French
321, Fall 2012 - UTM Introduction to French
Civilization & Material Culture
(MWF 10:00-10:50 pm)
Prof. TennesseeBob Peckham
French 321-01, CRN 41451, Fall 2010.
Prerequisite: successful completion of
French 341 or 342, strong placement test score, or instructor's
approval. Prof. TennesseeBob Peckham (427E Humanities -Tel.
731-881-7424. Home 587-6562. e-mail: bobp@utm.edu).
GENERAL DESCRIPTION & GOALS:
This is a 3-credit general French
Civilization course, with a historical view of France, but with a
focused examination of life in the Fifth Republic (1958 to present) as
a temporal and cultural framework, and Europe as a growing
administrative and economic framework. We will also examine some facets
of "La Francophonie". We will meet in Business Administration 203. La
langue officielle c'est le français.
Here are my own non-developmental and topically related Cultural
Competency goals for the class:
• Recognize, know and understand patterns of French
behavior and attitudes, including thoughts, communications, actions,
customs, beliefs, values,
institutions of racial, ethnic,
religious, and family and other social groups.
• Acquire a base-line knowledge and recall of common
facets of French culture, with regional and ethnic variations.
• Recognize, know and understand French day-to-day
material culture, consumerism, technological and material environments.
• Acquire an understanding of French history and
creative expression within French culture.
• Recognize, know and understand French cultural
iconography, from both a French and non-French perspective.
• Recognize, know and understand cultural
stereotypes of the French.
• Know and understand majority contrasted with
minority French cultures.
• Know and understand the French differentiation
between individual, group, national and international identities.
• Acquire an ability of competently comparing and
contrasting with French American culture in all that we study.
MEDIA: Our textbook is online
and free: La France de notre
siècle. Work is not complete, but will cover
geographic,
demographic, historical, political, educational,
cultural (traditional categories), economic and material culture,
L'Union Européenne & La Francophonie. Other resources:
All should be striving for written and oral discourse levels between
"Intermediate Mid"
and "Advanced"
ASSIGNMENTS will include
• The exercises in La France de notre
siècle,
which you will type and hand in.
• Other assignments and projects, using a variety of
resources: web sites, youtube videos, etc.
• Participate in a regular class online discussion
(writing a minimum of 6 sentences per week)
• Write and hand in one-paragraph summaries of
French news item every 2 weeks (can be from French-language radio,
television or newspaper)
• Demonstrate of a foundational knowledge French
geography. demography and cultural iconography (passing a
test with a "B" or better)
PROJECTS: TBA (from a list I am
currently developing).
GRADE SCALE & DETERMINATION:
60-69=D, 70-79=C, 80-89=B,
90-100=A. best 7 of 8 unit tests (geography. demography and
cultural iconography must be passed with a "B" higher). 200 points for
class participation, howework, news reports, and email discussion. 100
points projects.
ATTENDANCE is MANDATORY, with
10/1000 points subtracted from the final
grade for each unexcused absence after 3. Any excuses MUST be written
and of an official nature.
General & Ethical Expectations: We expect students to demonstrate a
solid work ethic, and to conduct themeselves as ladies and gentlemen,
with special attention given to the "Standards of Conduct" and
"Academic Integrity" sections of
*NOTE: Any student eligible for and
requesting academic accommodations
due to a disability is requested to provide a letter of accommodation
from Student Success Center (210 Clement Hall) within the first two
weeks of the semester. For additional information contact Sharon
Robertson at 731.881.7719, sroberts@utm.edu, or Stephanie Mueller at
731.881.7605, smueller@utm.edu.
TennesseeBob Peckham, PhD
Director, the Globe-Gate Project
University of Tennessee-Martin Made in Tennessee to bring you the
world
bobp@utm.edu
