UC Center, Paris

While the pursuit of happiness is an ideal present in many Western cultures, for the French, happiness takes various forms: a certain joie de vivre, an appreciation of life’s simple pleasures, and an affinity for companionship. Why is it, then, that France is consistently ranked as one of the least happy countries in Europe according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE)? The French may be known as contentious grumblers who are prone to flights of melancholy and often embroil themselves in gloomy philosophical reflection. And yet, the deeply-ingrained cultural desire to live a full life and find happiness is undeniably a major concern for the French. This course explores representations of happiness in French cultural production, with an emphasis on the city of Paris. Through the study of socio-cultural and historical events as well as critical, literary, and cinematic texts, students explore how the concept of happiness manifests itself in unique ways throughout recent history and in diverse social worlds. From the nineteenth century to the present, happiness has taken many forms: material seduction, consumer delight, everyday bliss, personal independence. The course explores how authors and filmmakers encourage us to reflect on a deceptively simple question: What is happiness and where can we find it? Is happiness to be found in the people and things that surround us, or are we to find it within ourselves?

This course, the second in our intensive summer language program sequences, with its contiguous course FR23B, is roughly equivalent to the second two quarters or to the second semester on students' home campuses. FR23A and FR23B combined seek to provide students who have some knowledge of the basic skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing in French the opportunity to expand and improve these skills with an emphasis on new forms of grammar and communicative skills within a French-immersion context. Placement in this course is determined by students' previous experience and the results of a language assessment taken prior to arrival. Course material includes MOTIFS: AN INRODUCTION TO FRENCH by K. Jansma, Heinle, 5th Edition, 2011. Through the FR23AB course sequence, students develop the ability to communicate in spoken and written French and use basic structures of French grammar points and a basic working vocabulary including greetings, leisure activities and sports, vacation time, family structures, schooling and values of the French Republic, the distribution of household chores, environmental protection, cuisine, grocery shopping and eating habits, the workplace, café life, multiethnic society, youth culture, fashion trends, the education system, values, politics, French national identity, the geography and cultural aspects of France's regions, and the geography, music and cuisine of the francophone world. Following the FR23AB course sequence, students should be able to engage in short conversations in French, using simple sentences and basic vocabulary, with occasional use of past and future tenses, on familiar topics and express their basic everyday needs using the present, past, near future, and future tenses, and high-frequency regular irregular, reciprocal and reflexive verbs, in addition to the imperative, conditional and subjunctive moods, subject, object, and relative pronouns, articles, prepositions, possessive and demonstrative adjectives, adverbs, interrogative expressions, negative expressions, idiomatic expressions, expressions of quantity, and time and weather. Through the FR23AB sequence, students reflect upon basic cultural differences as in a variety of French and Francophone contexts, such as varying levels of familiarity/formality, etiquette, cuisine and dietary habits, family structures, commerce and the professional world, etc., as well as in cultural products such as film, performances, news, and music. Assignments include class participation, small group and pair work, role play, games, and individual and group presentations, written exercises and grammar drills, dictation, presentation of cultural products such as songs, films, audio texts, a variety of short and simple texts on cultural perspectives, and writing activities.

This course examines French films from the birth of cinema in 1895 to the more recent creations celebrated at the Cannes Festival. The course studies selected avant-garde and popular films and explores how film narratives can reflect historical and social conditions in France during a given time. The following periods are discussed: Early cinema (the Lumière brothers, Alice Guy, Méliès); the Golden Age of French classical cinema (Renoir); the “New Wave” (Varda, Godard); the “Cinéma du Look” (Besson); “Heritage Cinema” (Claire Denis); and the challenges of Globalization (Sciamma). The course also covers several film genres, from the birth of the fantastique to the influence of the film noir on New Wave cinema. Students explore the cross-cultural interactions between French cinema and foreign films and how French cinema as an art form has had a deep impact on international cinema. Films and readings are supplemented by site visits. Most of the films chosen for this class were shot in Paris and reveal the city's different faces, going from the romanticized version in Agnès Varda's film or Claire Denis' grittier version.

