HIS 351 MODERN FRANCE
Revised March 19, 2020
Kenneth J. Orosz Office Hours: T 3:00-4:00
Spring 2020 W 10:00-12:00
Class Meetings: Classroom Bldg A212 Office: Classroom Bldg C213
TR 1:40-2:55 Phone: 878-3203
E-mail: oroszkj@buffalostate.edu
Transition to Online Teaching
As you all know, we are moving into uncharted waters with social distancing and the mandated switch to online teaching. Regarding our class, some things will change but much of the course architecture will remain the same. Please contact me via email as soon as possible if you have any questions, concerns, or experience problems accessing materials in Blackboard.
Lectures: I will be teaching the class in an asynchronous fashion by posting Powerpoints with embedded audio to the Content section of Blackboard. What that means to you, is that you can log in, download and watch the Powerpoints at any time rather than structuring your day around what was our scheduled class time.
Wherever possible, I will break lectures down into smaller, more manageable chunks so that you are not trapped in front of a monitor for 75 minutes at a time. This means that you will probably see more topics per week than originally listed on the syllabus. Please watch them in order and stay on schedule as much as possible; there will be far too much to cover if you try to catch up at the last minute.
Given that nearly every university and school has shifted over to online teaching, I suspect that the internet will slow to a crawl during peak times. Embedding audio means that the Powerpoint files will be quite large and will slow things down further and will quickly exhaust your data plans. I strongly recommend that you use Wifi only and that you download batches of files during off peak hours to watch later.
The lecture Powerpoints are set up to mimic the experience you would have had in class minus the ability to ask questions. When you open the Powerpoint click on the “Slide Show” tab at the top of the screen; then click on the “From the beginning” button in the upper left of your screen. The Powerpoint will then play like a video from start to finish. If you need to pause the lecture, right click on the slide and select pause from the menu. To resume, either right click or hit the Escape button on your keyboard.
If you want to slow things down further or re-watch pieces of the lecture, once you open the Powerpoint you should place your cursor on top of the desired slide. Left click once to highlight the slide and then click on the “From Current Slide” button at the top of the screen to play the slide show from that point. You can also watch slides on an individual basis. To do that, double click on the desired slide to open a larger version and then click on the speaker icon in the lower right corner of the slide to start the audio.
Readings: Since we will be playing catch up for a week or two in terms of topics covered, you will need to look at the original syllabus (posted below) to match reading assignments to topics. Eventually, however, we will get back on track and readings should be done by the date listed on the original syllabus.
Assignments: The remaining written assignments (research paper proposal, second book analysis, and research paper) will continue with only a few modifications. The biggest change is that all assignments must now be submitted electronically as Word documents so that I can use Comments bubbles while grading. Please note that all other instructions - including the need to adhere to the History Style Sheet - remain in effect. Assignments are due no later than 10:00 AM on the originally assigned due date (April 16 for the second book analysis; May 7 for the final research paper). Please send your papers as e-mail attachments to oroszkj@buffalostate.edu. It is your responsibility to ensure that they are sent/received on time. I highly recommend that you add yourself as a recipient of that message and keep a copy once it arrives as proof that it was sent on time.
Paper Proposals: As you know, this is the one assignment on which there is a flexible due date. Per the original syllabus/paper instructions, if I do not have a passing proposal on file by the time you submit your research paper on May 7 than I will not read your paper and you will receive an F for the assignment. Proposals should consist of a sentence or two outlining your topic followed by a preliminary bibliography of 8-10 scholarly sources. Normally I would direct you to books, but the likely closure of libraries means that you will probably have to rely heavily on journal articles instead. You can find those by using the library’s JSTOR and Project Muse databases; both databases can be accessed from anywhere by logging in through the library portal and contain PDF versions of articles that you can download or read on the screen.
Final Exam: The final exam will be conducted online via Blackboard and will have a different format from the midterm. Rather than write one essay and 10 identification terms, you will write two essays from a choice of three questions. The exam will become available under the Content tab in Blackboard at 9:00 AM on Tuesday May 12. You may take the exam at any time on the 12th, but all answers must be submitted by 11:59 PM. The exam has been designed to be completed in a regular 2 hour block, but I have built in an additional 2 hours of flex time if needed to accommodate unexpected interruptions and/or problems with internet access. Exceptions for additional time have already been entered for those students who qualify for learning accommodations. While you can manually save and submit your answers as soon as you are finished with the exam, once time ends your exam will be automatically submitted. Please note that answers must be typed into the box on Blackboard; cutting and pasting material has been disabled. Since I have to assume that you will be using your notes when writing those essays, I will be expecting more complete and more detailed answers. If you encounter any problems let me know as soon as possible so that we can work out a solution.
