| Unit name | Culture, soft power and diplomatie d'influence: Exporting French culture from the 1870s to the present |
|---|---|
| Unit code | FREN30133 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Faucher |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None. |
| School/department | Department of French |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will be taught by Dr Charlotte Faucher
Why is this unit important?
The unit will introduce you to the world of French diplomacy - past and present - through lectures, seminars, group discussion, including opportunities to meet/have discussions with those currently working in the field of cultural diplomacy in the UK or France. The unit will equip you with sophisticated political and scholarly analytical skills and with a range of language, research and independent-study skills that will stand you in good stead for further study or in your first graduate job. The content, knowledge and intellectual skills acquired in this interdisciplinary unit will, amongst other things, prepare you to write policy reports (heavily used in the civil service, think tanks, the consultancy world and beyond) while also developing more traditional transferable skills including structuring an argument, critiquing sources, and articulating a thesis. It also prepares you well for employment in fields that demand an appreciation of the relationship between politics and society, and how diplomatic decisions affect domestic and foreign policies.
Students wishing to pursue careers in diplomacy, policy-making, policy-analysis, law, journalism, and the civil service may find this course particularly valuable.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit will broaden your knowledge of French politics, international relations and culture and will encourage you to reflect critically on how scholars can study French history through its cultural relations and diplomacy with other nations. You will be able to identify key debates and issues in a field of scholarship which you might not have encountered yet (international relations and soft power) while linking these debates to some of the events and themes that you have already examined in your degree (such as the world wars and the rise of political ideologies in France such as nationalism or fascism). These will be crossed with perspectives such as gender (what is the role of femininity and masculinity in French cultural international relations; of French women in the promotion of French culture abroad?); emotions (how can we account for fear, disappointment, or friendship in the forging of international relations?); and transnationalism (what is the impact of the diplomacies of other countries on France’s own soft power policies?).
An overview of content
After an introductory session on key concepts and theories related to culture, cultural diplomacy, and soft power, students will look at the prehistory of soft power in the French context, with a specific focus on the “civilising mission” and its links with late nineteenth century “new imperialism”. They will appraise how the concept of “civilisation” was understood during the Belle Epoque and the role the First World War and propaganda played in shaping debates about external cultural policies in France. Discussion of the shifting meaning of propaganda, external cultural policies and cultural diplomacy will be facilitated in order to sharpen students’ critical understanding of the role of culture during the Third Republic. This will be followed by a focus on the use of cultural diplomacy in the early 1920s and under the Popular Front (with the establishment of the first Ministry of Propaganda), presented against the backdrop of rising international tensions, in particular with Germany and Italy. In the second half of the module, we will look at the competing use of culture, arts and language by the Vichy government and the various resistance movements. Moving into the post-war period students will look at the processes of cultural and intellectual rebuilding of France and French identity. The position of France in the “cultural Cold War” will also be at the heart of one of the sessions in the second part of the semester. A concluding session will assess the relevance of cultural diplomacy in contemporary France.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Through this unit, you will be challenged and equipped to confront personal values and make ethical judgements about historical and contemporary concepts (such as propaganda, fake news, and the use of public relations in diplomacy). You will also develop transferable skills, including working as part of a team, presenting a clear oral analysis using appropriate media and producing a coherent argument to a focussed deadline. Importantly, the unit also aims to help you become an expert in a strand of diplomacy that is essential to contemporary national and international governance and give you the skills to write policy reports and essays.
This module prepares you well for writing research pieces, reports and policy statements, in other words, both writing of an academic nature but also writing that will be essential for many different career options.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
In the first half of the semester, you will work with other students on a presentation to prepare for the policy report assessment. You will be asked to present, in a group, on a policy question based on primary diplomatic documents (reports, minutes etc) related to one of the unit’s key themes.
Working in small groups, you will discuss and debate a policy question to help you learn how to evaluate and criticise a policy issue relating to twentieth century French soft power.
In the second half, we will practice essay questions in small group and plenary sessions and you will receive verbal feedback from the Unit Director.
You will be taught through a weekly 2-hour seminar that will include an informal short lecture (sometimes conducted in French) by the Unit Director.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
When assessment does not go to plan
If you are unable to undertake either assessment or are required to be re-assessed following submission, you will normally be asked to complete the necessary work during the Summer Reassessment Period. In these cases, an individual recorded presentation may be requested in place of the first summative assessment. You will not be permitted to repeat topics of study from any previously submitted work on the unit.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. FREN30133).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
