LAS 199: Paris: A Multicultural Perspective

Professor Evelyne Accad, UIUC Courses Abroad

AND

IN 350: The Immigrant Experience in France

Professor Cheryl Toman, January Immersion semester in Paris 2008 for Millikin University

Dec. 28, 2007 – Jan. 12, 2008

Course philosophy: This course will introduce students to the impact of globalization through the study of the immigrant experience in Paris, its multi-cultural identities with the negotiation of cultural beliefs and practices. They will be made aware of cultural diversity with an appreciation for others; their interest as well as their understanding of other cultures will be aroused through the celebration/appreciation of diversity, broadening their disciplinary and cultural perspective. They will improve their critical and analytical thinking through comparisons with French education versus their US experience thanks to the visit they will have in French schools and talking to French students as well as their visits to immigrant associations and cultural centers.

Course objective: By the end of this course taught on-site in Paris, the student will have read and discussed works by prominent authors of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb / Mashrek such as, Calixthe Beyala, Evelyne Accad, Thérèse Kuoh-Moukoury, and Noureddine Aba. Excerpts of Linda Le's Slander will offer a perspective from the Vietnamese community. The student will be able to identify both literature-specific and universal themes, and will be made aware of issues that deal with women of the Francophone developing world and the immigrant experience in particular using Paris as the model. The student will debate and explore issues such as racism, religious tolerance, feminism, polygamy, colonialism, and post-colonialism, as well as other aspects of a multicultural society. More specific themes include new immigration laws and the sans-papiers, secularism and the veil, the banlieue, the Lebanese war, the Algerian revolution, Islamism, and African women and power. Students will supplement the reading of novels and articles with interviews with the authors themselves, and various other visits to artistic and cultural centers. Students will also conduct sociological studies of multicultural neighborhoods and visit French secondary schools and classes préparatoires to discuss first hand the views of France's youth on multiculturalism and other pertinent issues during a round table format designed specifically for that purpose. Studies of the arts will also be included. The students come to appreciate African, Asian and Arab cultures that they encounter during their stay in Paris through sampling a day-in-the-life of the protagonists from the novels read for the course. Due to the fact that these characters “come alive” through these visits, the students are likely to be more accepting and understanding of cultural differences due to the human element that has been introduced by the readings.

Creative works and materials:

Loukoum: The Little Prince of Belleville by Calixthe Beyala, 1995 (in course packet)

Poppy of the Massacre by Evelyne Accad, translated by C. Hahn, L’Harmattan, 2006.

Essential Encounters by Thérèse Kuoh-Moukoury with Introduction by C. Toman, MLA, 2002

“A Lebanese Anguishes from Paris” by Evelyne Accad

It Was Yesterday Sabra and Chatila and Montjoie! Palestine by Noureddine Aba, Bilingual edition edited and translated by Toman and Accad, L’Harmattan, 2004

Slander (excerpts) by Linda Lê, 1996 (in course packet)

Articles and Essays (in course packet):

“Polygamy, Disrupted Reproduction, and the State: Muslim Migrants in Paris, France” by

Carolyn Sargent and Dennis Cordell (2002)

“Beirut, The City that Moves Me” by Evelyne Accad (2002)

“To Write in a Foreign Language” by Etel Adnan (1996)

“The Muslims in France and the French Model of Integration” by Dominique Maillard (2005)

"The Muslims of France" by Milton Viorst (1996)

Grading: 25% Journal

20% Interviews with authors / scholars

15% Self-guided ethnic neighborhood report (oral and written)

20% Participation, attendance, prepared activities

20% Final exam

Journals (25%): Students will be responsible for writing their reflections in essays of two pages minimum per day. Journals will include both guided and free writing exercises based on the course activities. Within these journal assignments, you will also write on our visit with English classes and their instructors at three very diverse schools in Paris. During the visits at these lycées, students should have various questions in mind to ask their French counterparts. Questions should be related to the themes of the course, and the various responses will be recorded in the journal assignments for that particular day. It is also to be expected that American students will respond frankly and thoughtfully to any questions the French students may have for them as well. The purpose of the exchange is to promote understanding and to identify cultural parallels.

Interviews with authors / scholars (20%): Students are expected to formulate three questions to be asked during the session with all authors / scholars: Accad, a prominent Arab novelist / scholar writing on Arab women, Kuoh-Moukoury, the first woman novelist of Sub-Saharan Africa, and Madeleine Aba, wife of deceased Algerian author Noureddine Aba, and Paul Vieille, anthropologist. Questions should be thought provoking and perhaps question a certain interpretation of one of the readings. Students may choose three of the invited guests and write-up their interview not as a summary, but rather as a further discussion of the points raised.

Self-guided discovery / ethnic neighborhood report (oral and written) (15%): The course allows us to cover in depth only the largest immigrant communities in Paris. Therefore, one day of the course will be set aside for students to discover in groups of three or four certain other ethnic communities in Paris by visiting locations frequented by members of the Turkish, Kurdish, Indian, Egyptian, Armenian, Iranian, Congolese, and Tibetan communities among others. Each discovery will include three or four addresses provided by the instructors. Students are responsible the following day to report on their research to the class. A written report is also to be included in the final paper.

Participation (20%): Students must attend every class and non-attendance, with the exception of confirmed illness, will not be tolerated. Each absence will result in a significant reduction in points and missed assignments. Students are also expected to participate rigorously in any class discussions and activities. As the course is an intensive session, students who miss more than two class sessions automatically receive a grade of 'F'. Students may make up missed work at the discretion of the course instructor.

Final exam (20%): An essay-style exam based on the material covered in the course. Course materials may be consulted to complete the exam.