France

This course examines how the history of political ideology and social conflict in France since the Middle Ages has been embodied in the urban landscape of Paris. More than in any other city, the meaning, message, and significance to state and nation of most Parisian sites was – and continues to be – violently contested. The course looks at the histories of the conception, construction, and public perception of Parisian monuments and places their stories within the larger context of the development of the French state and of French national identity. Major events of French history form the chronological backbone for this course, with emphasis placed on the forces that literally shaped some of the city's most emblematic neighborhoods and monuments. The readings are selected from works by specialists in French political, urban, and social history; and the course includes weekly visits to sites in Paris, as the student learns to “read” architecture and to use the city as a rich primary source for historical analysis. Be advised: while no prior knowledge of French history is required, a high level of commitment to learning about France is required. All of the writing for this class demands careful consideration of both readings for class and information given during site visits. This is a class that engages in the complex history of Paris and France. Students are evaluated on the richness and clarity of their engagement with that history.

In an era of technology, health crisis, and transnational thinking, this course covers cutting edge issues such as gender discrimination through algorithms, sexual harassment after #metoo, reproductive rights and strategic litigation, and how feminist legal theory questions the way the law is constructed and applied according to stereotypical views of identity and systemic discrimination. The course investigates how queer theory influences the legal field by rejecting a binary view of identity and encompassing issues challenging LGBTQI groups. It explores what is learned from these various legal standpoints while encountering changes in family, criminal, and employment law; whether queer theory influences gender law; and whether there are new ways to consider legal concepts such as consent, personal autonomy, and intersectionality.

This course provides a systematic view of French foreign policy and foreign policy debate since the end of the Second World War. French diplomacy played an extremely important role in the world right from the beginning of international politics in the 17th century. Against that backdrop, the period since 1945 is usually seen as a decline in French international power and influence, in favor first of the United States and then of Europe. Topics include France in international relations since World War II; decolonization; France’s Africa policy; the Cold War and NATO; French initiatives for European integration; and the history of the European Union, between economic cooperation and political sovereignty. The latter being central to French international policy, the course devotes a good deal of discussion to European affairs.

This course provides the necessary keys for deciphering the structure of contemporary French society as well as the issues that divide it. A multi-part focus on economic and demographic data, social systems, social issues and problems, and the societal importance of culture provides an insider's perspective on and knowledge of French society. This course in turn contributes to the overall purpose of the IFE preparatory session to prepare students to participate as fully as possible in French professional life and social and political discussion. It is a companion course to THE FOUNDATIONS OF FRENCH POLITICS, POLICIES AND INSTITUTIONS, YESTERDAY AND TODAY. The course introduces the forces that have shaped French society in the modern era, the structure and main tenets of that society, and recent phenomena and emerging trends. The first part of the course examines French society first by looking at three important structuring elements: the economy and work, education, and family; second, by providing an understanding of several key social issues. Readings and outside discussion feed class-time debates. The second part of the course takes a detailed and analytic look at the role of culture in France. This brief history of French art and culture focuses on the relationship between the arts and the State, from Renaissance kings who were patrons of the arts to contemporary public cultural policy.