SMC Core Curriculum Course Proposal for Social, Historical and Cultural
Understanding
1. Name: Helga Lénárt-Cheng
2. E-Mail address: hl4@stmarys-ca.edu
3. Department: Modern Languages
4. Name of Department hosting the course: Modern Languages
5. Name of Department Chair: Lori Spicher
6. Course Information: MODL-185 (part of the series “Modern Languages in
Translation”): Culture and Civilization of France
7. Semester in which the course will be offered: Fall 2013
8. How often is this course taught: Approx. every third year (depends on dept.
rotation between languages)
9. Course prerequisites: None
10. Unit value of course: One
11. Proper audience for course: sophomores, juniors, seniors
12. The learning goals for which the course is being submitted: Social, Cultural, or
Historical Understanding
Teaching Narrative for Social, Cultural or Historical Understanding
This course is part of a series called “Modern Languages in Translation,” which
allows students who do not speak French to learn more about the culture and civilization of
France and the Francophone world. According to the catalogue description, this course
offers “A study of the relationship between the rich culture of France and its turbulent
history. Attention given to the interchange between artistic or literary expression and the
political process, with consequent socioeconomic developments.”
Learning Outcome #1 of Social, Cultural and Historical Understanding courses is to
“Examine human activity in particular periods or places from a social, cultural or historical
perspective.” Through lectures, discussions, readings, films, debates, and presentations
students in this course will explore a few select periods of French history. In five different
units students learn about medieval France, about the French Revolution, the process of
colonization, the role of France in the Second World War and about contemporary trends in
the Francophone world. This will provide students with a basic understanding of major
developments in French history, as well as values, institutions, French cultural
iconography, stereotypes, and minority cultures.
In keeping with Learning Outcome #2 (“Demonstrate an understanding of theories
of human behavior, relations, culture, or institutions; or interpretations of historical
causation and change”) students will tackle conflicting interpretations of the past, and they
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will explore the interconnectedness of cultural, social and political processes. All five units
are designed to expose students to conflicting interpretations of the same events, but Units
#3 and #5 (about the French Colonial Empire and its effects on today’s Francophone
world) in particular will focus on the historical construct of “French culture and
civilization.”
Finally, Learning Outcome #3 (“Employ social science or historical methodology to
collect and interpret evidence about the social world”) will be satisfied through the Final
Project, in which students are asked to analyze contemporary artifacts to demonstrate
their understanding the history and the tension between various aspects of a “French”
identity today.
Learning Narrative for Social, Cultural or Historical Understanding
The above named three learning outcomes will be assessed in the following ways:
Learning Outcome #1 will be assessed through the Midterm Exam and the Unit
quizzes, which are mostly focused on content. These exams and quizzes ask students to
demonstrate their knowledge of events, agents, institutions, and cultural iconography.
Although these are not interpretive essays, students do have to demonstrate their
understanding of the interconnectedness and dependence of these various cultural, social
and political processes.
Learning Outcome #2 will be assessed through the Debate Project, which involves
groups presenting various interpretations of the same events, and then leading a debate on
these conflicting interpretations. This assignment asks students to demonstrate their
understanding of the role of interpretation in evaluating both primary and secondary
sources, as well as their capacity to use notions of historical agency, contingency and
causation. Projects will be evaluated based on the use of source materials, on how students
acknowledge the point of view of other parties involved, and on how accurately they locate
the point of view they represent in its historical, social, political, economic, and cultural
context.
Learning Outcome #3 will be assessed through the Final Project, which asks
students to examine individual human experience in historical perspective. For this essay
and presentation students choose one immigrant group in France and they trace the
history of this group back to the beginnings of the process of colonization. Using oral
history and individual life stories, students will ask about what it means to be “French”
today as they synthetize their understanding of how historical change takes place in
international contexts, and how individual experience is affected by the history of these
immigrant groups.
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Syllabus
MODL-185
Culture and Civilization of France
Prof. Helga Lenart-Cheng
Contact Info
 Office: Dante 325
 Office hours: Wed 2:30-4, Fri 8-9 am, and by appt.
 E-mail: hl4@stmarys-ca.edu
Class Time and Classroom: TBD
Course Description
The primary focus of this course is the culture, history, and civilization of France.
Through lectures, discussions, readings, films, debates, and presentations students will
explore a few select periods of French history. In five different units students will learn
about medieval France, about the French Revolution, the process of colonization, the role of
France in the Second World War and about contemporary trends in the Francophone
world. These will provide students with a basic understanding of major developments in
French history, as well as values, institutions, French cultural iconography, stereotypes,
and minority cultures.
The course will consist of five units, each devoted to a different aspect and period of
French civilization. These units are all designed as “time travels,” meaning that they are all
based on a contemporary book or film, which will then bring us back in time to another
period of French history.




