Postgraduate Teaching Mentoring
Cathy has been very helpful and supportive throughout my first year of teaching
in the French department. Prior to the start of the academic year, she organized
a meeting with me to discuss the seminar teaching and ways in which to
approach preparing the materials and marking essays. Over the course of the
year she also organized a number of marking moderation meetings for the essay
work. These sessions – although principally for the whole teaching team – were
especially useful in helping me to improve my marking style and for examining
examples of best practice, which I could model in my own marking. In the
second term, Cathy mentored me individually to improve my marking. Part of
this involved marking and sending a sample of copies to her, which we then
discussed in detail together. I very much appreciated not only the effort that she
put into working with me, but also her encouragement which gave me the
confidence to improve. In preparation for teaching different modules next year,
she also organized sessions to discuss the requirements and provided us with
the relevant materials to work on over the vacation. Cathy is very approachable
and I have always felt able to get in touch with her with queries regarding
teaching.
Sarah Blaney
Statement in support of Dr Cathy Hampton
Dr Cathy Hampton is an exceptional teaching fellow, who combines a passion
for learning with a strong pastoral ability. Cathy has been at the forefront of an
innovative institutional project and has also taken a lead on a project of
national strategic importance, both related to the theme of the Year Abroad.
As the coordinator of the French Year Abroad Virtual Learning Environment,
Cathy has been responsible for overseeing the development of the Moodle
and Mahara pages used by the department of French Studies. Cathy’s
oversight of this project launched the first VLE used by the department, which
Cathy has also applied to a variety of first-year modules. Cathy has thus
succeeded in leading a revolutionary approach to e-learning within the
department, enabling students to develop as learners beyond the classroom,
notably through the use of reflective e-portfolios through Mahara and through
constructivist assignments.
Cathy has also been involved at an institutional level in the development of
Moodle and Mahara across the University, disseminating findings at, for
example, the Institutional Teaching and Learning Showcase. Cathy’s
pioneering use of Moodle and Mahara for the purposes of supporting the Year
Abroad cohort at Warwick has led to the creation of a network of institutional
partners whose aim is to develop the use of e-portfolios for the purposes of
student language learning and the enhancement of transferable skills. Cathy
has disseminated her use of the Mahara e-portfolio builder for year abroad
students at a number of national conferences, including the biennial
conference of the subject group for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies
(LLAS). Through leading the use of e-portfolios for year abroad students,
Cathy has demonstrated a clear capacity for adaptability and adaptability to
changing circumstances and technologies, adapting the department’s
provision for year abroad students to reflect a new social media age. Cathy’s
use of the electronic video creator and repository, Kaltura, has also reflected
this adaptability, drawing on new technologies to develop students as learners
and as citizens.
Cathy is a significant influence on the team of postgraduate teachers in the
department. In my own postgraduate teaching career, I have greatly benefited
from Cathy’s guidance and mentoring. In addition to one-to-one mentoring,
Cathy has also designed and delivered training courses for the team of
postgraduate language tutors, providing guidance on assessment methods
and on pedagogic theories. Cathy has been a highly supportive mentor and a
constant presence in my own professional development. Whether offering
support on lecturing techniques and styles, or disseminating best small group
teaching practice, in particular with regards to encouraging student
participation and facilitating deep learning, Cathy has been a consistent
source of inspiration.
Indeed, Cathy’s innovative curriculum design, with an emphasis on openspace learning (OSL) and the ‘student-as-researcher’ model, has had a great
influence on my own teaching practice. Cathy has combined both pedagogic
theories in her second-year module ‘In the Family Way: Birth, Sex and Death
in Seventeenth-Century French Culture and Texts,’ departing from traditional,
desk-based teaching and learning to bring early modern literature to the social
media generation of students. Cathy’s course content is thus highly engaging
and inspirational for both her students and for colleagues. The teaching
environment fostered by Cathy is outstanding, supporting and inspiring
students through a variety of techniques employed in lectures and small group
teaching. Cathy’s use of the student as researcher model, for example,
encourages students to pursue individual and collaborative research, training
a future generation of scholars and graduate employees with an emphasis on
research skills, report writing and presentation skills. The incorporation of
highly contemporary pedagogy, especially the OSL theories developed by the
Institute of Advanced Teaching and Learning, demonstrates Cathy’s strong
contribution to course development in the department.
