Institute of French Studies (IFST-GA)

Since the invention of the cinematography at the end of the 19th century, cinema has played a central role in French culture. Through the study of films and texts that contextualize them, this course examines cultural issues central to French society. Different faculty members have focused on various themes such as: the Black experience in French cinema, gender relations, cinema and politics, and the representations of French history in cinema.

Examples of topics include 'Contemporary France through the Prism of Creative Nonfiction Writing.’ This course introduces an approach to investigating French society through the lens of creative nonfiction. What can creative nonfiction teach us about French society that journalism cannot? Each class will unwrap various aspects of modern France: manners of the elites; Parisian poverty; culinary arts; the consequences of terrorism; family secrets; the environment; questions of ethnic and racial diversity. All while exploring these themes, the students engage with methods and techniques for writing creative nonfiction, and eventually, write their own text dealing with contemporary France. We will host numerous authors in the class.

This course provides master’s students in French Studies and doctoral students in two Ph.D. programs, French Studies/History and French Studies/French Literature, with a supportive setting for presenting their work and for exploring new directions in their fields. The workshop is designed to foster scholarly exchange and give students experience in presenting their work, supporting and evaluating the work of their peers, and modelling forms of mentorship that they observe in the faculty.

Modernity's myths are both powerful and tenacious. It continues to be widely celebrated for the secularism, liberalism, and equality it appears to bring, in particular to countries of the West. And yet, we also know that modernity's rise has coincided with one of the most extended and horrific periods of violence in human history through Europe's imperial expansion and its enslavement of millions of Africans. How does our view of modernity shift if we do not accept its myths, and instead place the violence that was established in 1492 at its center? In this class, we will replace the “secular” with the “global” as a key analytic to understanding modernity. We will work to build a canon of texts and queries that address modernity’s violence by highlighting the Haitian Revolution, and the writings of Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Édouart Glissant, C.L.R. James, Nelly Schmidt, Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Françoise Vergès, and Eric Williams.

Recent topics: Colonization, immigration, and national identity; History of Catastrophes in modern France; Race, Gender, and Class in French Society; History and memory in French experience; Literature and society; History and Literature; Immigration in France.

History of France and its Empire from the Enlightenment to the late 19th century. Topics vary, but usually include the French Revolution and its legacy; the colonies, slavery, and the Empire; political culture, from Right to Left; class structure and labor unrest; gender; religion and Republicanism; the rise of commercialism and mass society; environment; war; and the enduring question of nationhood, citizenship, and the emergence of a French identity

The transformation of French society since the turn of the century as a result of economic crisis and growth, political upheaval, war, and decolonization. Topics include anti-Semitism, the rise of the radical Right and Left, the impact of World War I on women and men, labor conflict, collaboration and resistance during World War II, student rebellion, immigration, racism, and French-American relations.

This course explores understanding modern French political life within the constitutional frameworks that have been in place since the beginning of the Third Republic. Three themes run through the entire course. 1) The importance of institutional and partisan structures in French politics: the role of the president; the electoral system; partisan organizations. 2) The forces of transformation and novelty: nationalism or internationalism, voter turnout, political mobilizations. 3) The exceptional or ordinary character of French political life compared to that of other Western parliamentary democracies.

This course explores the relationships between French literature and cinema by focusing on several themes: the policy of authorship, the political participation of filmmakers, the symbolic power of French intellectuals and artists throughout the twentiethand twenty-first centuries, and the literary and cinematographic identity of the French nation.

Introduction to the analysis of French society and postwar processes of social reproduction and transformation. Recent topics: Immigration and the Welfare state; Race, Class, and Gender in Contemporary France; Gender, Sexuality, and Politics.

This course offers a global perspective on the history of the French economy. The course explores the transition of the French economy from an "order-based" (military-religious-economic) social structure to a proprietary society based upon a sharp demarcation between property owners and workers. The course further examines how this property-based demarcation has evolved throughout various eras of French modern history: colonial, social-democratic, and post-colonial.

This course explores the transformations of gender relations and gender roles in modern France. It analyzes patriarchal structures, the monopolization of power and capital by men, the silencing of women, the gendered division of labor, women's mobilizations, and also dissident or delegitimized forms of masculinity.

Visual arts have played a central role in French culture in the modern era. Through the study of specific forms of visual arts and texts that contextualize them, this course examines cultural issues central to French society. Different faculty members have focused on various themes such as: photography, painting, graphic design, and architecture.