Unit 1 is based on the comic book “Asterix the Gaul”, which will bring us back to the
Roman roots of French civilization. In parallel, we will discuss the contemporary art
of comic books and their role in historical interpretation.
Unit 2 is based on the book “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens, which will
bring us back to the period of the French Revolution. In parallel, we will discuss the
relation of literary narratives and historiography.
Unit 3 is based on the film “La Haine.” The film’s portrayal of contemporary
problems of immigration in France will challenge us to explore the francophone
world and the history of the French Colonial Empire.
Unit 4 is based on the film “Story of Women”, which investigates French women’s
“horizontal collaboration” in WWII. This will lead us back to a study of France in
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
World War II and to a discussion of French women’s situation throughout French
history.
Unit 5 is based on the book “The Arrogance of French.” This unit focuses on past and
current relations between France and its old colonies, and on the idea of “French
exceptionalism.” We will conclude this course by asking about what France means
for us, today.
 Learning Objectives
Students will be able to
 Examine human activity in particular periods or places from a social, cultural or
historical perspective; and

Demonstrate an understanding of theories of human behavior, relations, culture, or
institutions; or interpretations of historical causation and change; and

Employ social science or historical methodology to collect and interpret evidence
about the social world.

seek, locate, analyze, evaluate, and effectively use information from printed media,
internet, and verbal sources(in French, if taken for French credit)
Required readings
 Course Reader (available at the campus bookstore)
 The Cambridge Companion to Modern French Culture (Cambridge Companions to
Culture) (paperback) by Nicholas Hewitt (editor)
 The Cambridge Illustrated History of France (paperback) by Colin Jones (author)
 Asterix the Gaul (paperback) by Rene Goscinny (author), and Albert Uderzo
(illustrator)
 See our class site at on Moodle for a wealth of online resources
Prerequisite
 Consent of the instructor
Participation and Absences
 Three absences are allowed without penalty
 After three absences your grade drops by a grade point for each additional absence
(A to A-, A- to B+, etc.)
 Each three tardies (more than 5 minutes late) count as one absence
 Doing work for other classes or any other unrelated activity (including texting)
counts as an absence
 Unless it is an emergency, please do not go out during class
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

No food, gum, and alcoholic beverages
No cell phones, laptops, i-pods or other electronic devices
Assessment

Reading Responses: These will be due twice a week, and they will consist of factual,
interpretive and evaluative questions.

Midterm Exam and five Unit quizzes: In-class, based on the class material (lectures,
readings, presentations and discussions).

Debate Project: students will present in groups various interpretations of the same
historical events, and then lead a debate on these conflicting interpretations.
Projects will be evaluated based on the use of source materials, on how students
acknowledge the point of view of other parties involved, and on how accurately they
locate the point of view they represent in its historical, social, political, economic,
and cultural context.