Paris has long been recognized as a center for both revolutionary activism and innovative artistic production. This course explores the coming together of these two domains through diverse visual manifestations of social justice and advocacy produced and/or displayed in Paris from the Revolution to the present, including painting, sculpture, architecture, performance, installations, photography, video, posters, graffiti, and street art. Students explore the ways in which the urban landscape bears the scars of revolutionary destruction and serves as a showcase for politically engaged production, housed in its museums or visible to all on the streets. The instructional format consists of both lectures and group site visits throughout the city, to venues including public and private museums, which are studied both for their content, architecture, and their politics of display; galleries, artist collectives, and Parisian neighborhoods with outdoor art displays.

This course explored and analyzes major institutions, actors, and trends in contemporary French and European Media and attempts to situate them in the larger contexts of “unifying” Europe and “globalized” world-media-scene. Students examine the operational schemes, performances, and internal decisional and power structures of different branches of French media: print national & regional press, specialized magazines, the publishing industry, advertising, radio, television, and the Internet. The course attempts a specific analysis regarding the international and French implications of the growing potential of social networks and “New Media.” Students review aspects of the growing confusion –both in terms of competition and compatibility—between “new” and “old” media and their political, social, and cultural impacts. In the domain of social and political presence students study and question practices of newsgathering, deontological principles and constraints, media performance under pressure of time, context, profit-making-structures, politics, violence, ethics, and ideologies. The course examines forms and styles of “information,” editorial policies and the variety of notions of “Democratic pluralism” and “freedom of expression” across the French and European Media landscapes. We will try to define, decode, and interpret distinctions between “news,” “commentary,” and “analysis” as they are being treated on the French and European media scenes. The course analyzes what all these may mean, encourage, cultivate, or block in terms of politics, society, culture, and media during “high times” of political turmoil, violent crisis, or social unrest. In the domain of entertainment and “services” offered by the Media, students examine different variations of publishing, broadcasting, and “accompanying” practices over the last 20-30 years. We may attempt a parallel analysis of possible interaction between these two domains (News/Entertainment), following political and ideological lines and some study of the dynamics of change along the ambitions, the strategies and the priorities of the media industries alongside “public demand.”

This course, the third in our intensive summer language program sequences, with its contiguous course FR34B, is roughly equivalent to the third and fourth quarters of French language instruction on students' home campuses. FR34A and FR34B provide students who have a working knowledge of the basic skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing in French the opportunity to expand and improve these skills with an emphasis on the introduction of new, intermediate-level, forms of grammar and communicative skills within a French-immersion context. Placement in this course is determined by students' previous experience and the results of a language assessment taken prior to arrival. Successful completion of this course combined with FR34B targets the low-Intermediate French level. Course material includes: MOTIFS: AN INRODUCTION TO FRENCH by K. Jansma, Heinle, 5th Edition, 2011. Through the FR34AB sequence, students gain the ability to communicate in spoken and written French and develop a foundation of intermediate French grammar, a working vocabulary, and information on French and Francophone culture including health and illness, vacation time, family structures, schooling and values of the French Republic, the distribution of household chores, environmental protection, cuisine, grocery shopping and eating habits, the workplace, café life, multiethnic society, youth culture, and the geography, music and cuisine of the francophone world. Following the 34AB course sequence, students should be able to engage in short conversations in French, using both simple and more complex sentences and vocabulary, with occasional use of past and future tenses as well as conditional and subjunctive moods, on familiar topics and express their basic everyday needs using the indicative, imperative, conditional and subjunctive moods, regular, irregular, and reflexive verbs, as well as use object and relative pronouns, articles, prepositions, possessive and demonstrative adjectives, interrogative expressions, and expressions of quantity. Through the FR34AB sequence, students reflect upon basic cultural differences as reflected in a variety of French and Francophone contexts, such as varying levels of familiarity/formality, etiquette, family structures, relations between men and woman, urban life, social-cultural representations of France, the professional world, the political world, etc., as well as in cultural products such as film, performances, news, and music Assignments include class participation, small group and pair work, role play, games, individual and group presentations, written exercises, grammar, dictation, presentations of cultural products such as songs, films, audio texts, a variety of short and simple texts on cultural perspectives, and writing activities.