Grades: I have reactivated the My Grades function in Blackboard (left side of the screen) and will be using that as the primary means of communicating assignment grades to you. Please note that it is not set up to calculate final grades. I will also scan those exams and papers which were not collected before campus closed and will email those back to you so that you can see my comments. All future assignments will be submitted electronically and will be emailed back with grades and comments added.
Office Hours: While you are always free to email your questions/concerns, I will also be holding virtual office hours at the usual times (Tuesdays 3:00-4:00 and Wednesdays 10:00-12:00). During virtual office hours I will regularly check e-mail and will set up video chat or telephone consultations on request.
Original Syllabus
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course surveys the evolution of French political, social and cultural history from the age of Absolutism to the present. Major themes include the work of Louis XIV, the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte, the July Monarchy, French colonial expansion, the Second Empire, Vichy France, De Gaulle, and the role of France in the European Union.
REQUIREMENTS:
Academic misconduct (including cheating and plagiarism) will not be tolerated. Buffalo State College policies on academic misconduct, including the possible use of textual similarity detection software, are outlined on page 48 of the college catalog. Please note that the minimum penalty for cases of academic misconduct will be an F on the assignment.
Reading assignments are to be completed by the dates given. There will a midterm and a final examination. Students are required to provide their own blank examination booklets (available in the bookstore) for each exam. Please note that in order to earn more than a B on the essay portion of the exams you must make use of the relevant assigned readings and historical documents. In addition students will write two 5 page analyses of assigned texts (Piercy’s City of Darkness, City of Light and Vreeland’s Luncheon of the Boating Party) and a 10-12 page paper on a topic of their choice. All topics for the research papers must be authorized by me and must conform to the geographic and temporal confines of this course. As part of this process students are required to submit their paper topics in the form of written proposals no later than March 3. Failure to submit a passing proposal means that your paper will not be accepted and you will earn an E for that portion of the course. All papers and reviews must conform to the History Style Sheet. Detailed instructions on the writing assignments, including the style sheet, can be found in Blackboard or by clicking the syllabi and course materials links at http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/oroszkj. For Blackboard help go to
https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student.
Please note that in order to pass this course you must make a good faith attempt to complete all components and requirements. LATE WORK WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT PRIOR ARRANGEMENT. Incompletes will be granted at the sole discretion of the instructor and require a written application outlining the rationale behind granting the incomplete, a list of outstanding assignments and a timetable for their completion. This application must be signed and, if granted, will constitute a formal contract for the completion of the course.
Grades will be computed as follows
Midterm 25% Final 25%
Piercy Analysis 15% Long Paper 20%
Vereeland Analysis 15%
BOOKS
The following books are required reading and are available in the bookstore.
Michael Broers, Europe under Napoleon 978-1-784-53061-7
Robert Darnton, The Great Cat Massacre 978-0-394-72927-5
Mary McAuliffe, Dawn of the Belle Epoque 978-1-442-20928-2
Eugen Weber, The Hollow Years 978-0-393-31479-3
Tyler Stovall, Transnational France, 978-0-813-34811-7
Marge Piercy, City of Darkness, City of Light 978-0-449-91275-1
Susan Vreeland, Luncheon of the Boating Party 978-0-143-11352-2
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS:
Supplemental readings (indicated in italics on the syllabus) can be accessed in one of 3 ways: 1) if it is a website, there will be a link to it from the electronic version of the syllabus available in Blackboard or on my web page at http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/oroszkj Please note that the “Broadcast” links are versions of a radio program, hence there is no video to watch. When the page opens make sure you click the “play” icon on the left side of the screen. 2) Journal articles listed below can be accessed via the library’s Academic Search Premier or JSTOR databases; 3) highlighted readings are available in Blackboard under the Content tab.
Bell, David S. "The Essence of Presidential Leadership in France: Pompidou, Giscard,
Mitterrand, and Chirac as Coalition Builders." Politics & Policy 30, no. 2 (2002): 372-396.
Christina Carroll, “Imperial Ideologies in the Second Empire: The Mexican Expedition and the
Royaume Arabe,” French Historical Studies (2019) 42 (1): 67–100.
Jon Cowans, “French Public Opinion and the Founding of the Fourth Republic,” French
Historical Studies 17, no. 1 (Spring 1991): 62-95.