This course aims to give students the tools to understand the general structure of the French educational system and its evolution since the late 19th century as well as the making of educational social inequalities. Combining history and sociology, and drawing on both theoretical and empirical work, this course explores the segments of the French educational system in all their diversity: general and vocational education, primary, secondary and higher education, public and private education, education in metropolitan France as well as in the colonies and overseas. The course explores how the construction of a "meritocratic" Republican educational system led to a unified but hierarchical educational system. It examines the various factors contributing to educational inequalities. It looks at the diverse outcomes of degrees, based on class, gender and race.

Explores the relationship between society and art in France. Focus is on the beaux arts?painting, sculpture, and architecture?as well as photography and the decorative arts. The aim is to gain an understanding of artistic production within the context of historical and social change.

Approaches and methodologies used to analyze, research, and teach French civilization and cultural studies. Includes discussion of relevant disciplinary approaches as well as particular cultural “objects” analyzed from various perspectives.

Examines the political, economic, cultural, and military policies of France in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa since independence and the political, economic, and social developments in each of the new nations.

Since the colonization of Algeria in 1830, Tunisia in 1881, and Morocco in 1912, the Maghreb has played a specific role in French colonial and postcolonial culture. Through the study of primary sources and texts that contextualize them, this course examines various aspects of French colonialism in the Maghreb, and its contemporary legacy on issues central to French-Maghrebi relationships. Different faculty members have focused on various themes such as: settler colonialism versus "protectorate" rule; the contradictions of French secularism in the colonies; the transformations undergone by local societies under French colonial power; the fight for independence in global perspective; memories of the colonial era across both sides of the Mediterranean.

A systematic study of the social and cultural impact of French politics, political institutions, and public policies in former colonies of Guadeloupe, Martinique, and, to a lesser extent, Guiana. Explains how these territories, which have produced theorists of the colonial predicament such as Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, and Edouard Glissant, are not only still attached to the mother country, but show little inclination for independence while claiming greater political control over their own local affairs.

Analyzes the evolution of European Union governance since the 1960s and the role of France in transforming the European governing system. A central issue is how and why French policy moved from Charles de Gaulle?s resistance to a closer union among European states to Fran?ois Mitterrand?s efforts to create an integrated system.

Various topics in modern French cultural history

This course focuses on various political traditions in France. Recent iterations of this course have examined the politicl history of the welfare state, enviromental thought, humanitarian advocacy, the extreme right, and more.

Recent topics: family and gender; urban anthropology; excursions in interdisciplinarity.

This course focuses on emerging new fields in the cultural history of France and the francophone world. Recent iterations of this course have examined this history of fashion; the history of the music industry, the history of comics, and the history of museums.

Individualized course designed by instructor and doctoral student to ensure the command of secondary literature in the student's chosen subfield of research.

Interdisciplinary research seminar in contemporary French history, society, politics, and culture. During two consecutive semesters, students design, execute, present, and critique research projects dealing with contemporary France since the Revolution.

Interdisciplinary research seminar in contemporary French history, society, politics, and culture. During two consecutive semesters, students design, execute, present, and critique research projects dealing with contemporary France since the Revolution.

Individualized course designed by instructor and doctoral student to ensure the command of secondary literature in the student's chosen subfield of research.

Individualized course designed by instructor and doctoral student to ensure the command of secondary literature in the student's chosen subfield of research.

Paris offers students and faculty alike an astonishing array of resources and possibilities for pursuing intellectual projects of all kinds. The city’s many archives, libraries, museums, and media outlets, to say nothing of its neighborhoods and inhabitants, have long made Paris a special place to do research. This summer course is structured to guide and support students as they carry out their own individually-designed project during a period of residence in the city. This course is also a group experience in which students respond to one another’s work, visit sites of special interest to researchers, explore questions of method, argumentation, and style.

This summer course offerd at NYU Paris focuses on emerging new fields in the cultural history of France, using Paris as a case-study. Recent iterations of this course have examined this history of fashion; the history of the music industry, the history of comics, and the history of museums.

This course explores the colonial and post-colonial dimensions of migration in France. Combining history, sociology and political science, this course looks at the genesis of classificatory categories (foreigner, immigrant, refugee, exile, national, colonial, migrant) and public policies (housing, literacy, access to nationality). The course explores migration both from the State's point of view and from below by focusing on the mobilizations and experiences of migrant themselves.

This course is designed to introduce students to comparative case studies of policing in France and the United States. The course mostly focuses on the close reading of primary and secondary sources and analyzing various media sources, including film, documentaries, and podcasts. These sources include the voices of police officers and activists, encouraging students to think through issues of policing and criminality from multiple vantage points.