This course, the fourth in our intensive summer language program sequences, with its contiguous course FR45B, is roughly equivalent to the fourth and fifth quarters of French language instruction on students’ home campuses. FR45A and FR45B provide students who have completed a university-level first-year French course or its equivalent the opportunity to expand and improve their speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, as well as expand their cultural knowledge of the French and Francophone world. The course is based on a presentation of intermediate-level forms of grammar, an expansion of students’ basic working vocabulary, and practice of oral and written communicative skills. Placement in this course is determined by students’ previous experience and the results of a language assessment taken prior to arrival. Course material includes: MOTIFS: AN INRODUCTION TO FRENCH, by K. Jansma, Heinle, 5th Edition, 2011, and RÉSEAU: COMMUNICATION, INTEGRATION, INTERSECTIONS, by J.M. Schultz and M.P. Tranvouez, Prentice Hall, 1st Edition, 2010. Through the 45AB course sequence, students gain the ability to communicate in spoken and written French and develop an understanding of intermediate French grammar points and working vocabulary including contemporary sociological and cultural issues that touch on questions of family and professional relationships, class, social, ethnic, multicultural, and political identities, and the role of the arts in contemporary contexts. Following the 45AB course sequence, students are familiar with all the verb tenses of high-frequency regular, irregular and reflexive verbs, the indicative, imperative, conditional and subjunctive moods, as well as subject and object pronouns, articles, prepositions, possessive and demonstrative adjectives, negative and interrogative expressions. Students apply these aspects of French grammar (such as verb tense, mode and conjugation) to written and oral communication and use listening strategies and skills necessary to understanding a wide variety of discourse. Additionally students are required to give individual and group presentations; read, understand, answer questions and discuss selected literary and journalistic texts as well as multimedia material; write summaries, dialogues or skits, as well as produce short compositions. Students reflect upon basic cultural differences as reflected in a variety of French and Francophone contexts, such as varying levels of familiarity/formality, etiquette, cuisine and dietary habits, family structures, commerce and the professional world, etc., as well as in cultural products such as film, performances, news, and music. Assignments include class participation, small group and pair work, role play, games, individual and group presentations, written exercises, grammar, dictation, presentations of cultural products such as songs, films, audio texts, a variety of short and simple texts on cultural perspectives, and writing activities.

This course focuses on how collective action and social movements have sought to raise awareness and effect change in migration and identity issues. The course is designed to engage students in a multi-disciplinary, experiential research project on migration issues through a series of set themes related to collective action. It aims to better understand the forms of collective action on the on the issues of migration, based on the in-depth study of the Paris experience. It critically addresses concepts of integration, community, ethnicity, citizenship, asylum, and migrant rights by systematically putting them to the test through social and political mobilizations. As such, it will allow students to explore migrants’ diverse experiences as they interact with societies, culture, and institutions with a strong emphasis on the role played by activism. Given the predominance of migration in the nation’s capital city, a wide range of opportunities for case studies to develop research projects, crossing various disciplines such as history, political science, sociology, literature, journalism, and visual studies on social movements about migrants, migration and identity, and migration in Paris. The Parisian field offers myriad case studies on these issues as the undocumented migrants’ social movements, associations for the defense of migrants’ rights, aid and support institutions for foreigners, as well as organizations created by communities of origin. This is why, by focusing on the research dimension, this course intends to rely on, from a pedagogical perspective, meetings with social actors and collection of first-hand data. Research papers deal with collective action motivated by positions and identities related to migration, ethnicity, religion, anti-racism, nationalism, and diversity. The focus on migration and identity in an historical perspective is particularly relevant to developing research skills and service-learning opportunities for students.
 

This course, the sixth in our intensive summer language program sequences, with its continuous course FR170, is roughly equivalent to the sixth quarter of lower-division French language instruction and an upper-division French composition course on students’ home campuses. FR60 and FR170 provide students who have completed the better part of a university-level second-year French course or its equivalent the opportunity to expand and improve their speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, as well as expand their cultural knowledge of the French and Francophone world. The course is based on a presentation of advanced intermediate-level forms of grammar, an expansion of students’ working vocabulary, and practice of oral and written communicative skills, with a particular emphasis on their writing skills. Placement in this course is determined by students’ previous experience and the results of a language assessment taken prior to arrival. Textbook and Course Materials for the course include: RÉSEAU: COMMUNICATION, INTEGRATION, INTERSECTIONS, by J.M. Schultz and M.P. Tranvouez,. Grammar, vocabulary, and cultural topics are discussed, including art, literature, cinema, vernacular French, multicultural society, Francophilia and Francophobia, and France’s role in the European Union. Students engage in class discussions, write summaries, dialogues and essays, in addition to group and individual oral presentations.