William Hoisington, “Colonial Mission: France Overseas in the 19th & 20th Centuries,”
in The Transformation of Modern France, edited by William Cohen (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997), 97-108.
Karen Offen, “Women, Citizenship and Suffrage in France Since 1789,” in The
Transformation of Modern France, edited by William Cohen (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997), 125-141.
Martin Shipway, Decolonization and its Impact (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2008), 86-95,
107-113, 199-218.
Julian Swann, “Parlements and Political Crisis in France in France under Louis XV,”
Historical Journal 37, no. 4 (December 1994): 803-828.
F. Roy Willis, “France and the European Union,” in The Transformation of Modern
France, edited by William Cohen (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997), 225-242.
CLASS SCHEDULE
January 28 Introduction
January 30 Louis XIV and the Golden Age of France
Read: Darnton Ch 1-3; Louis XIV on Trade;
Revocation of Edict of Nantes; Life in Versailles
February 4 The Breakdown of Absolutism
Read: Darnton Ch 4-conclusion; Swann, “Parlements & Political Crisis”
February 6 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
Read: Stovall Intro; Conditions in France;
February 11 The French Revolution
Read: Stovall Ch 1; Nobility of Blois; Declaration of Rights of Man
February 13 The Terror
Read: Piercy novel; Levee en Masse; Execution of Louis XVI
February 18 Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte
Read: Broers Introduction-Ch 3; Napoleon; Napoleon in 1804; Constitution of Year XII
February 20 Imperial France
Read: Broers Ch 4-5
February 25 The Bourbon Restoration
Read: Broers Ch 6-Conclusion; Restoration; Charter of 1814
Piercy Analysis due
February 27 The July Monarchy
Read: Stovall Ch 2; Condition of July Monarchy; Revolution of 1848
March 3 Second Empire
Read: Stovall Ch 3; Creation Second Empire
Paper Topics Due
March 5 Urbanization and Haussmann’s Paris
Read: Stovall Ch 4; Excerpts from Germinal
March 10 Foreign Policy under Napoleon III
Read: Carroll, “Imperial Ideolgies”
March 12 Midterm
March 17 The Paris Commune
Read: McAuliffe Introduction-Ch 5; Commune
March 19 The Third Republic
Read: Stovall Ch 5; McAuliffe Ch 6-10
March 24 No Class
March 26 No Class
March 31 Impressionism
Read: McAuliffe Ch 11-20;
April 2 The Dreyfus Affair and the Belle Epoque
Read: McAuliffe Ch 21-28; Vreeland novel
April 7 La France Outre-Mer
Read: Stovall Ch 6; Hoisington, “Colonial Mission;” Ferry on Colonies;
French view of Imperialism; Civilization through the bed
April 9 World War I
Read: Stovall Ch 7; French view of 1914
Offen, “Women, Citizenship & Suffrage;”
April 14 Inter-war France
Read: Stovall Ch 8;
April 16 The Great Depression
Read: Weber Ch 1-4
Vreeland Analysis due
April 21 World War II and Vichy France
Read: Stovall Ch 9; Daladier on Nazism
April 23 The Fourth Republic
Read: Stovall Ch 10; Speech at Constantine; Cowans, “French Public Opinion”
April 28 Decolonization
Read: Shipway, Decolonization, pp. 86-95, 107-113, 199-218; Vietnam Policy;
April 30 De Gaulle and the Fifth Republic
Stovall 11; NATO Policy; EEC Veto
May 5 France after De Gaulle
Read: Bell, “Essence of Presidential Leadership”;
Willis, “France and the European Union”
May 7 Twenty First Century France
Read: Stovall Ch 12
Research Papers Due
May 12 Final Exam 1:40-3:30
Guidelines for Writing Assignments
While your papers will be graded primarily on content, grammatical accuracy, style, presentation and organization will also be taken into account. All papers are required to adhere to the History Style Sheet which is available in Blackboard and on my web site under Course Materials. Failure to follow the style sheet will result in significant penalties; these consist of at least the loss of a full letter grade for each category of violation (i.e. use of contractions will cost you a letter grade, reducing an A paper to a B). This includes paper length, non-standard fonts, margins and line spacing. Please note that a short paper is not necessarily a bad paper; I am primarily interested in what you have to say, how well you say it and if you have developed your thesis and argument sufficiently.
