. This will be complemented by set texts and optional secondary reading. The unit will be taught through seminars consisting of a combination of lectures (50 % of which will be delivered in French), small-group and plenary discussions of set texts, and online research activities. In the second half of the unit in particular, we will dedicate time to developing your collaborative group projects, for which you will be offered feedback during a meeting with your team and myself.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative)
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. FREN20070).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