Cathy has consistently contributed to activities across the University, leading
a Widening Participation project in collaboration with the Institute of Education
which enables students on the year abroad to produce educational resources
for comprehensive schools in Coventry and Warwickshire. Cathy has also
championed the activities of the University in the wider community by
speaking at an annual conference of sixth-form students in Milton Keynes,
while creating a major new opportunity for the University on a national level
through her coordination of the inter-institutional Year Abroad VLE group.
Through collaborating with the student-run French Society in the creation of a
departmental student mentoring scheme, Cathy has made a major
contribution to the social environment of the University, markedly improving
the student experience. In the same way, through establishing a peer-support
teaching fellow group within the sub-Faculty of Modern Languages, Cathy has
made a vast contribution to the cultural environment for all teaching staff at
the sub-Faculty level.
In summary, Cathy Hampton has demonstrated clear teaching leadership at
every level: in the department, in the sub-Faculty, institutionally and nationally.
Cathy is an innovative and inspirational university teacher, whose application
of technology-enhanced learning to curriculum development and to the
learning process of the Year Abroad has demonstrated her strong contribution
to the undergraduate student experience. Cathy’s support for her colleagues
and for graduate students in the department underlines her commitment to the
life of the University, while her module design and delivery demonstrates
Cathy’s creative approach to the transferable skills required by today’s
generation of students. Cathy’s teaching innovations, and her inspirational
approach to teaching and learning was recognised by students and staff last
academic year (2011-12) when Cathy obtained a Warwick Award for
Teaching Excellence. Cathy has since continued to enhance her teaching
practice and continues to make a significant contribution to the life of the
department and to the wider teaching and learning community at the
University
David Lees, PhD Candidate, Department of French Studies
Warwick Awards for Teaching Excellence PGR Winner 2012
JONATHAN DURHAM - UPGRADE FROM M.PHIL. TO PHD STATUS
Théâtre de femmes de l’ancien régime: étude esthétique et herméneutique
Assessors: Dr Cathy Hampton and Dr Jessica Wardhaugh
The upgrade interview took place on Friday, 8 July between 2 and 3.15 p.m., and
we were very happy to recommend that Jonathan be upgraded to PhD status. In
the light of the questions discussed at the interview, we would like to meet again
informally at the beginning of the autumn term in order to review his progress
on the thesis introduction.
Thesis proposal
Jonathan’s proposal was clearly structured and presented, and he had identified
a coherent body of primary texts for study. The timetable for completion seemed
reasonable, although we felt that the focus of each chapter on authors rather
than (perhaps) themes might fruitfully be adapted as the thesis progressed.
Jonathan had situated his topic very closely in the context of contemporary work
on these female playwrights in both Britain and France, and demonstrated a
detailed awareness of relevant secondary literature.
Submitted chapter
The submitted chapter — a study of Françoise Pascal — was also clearly
presented and made close reference to recent scholarship on the author and her
work. It offered an overview of Pascal’s literary output, and suggested that she
be regarded as a ‘pionnière de la scène professionnelle’, notably on account of
the publication of her works and her use of the one-act play. Though Pascal’s
work was carefully described and her importance underlined, we had some
reservations about this chapter on conceptual grounds. In particular, we felt that
the theoretical and methodological framework for the analysis of Pascal’s work
needed to be more fully developed. Reference was made, for example, to the
importance of the aesthetic rules of the time, but more information was
desirable on Pascal’s response to these rules, not least in her construction of plot
and portrayal of character. Equally, although Jonathan’s approach seemed to
have a feminist character, the application of feminist theory to these texts was
dismissed rather than discussed. We felt, therefore, that the methodology of the
thesis needed a much fuller development, and that the originality of the
approach and contribution also needed emphasis. In this chapter, for example,
the direction and importance of the argument were not always quite clear: on
the one hand, there was a strong emphasis on Pascal’s innovative and pioneering
approach, but on the other, the suggestion that her works were purely
derivative. The close reading / lexical comparisons given in the chapter are not
of themselves convincing as an indicator of Pascal’s pioneering (or possibly
derivative) position and risk pulling the chapter in a rather descriptive direction.
