2021/22 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

HIST2077 Colonial Encounters: France and its Empire, 1830-1945

20 creditsClass Size: 29

Module manager: Rebecca Infield
Email: R.Infield@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2021/22

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

At its peak, the French empire covered over 4 million square miles of the globe. This impressive territorial reach underpinned France's claim to world power status during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Ranging from North and West Africa to South East Asia via the Caribbean and even including parts of India, the French empire was incredibly diverse. Binding together these disparate regions was France's commitment to what it saw as its imperial mission civilisatrice (civilising mission). While all European colonial powers made claims about their civilising activities overseas, France was unique in the extent to which it sought to mould its colonies and their inhabitants in its own image. The implementation of this ideology profoundly shaped the culture and society of both the colonisers and the colonised. Over the course of this module students will be encouraged to think about the different ways in which France transformed the societies it came into contact with as it built and governed its empire. Underlining the permeability of the borders between metropole and colony, students will also reflect on how ideas, products and people migrated from the empire back to mainland France and the impact this had upon French identity, culture and ways of life, including the legacies of these influences in the contemporary era.

Objectives

The objectives of this module are:
1. To explain and evaluate the ways in which the French empire impacted on the culture and society of both colonisers and colonised.
2. To compare and contrast experiences of empire for both colonisers and colonised, reflecting upon the factors that influenced these experiences.
3. To analyse the historiographical debates in relation to the France and the French empire.
4. To appreciate and reflect upon the relationship between contemporary debates about empire and their historical context.
5. To critically analyse a range of primary sources, both written and visual, relating to these issues.
6. To formulate sophisticated and nuanced arguments in relation to these issues, in written and verbal form.
7. To further develop generic, transferable and subject specific skills.

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students will be able to:
1. demonstrate a good awareness of the key events, people and themes relating to the social and cultural history of the French empire
2. demonstrate an ability to think critically about the relationship between contemporary debates about empire and their historical context
3. demonstrate proficiency in assessing and evaluating a range of primary sources in relation to the study of the French empire
4. read critically and engage with secondary sources and historiographical debates using these to develop rigorous historical analysis
5. show analytical and critical skills in oral presentations and written work

Syllabus

Topics to be covered may include: Ideas and ideologies of French rule; race and racial difference; sex, gender and the family; religion and education; science and medicine; colonial soldiers and labourers in France; consuming, selling and exhibiting the empire; anti-colonial voices and movements; the empire at war; remembering and representing the empire.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Workshop	1	2.00	2.00
Lecture	10	1.00	11.00
Seminar	10	1.00	9.00
Private study hours			178.00
Total Contact hours			22.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Students will prepare for each seminar by reading texts and primary sources supplied by the Module Leader. They will also be expected to undertake further, self-directed reading for each class using the module bibliographies. Students will additionally research and prepare an oral presentation (10% of module assessment), research and write a 2000 word assessed essay (30%) and prepare for the final exam (60%).

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Student progress will be monitored by 1 x 2000 word essay and 1 x 3000 word research portfolio. The portfolio will consist of a 2000 word written text that communications an aspect of the history of the French empire to a non-academic audience and a 1000 word academic reflection on the task. In relation to these assessments, the following formative feedback opportunities will be provided:

- Participation in class discussions to build subject knowledge and analytical skills that will feed into the written assessments.

- Individual consultations prior to the submission of the two pieces of summative assessment.

- A seminar devoted to the research portfolio assignment in which students will receive training and guidance on the task as well as the opportunity to discuss their ideas and receive informal formative oral feedback.

- Oral and written feedback on all written assessments.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Assignment	3000 word research portfolio due Monday revision week semester 2	60.00
Essay	2000 word essay due Monday or week 8	40.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 14/02/2022

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