Final Project: students will examine individual human experience in historical
perspective. Students will choose one immigrant group in France and then trace the
history of this group back to the beginnings of the process of colonization. The
assignment has two parts: a 5-page research paper and an oral presentation.
Note:
 Detailed information about each of these assessment tools is available on the
Moodle class site
 Students wishing to earn French credit for the course should contact me about
individualized assignments
Evaluation


Late assignments (except for index cards and oral presentations) will be accepted
within 24 hours for half credit
“extra credit”: you may earn a maximum of 5% extra credit towards your course
grade by completing optional “extra credit” exercises.
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Grading scale
A=93-100
A-=90-92
B+=87-89
B=83-86
B-=80-82
C+=77-79
C=73-76
C-=70-72
D+=67-69
D=63-66
D-=60-62
F59
Grade breakdown
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




Reading responses
Midterm Exam
Five Unit Quizzes
Debate
Final Project Essay
Final Project Presentation
10%
10%
30%
20%
20%
10%
Class Policies Regarding Academic Honesty
Saint Mary’s College expects every member of its community to abide by the Academic
Honor Code. According to the Code, “Academic dishonesty is a serious violation of college
policy because, among other things, it undermines the bonds of trust and honesty between
members of the community.” Violations of the Code include but are not limited to acts of
plagiarism. For more information, please consult the Student Handbook at www.stmarysca.edu/your-safety-resources/student-handbook
Class Policies Regarding Disabilities
Reasonable and appropriate accommodations, that take into account the context of the
course and its essential elements, for individuals with qualifying disabilities, are extended
through the Office of Student Disability Services. Students with disabilities are encouraged
to contact the Student Disability Services Coordinator at (925) 631-4164 to set up a
confidential appointment to discuss accommodation guidelines and available services.
Additional information regarding the services available may be found at the following
address on the Saint Mary’s website: http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/academics/academicadvising-and-achievement/student-disability-services.html
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SMC Core Curriculum Course Proposal for Social, Historical and Cultural
Understanding
Helga Lénárt-Cheng
Fall 2013
MODL-185: Culture and Civilization of France
Supplemental Materials and Clarifications
requested by Chair Jennifer Heung on 11/12/13
Question: While the working group found the explanation of how LO #3 will be taught
sufficient, the discussion of how the coursework will be used to measure student
achievement of LO #3 needs more explicit elaboration. In particular, a clear distinction
needs to be made between the collection and interpretation of evidence in the Final Project
regarding different immigrant groups in France. These two actions should be discussed
separately. For the collection of evidence, will students be collecting life histories and
conducting interviews or will they be provided with a collection? Or will students utilize a
combination of different types of data? How will students know what is considered “good
data” for an oral history? For the interpretation aspect of LO#3, a more detailed discussion
is requested in regards to how students will be expected to interpret the data for the Final
Project. There is discussion of this in the syllabus regarding the Debate Project, which could
also be used to elaborate upon for the Final Project.
Answer:
Regarding your question about the types of sources that students use for the Final Project,
students are not collecting stories themselves, instead they are provided with two types of
collections: French-speakers (the majority of students taking this class belong to this
category) use the official website and archive of the French Museum of the History of
Immigration: http://www.histoire-immigration.fr This site has a wealth of educational
resources to guide their research.
The second option is for students who cannot conduct their research in French. These
students are encouraged to focus on Algerian immigration, because the French-Algerian
conflict has received the most significant scholarly attention in English. In particular,
students are encouraged to use two books: first, a book by the noted British historian and
Algeria-expert, Martin Evans, The Memory of Resistance: French Opposition to the Algerian
War (1954-1962), which uses interviews to examine complex questions of colonial identity
and shared memory; and second, the assassinated Algerian writer, Mouloud Feraoun’s
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Journal: 1955-1962, Reflections on the French-Algerian War, which is considered to be one
of the most important accounts of everyday life in Algeria during decolonization.
The preparation for the Final Project includes a discussion about the challenges of using
first person accounts for the purposes of historical and social analyses. The format of the
research presentation is flexible, but students are encouraged to use BBC’s A History of the
World in 100 Objects format. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/exploreraltflash/
The example I show them is this History of Algeria in six objects presentation:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/martin-evans/history-of-algeria-in-six-objects
Regarding the evaluation of these projects, my criteria are similar to those of the Debate
Project: projects will be evaluated based on the proper use of source materials, on how
students acknowledge the challenges arising from interpreting first-person materials, and
on how accurately they locate the point of views they represent in their historical, social,
political, economic, and cultural context.
I hope this answers your questions. Please let me know if you need further clarifications.
Thank you very much.
Helga Lénárt-Cheng
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