We felt, therefore, that the use of the Molière 21 database to highlight themes
present in both Pascal’s and Molière’s work might be more fruitful with a wider
range of authors to consider and with a clearer methodological underpinning.
We recognized, however, that the chapter had been written some months
previously, and so were keen to hear in the interview how Jonathan’s reflections
on the sources and methodology had developed in the meantime.
Interview
In the interview we discussed with Jonathan the need to make improvements /
focus attention as follows:
Methodology
Jonathan is aware that he needs to establish a clear methodological approach to
the thesis at the earliest opportunity, in order to have a coherent and rigorous
theoretical basis upon which to conduct analyses of the plays he has sourced. In
the course of the discussion the following areas were identified as in need of
clarification / development:
1. Feminisms / feminist theory
As noted above, the engagement with feminist theory in the chapter presented
was felt to be rather unfocussed and superficial. In conversation it became clear
that Jonathan was keen to position his argument with respect to feminist theory
in a number of ways, however, and had developed cogent ideas about these in
general terms. His future research needs to establish a thoroughgoing feminist
argumentation, so that he can position himself clearly in relation to it. In the
discussion the following suggestions were made:
 Jonathan should engage clearly and explicitly with early modern feminist
argumentation by looking at the work of those feminists who have sought
to apply feminist theory to the early modern period over the last 30 years.
In particular, Jonathan needs to address the question of how this kind of
feminism may be and has been applied to female-authored works that
cannot be described as feminist in any modern sense of the term. We
discussed how women writers who are apparently conservative in both
form and content may nevertheless find ways of writing against
mainstream, male-authored discourse via paratextual material as well as
via particular subtle emphases given in the body of texts themselves.
 Jonathan should acquire a firmer knowledge of female authorship in other
genres in the period he is considering (the novel, the letter, the fairy tale)
and of the way this writing has been critically assessed from a feminist
standpoint.
 Jonathan should also engage theoretically with the broader question of
why it may be desirable to rehabilitate female-authored texts at all. In the
discussion very interesting questions about the canon emerged (are
women excluded solely on the basis of gender? Do other cultural and
social issues play their part? How does female-authored material in the
period under study compare with male-authored material that was
written at the margins and not incorporated into the canon?) We felt
these questions could fruitfully be pursued.
 Jonathan has commenced some comparative work that examines French
17th C female-authored theatre in relation to its European counterparts,
which have been the subject of quite wide ranging feminist critical
attention. A potentially quite original argument began to emerge in
discussion about the reasons for the lack of similar critical focus upon
French female-authored theatre. The importance of aesthetics and form in
French theatre in this period was felt by Jonathan to cause female
playwrights to write with a different emphasis: one requiring an
alternative analytical model to the feminist model applied in the case of
European theatre. Such a claim needs substantiating via a thorough
survey of the different early modern feminist standpoints outlined above.
2. Aesthetics
Whilst Jonathan was keen to assert that the impact of the Rules on French female
playwrights was more significant than that of gender, we felt that the two areas
might fruitfully be combined if further consideration were given to the idea of
aesthetics as cultural currency (mainstream, male), the use of which by female
playwrights may of itself raise interesting questions. More work needs to be
done on questions of form and aesthetics in general terms:
 How do the emerging rules relate to the forms Jonathan touches on in his
chapter (farce and the one act play in particular)? Might the employment
of these forms constitute writing against the mainstream? To what extent
do female playwrights employ unconventional forms, or traditional forms
unconventionally?