As you write your papers feel free to paraphrase or quote suitable passages that illustrate your points. However, if you quote or paraphrase, you must cite the relevant passage. You must also cite detailed information (i.e. statistics or items that are not common knowledge). Proper citation formats can be found in the History Style Sheet. Please note that in addition to enforcing Buffalo State College’s policies on academic misconduct, including the possible use of textual similarity detection software, the minimum penalty for plagiarism is an F on the assignment. For more information on plagiarism, how to footnote, or how to write a research paper consult the relevant sections of Benjamin’s A Student’s Guide to History. If you are still unclear about when or how to cite please come see me during my office hours. That is why I am there.
Since much of what is out on the internet is of dubious quality, the use of web pages as source material is strictly forbidden unless authorized by me in writing. The only exceptions to this rule are the individual web sites that I have assigned as required reading material. On a similar note, the use of encyclopedias is also forbidden. While they may be useful reference tools or for providing an overview of a particular topic, encyclopedias have no place in college level work. Articles in historical encyclopedias (i.e. The Encyclopedia of European Social History) may be acceptable, but must first be cleared by me in writing.
I am obviously a firm believer in written assignments since they help develop your organizational, analytical and communication skills, all of which are things you will need in the workplace. Consequently, I expect you to treat all graded assignments (in this or any other class) as preparations for your future career. Turning in business reports that are filled with grammatical errors, failures in logic, poor argumentation and lack of evidence portrays a degree of incompetence, even if it is undeserved, and will probably get you fired. Get in the habit now of proofreading your work to catch typos, misspellings and nonsensical statements. Read your papers aloud to see how they sound. Better still, have a friend or roommate read your work since they are more likely to notice any problems. Most of you will be writing your papers on wordprocessors. No matter what program you use, they all have spell checkers. It is silly and self-defeating not to make use of them.
While I do not allow rewrites once papers have been graded, I will read and comment on rough drafts if I am given enough time. Alternatively, you may want to consult either the campus writing center or some of the history tutors for help or advice. Keep your notes and copies of your paper to facilitate rewrites and to safeguard against loss, computer errors, random destruction by pets and similar catastrophes. Finally, and most importantly, if you are having any problems in this course come see me.
Book Reviews
All students will write 2 five page (1500 word) historical analyses of assigned texts (Piercy’s City of Darkness, City of Light and Vreeland’s Luncheon of the Boating Party). Since these are an analysis and not “book reports” I am not interested in plot summaries. Your review should analyze and critique the author’s portrayal of some of the historical events or themes covered in this course. Plot details may be used as evidence to support your analysis. Use the following questions as a guide when reading and thinking about the review; they are, however, by no means all inclusive, nor do you need to answer each one. How does the novel portray historical events or themes covered elsewhere in the course? How accurate are these depictions? Have they added to your understanding of the period in question? You will need to be selective in choosing which elements to include in your reviews since both works are very complex and illustrate many historical trends. You will also need to incorporate and cite historical evidence drawn from other class materials in order to support your points.
As you will discover, 5 pages provides barely enough room to introduce a topic, let alone go into much detail. Hence, your papers should have a narrowly defined thesis and must be very selective in both their use and presentation of supporting evidence or examples. Since these papers are so short keep quotations to a minimum so that you will have more room to
develop your own thoughts and arguments. There is ample material on which to base your papers in my lectures and your textbooks; outside materials, although always welcome, are not required.
Research Paper
In addition to the book analyses, all students will write a 10-12 page (3000-3600 word) paper on a topic of their own choice. While the actual topics for your papers are up to you, they must remain within the geographical and temporal confines of this course. The paper should analyze some facet of modern French history in detail. To that end, and to help you identify sources, all paper topics must be cleared with me first in the form of a written paper proposal due no later than March 3. Complete proposals will outline your topic, the specific issues you intend to address, and must include a bibliography. If, after you have begun researching and writing your paper, you choose to use additional sources, you must submit an amended bibliography to me in writing. Papers that use unauthorized materials will not be accepted. Similarly, papers that deviate significantly from your research proposal will also not be accepted. This does not mean, however, that you are permanently locked in to a particular paper topic; if you change your mind and opt to pursue some other topic you must submit a new paper proposal which may or may not be accepted at my discretion. In order to find suitable research materials you will need to go beyond what is in our library catalog by making use of the JSTOR, Worldcat, and Academic Search Complete databases. Completed papers are due in class on May 7.
Possible paper topics include:
State and Society under Louis XIV Robespierre and the Terror
Napoleonic Reforms The Revolution of 1830
The Paris Commune The Dreyfus Affair
De Gaulle and the Free French Hausmann and the Reconstruction of Paris