Durham University
Programme and Module Handbook

Undergraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2014-2015 (archived)

Module FREN3341: CULTURE AND CONFLICT IN THE WARS OF RELIGION

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (French)

FREN3341: CULTURE AND CONFLICT IN THE WARS OF RELIGION

Type Open Level 3 Credits 20 Availability Not available in 2014/15 Module Cap None. Location Durham

Prerequisites

  • French Language 2 (FREN2051) OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

  • Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: French Language 4 (FREN3041) or French Language 4 following Year Abroad (FREN3351). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative

Excluded Combination of Modules

  • None

Aims

  • to offer an advanced course in French literature and/or visual culture of the sixteenth (and early seventeenth) century
  • to enable students to reflect critically on relationships between literature, visual culture and history, and on the specifications of 'literary' or visual texts in understanding the past
  • to enable students to analyse relationships between literature and visual culture, on the one hand, and war and conflict, on the other
  • to develop students' critical and analytical skills in relation to various genres (which could include the essay, fiction, poetry, prints, painting)
  • to offer a course related to Dr Banks's current and future research

Content

  • Analysis of a small selection of sixteenth and early seventeenth century works (which will vary from year to year)
  • Introduction to sixteenth century conflict involving France - the Wars of Religion, national rivalries, conflict in the New World
  • Sustained focus on relationships between literature and/or visual culture and history - on what particular 'literary' or visual objects can tell us about historical periods (e.g. ideals and anxieties, fantasies and fears) which other historical objects cannot, and on how they do this

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:
  • Knowledge of important French texts
  • knowledge of a crucial period in French history and literary history
  • knowledge of innovative approaches to analysing relationships between literature, visual culture and conflict, and between literature, visual culture and history
Subject-specific Skills:
  • development of critical skills - close reading of primary texts
  • ability to relate works judisciously to overarching themes of conflict and war
  • ability to analyse imaginatively and rigorously relationships between literature, visual culture and history
  • ability to critique secondary material
Key Skills:
  • critical and analytical
  • essay-writing and commentary
  • structuring of arguments
  • independent learning

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • fortnightly seminar in small groups, which will focus on student-led critical analysis of works
  • weekly lecture which will be used both to provide historical information and also to analyse primary (and occasionally secondary) material

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity Number Frequency Duration Total/Hours
lectures 21 weekly 1 hour 21
seminars 10 fortnightly 1 hour 10
Preparation and Reading 169
Total 200

Summative Assessment

Component: Written Examination Component Weighting: 50%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Written Examination 2 hours 100% No
Component: Summative Essay Component Weighting: 30%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Summative Essay 2,000 words 100% No
Component: Summative Commentary Component Weighting: 20%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Commentary 1,000 words 100% No

Formative Assessment:

None


Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University