More specifically, Jonathan could explore the language of the Rules and the
debates surrounding them: are these gendered (do texts that adhere to the Rules
use a ‘male’ language of reason / order; are hybrid, baroque or otherwise
unsatisfactory forms conceived in ‘female’ terms of irrationality / the
monstrous?)
3. Geography
In the chapter submitted it was argued that Françoise Pascal was at her most
innovative and potentially most influential whilst in Lyon. In our discussion the
question of whether any clear differences in writing between Paris and the
provinces emerged in this period, and whether this could be linked with the
application of the Rules. We felt that the question of place might fruitfully be
incorporated into an analysis of the texts chosen for study, particularly given
Jonathan’s desire to address both formal considerations and the question of
writing communities and intertextuality in his work.
Recommendations
 With a clear methodological framework, which Jonathan has clearly
begun to conceive but which has not yet appeared on paper, we were
convinced that a cogent and original analysis can emerge, and it is
therefore crucial that the methodology is clearly established at this stage.
 Given Jonathan’s interest in aesthetics, it may be that this area will
warrant a chapter in itself, and the organisation of chapters may therefore
change from that indicated.
 Given the importance of reading the primary material through the lens of
the formal and theoretical questions outlined above, we felt it important
to review Jonathan’s introductory chapter at the end of the summer in an
informal interview and will set a date for this at the beginning of the
Autumn term.
Some recommendations for reading:
Servanne Woodward (ed), Altered writings followed by Public Space of the
Domestic Sphere (London, Canada: Mestengo Press, 1997)
Explores male and female literary agendas in the 18thc, but also female
treatment of male lit works or themes in lit (e.g. the idea of the philosophe)
See Karen E. Carter, ‘Les garçons et les filles dont pêle-mêle dans l’école’: gender
and primary education in early modern France’, French Historical Studies 31.3
(Summer 2008), 417-33
Patricia Cholakian, Women and the Politics of Self-representation in SeventeenthCentury France (2000). Intro chpt is a must read!
Julia Douthwaite, Exotic women: literary heroines and cultural strategies in ancien
régime France, Eighteenth- century studies, 28.1 (Autumn 1994), (review of)
Merry Wiesner, Women and Gender in early modern France (CUP 1993)
Ideas about the ‘masculinization of the public sphere’, see:
Dena Goodman, The Republic of Letters: A Cultural History of the French
Enlightenment (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994).
Feminist readings of history:
Joan Wallach Scott, ‘Introduction’, Gender and the politics of history (New York
1988) - gender defined as ‘the knowledge that establishes meanings for bodily
difference’
Judith Bennett, ‘Feminism and history’, Gender and history 1 (1989), pp. 251-72
Evelyn Gordon Beck, ‘Salonières and bluestockings: educated obsolescence and
germinating feminism’, Feminist studies 3 , no.3-4 (summer 1976)
Erica Harth, Cartesian Women
Anne Larsen; Colette Winn (both v good in all areas of early modern feminism).
See esp: Renaissance Women Writers: French Texts, American Contexts (1994)
Faith Beasley, Salons, history and the Creation of Seventeenth-Century France
(2006)
Joan Kelly, Women, History and Theory (1984)
Natalie Zemon-Davis, ‘Displacing and displeasing: writing about women in the
Early Modern Period’, in Attending to Women (1998)
Elizabeth Goldsmith, Going Public: Women and Publishing in Early Modern France
(1995).
On aesthetics
The work of Sabine Chaouche?
Corneille’s Writings on the Theatre and associated criticism, ie:
Claire Carlin, Women Reading Corneille: Feminist Psychocriticisms of Le Cid
Mary-Jo Muratore, Expirer au feminin (2003), with a good chapter on Rodogune
that treats, amongst other things, Richelieu, the Académie, and aesthetics.