FREN 325S/GHLTH325S (
CZ, CCI, FL, EI)
Fall 2014, WF 10:05-11:20, 105 Social Sciences
Dr. Deb Reisinger, debsreis@duke.edu
Office: 06 Languages Center
TA : Sydney Neeley sydney.neeley@duke.edu
Office hours M 10-11 ; W 11:30-12:30 ; 90
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will build advanced language skills while exploring issues in global migration and resettlement. Through historical, political, and literary perspectives, we will explore the current state of refugees and asylum seekers in Western host societies, with a particular focus on
Francophone refugees in North America.
In the first part of this course, we examine current laws, processes, and practices related to refugee resettlement. What leads people to flee their country and seek refugee status, and what are the processes they must go through as they seek asylum?
Our investigation of the causes of what has been termed “the global refugee crisis” will focus primarily on
Francophone refugees whose home countries and countries of first asylum are located in Central and
Western Africa (CAR, Chad, Rwanda, DRC, Congo, Cameroun), as well as Haiti. Our texts will include
UNHCR documents, documentary film and interviews, and literary narratives, with close attention to the politics of listening to and speaking for other communities.
In the second half of the course, we examine the introduction and integration of these refugees in their host countries. As we review discourse and assumptions of host societies, we study the challenges of the cultural orientation process in North America (US and Canada) and in France. Our discussions will include an exploration of what constitutes testimony or narrative (including oral vs. written), critiques of testimony as single truth narrative (including the operations of doubt and truth in cultural productions), as well as ethical considerations of creating refugee narrative.
In an effort to better understand these issues – and enhance development of linguistic and cultural competence – this course will have a community-based component that engages students with the
Francophone refugee community in Durham. Students in the course will be required to do 20 hours of service over the course of the semester, in a variety of settings that range from ESL tutoring to cultural activities aimed to introducing new arrivals to the Duke and Durham community.
Classes meetings will be conducted entirely in French.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the semester, you will be able to:
 Articulate an understanding of the complex interplay of individual and collective processes related to refugee and community populations in host and home societies
 Appreciate the ways in which particular narratives of refugee experience can both extend and/or diminish trauma
 Critically analyze the histories of narrative and testimony and their implications for recording refugee experience
 Demonstrate intercultural communicative competencies that include empathy, flexibility, and tolerance for other cultures
 Communicate in oral and written French in ways that are both effective and appropriate for your audience, preparing you to function at the low-advanced level on the ACTFL proficiency scale

PREREQUISITE: French 204, or an AP Language and Culture Test score of 5 (advanced-intermediate according ACTFL scale). If you have any questions related to your course placement, please contact me right away.
READINGS: available for purchase at Duke Bookstore (all other readings available on Sakai):
 ACAT, Je n'avais plus le choix, il fallait fuir : Paroles de réfugiés. Paris: Les Petits Matins, 2013.
 Bepou-Bangue, Johanes Arnaud. La troupe de Bemba était tombée sous nos têtes. Paris,
L’Harmattan: 2013.
 Laferrière, Dany. Chronique de la dérive douce. Montréal, Québec : VLB éditeur, 1994.
ASSESSMENT:
Participation
Reflective blog
15 %
20 %
Written Analysis
Community Project
15 %
20 %
Oral presentations 20 % Final reflection
Specific instructions and assignment rubrics are available on our Sakai site.
10%
PARTICIPATION in class: You are expected to read all assignments actively, to ask and answer pertinent questions about the texts, and to engage in small group activities and class discussions by sharing and justifying your analyses of the assigned texts. Collaborative teamwork is an essential component of this class.
SERVICE COMPONENT outside of class: As part of this course, you are required to complete 20 hours of service with our community partners. Service opportunities will be announced at the beginning of the semester and will include a variety of options for you to use your language skills in context, including but not limited to: volunteering in an ESL class, translating documents for ESL courses, meeting with refugees at their homes to develop English language or computer skills, tutoring school-age children, accompanying nursing students on home health visits, offering home-school support for families, and developing cultural activities designed to help integrate refugees into national and local cultures.
Incompletion of the service component will automatically lead to a reduced course grade (5 hours = D; 10 hours = C; 15 hours = B).
REFLECTIVE BLOG: Using a creative space of your own design, you will blog and respond to a series of prompts over the course of the semester (minimum 10 entries). The primary goal of this blog is to allow you to reflect upon your service experience in a thoughtful manner that will enrich your community interactions. A secondary goal is to give you the opportunity to develop writing skills appropriate to online and other social media venues in French.
ORAL PRESENTATIONS: You will work in groups to present two research-based projects. The first will be an historic and cultural analysis of asylum seekers in a selected Francophone region, and the second will be related to an issue in resettlement (testimony, memory/trauma, cultural adaptation, education, etc.).
In order to improve and fine-tune oral presentation skills, groups will meet with me prior to the in-class presentations.
ANALYSIS: You will complete one 5-page paper during the semester. Your analysis will be on a topic of your choice based on course themes; I invite you to meet with me to discuss your topic in advance! Focus will be on process, so in addition to submitting a bibliography and outline of your paper, you will have the opportunity to receive peer feedback.

COMMUNITY PROJECT: For the capstone project, teams will develop a community-based endeavor aimed at creating impact in the local refugee population. Concepts will be developed in class at mid-semester, and both peer and faculty feedback will be provided to assure that the impact is meaningful, measurable, and sustainable. Teams will present projects at the end of the semester.
FINAL REFLECTION: At the end of the term, you will complete a 2-3 page analysis of your service experience. Your paper should include references to course readings, as well as a thoughtful reflection of your experience with your community partner(s).
ATTENDANCE : One unexcused absence is allowed in this course before your grade is lowered; for each additional absence, you will lose one percentage point of your overall grade. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed so that you come prepared when you return to class.
If you know you are going to be absent from a class, you must inform me before the absence and submit all assignments in advance. If you are incapacitated by a serious illness and cannot attend class, you must submit the University's Short Term Illness Notification Form as soon as possible, and no later than the evening of the missed class. Note that abuse of the STINF constitutes a violation of the community standard.
If you are a member of a team and know you will need to be absent from class for participation in a sports event, you must bring your team travel schedule signed and dated by your coach at the beginning of the semester.
DUKE COMMUNITY STANDARD: Your participation in this course comes with the expectation that your work will be completed in full observance of the Duke Community Standard.
If you have any questions about your responsibilities within this course, please do not hesitate to consult me.
ACCOMMODATIONS: Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the Student Disability Access Office at (919) 668-1267 as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations can be implemented in a timely fashion.
“Celui qui a bon coeur n’est jamais sot.” (G. SAND)