FRS 002T—
Sec. 001 — (2 units) — CRN 53515— W 5:10 - 7:00 pm — 109
Wellman
Victor Hugo's France
Instructor: Ellen Koehler, Department of History, College of Letters and
Science
Description: This course will explore the
political, cultural,
and social history of early nineteenth-century France through the
lens of Victor
Hugo's masterpiece Les Misérables. Considered by many to be France's
most influential modern author and poet, Hugo lived through and
chronicled France's
most turbulent periods following the Revolution of 1789. Not only a gripping
saga of post-revolutionary France, Les Misérables also
records and comments
on the historical development of Hugo's contemporary conditions, and as such
is a valuable historical document in its own right. This course
will use selected
passages from Hugo's text to explore questions which were central to France
during this period, including the legacy of the Revolution and
Napoleon's Empire,
the influence of Romanticism, competing social and political views
of the French
nation, and France's relation to the rest of Europe. Throughout the course,
we will also explore the extent to which these questions remain pertinent in
the twenty-first century. In addition, by examining Hugo's work and
his relation
to the events depicted in it, this course should enhance students' abilities
to analyze and place authors and sources from other periods
(including historically-based
works of fiction) within their historical context.
Format: The seminar will meet for two hours each
week. A reading
schedule of the assigned passages from Les Misérables will
be distributed
at the first meeting. Each meeting will be divided between informal lecture
presentations by the instructor (which will include an explanation
of the historical
and narrative context of that week's assigned reading), discussion, student
presentations, and viewing of selected video and slide materials.
Students will
be expected to have a copy of the novel.
Grading: Students
will be required to give a 15-minute presentation on a topic chosen
in consultation
with the instructor (25%) and will write two short (3-5 page)
papers (25% each).
The remaining 25% will be based on the quality of participation in
class discussion.
About the Instructor: Ellen Koehler is a lecturer
in the Department
of History, teaching courses in the history of Western Civilization
and European
Intellectual and Cultural history. Her research interests include
the intersection
of political culture, religion, and the arts in nineteenth-century
France and
the history of civil society in Europe from the eighteenth century
Enlightenment
to the present.