COURSE MATERIALS

• Colin Jones, Paris, The Biography of a City. (Penguin paperback edition, 2006)
• Course Reader [CR]: All other readings listed may be found in the reader.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Grading

• 40% - Reaction Papers (6) will be short, two-page, typed and double-spaced. They are your chance to talk to me in private and should therefore be written with care. Each week, pick a theme and a title (suggested in italics for each unit) that allows you to combine aspects of our readings and discussion with your own observations of Paris (incl. on our group visits). Comparison between France and other countries is welcome. The work will be evaluated in terms of cohesiveness, logic, and originality. Due the Tuesday of the following week
• 20% - 'Eiffel Tower Project' is a somewhat longer paper (around four typed and double-spaced pages), entailing independent exploration of the city, visiting a special exhibition, and some research. (More details will be given in a handout). Due July 23
• 15% - Class Participation is required both in the classroom and on our group visits. In case of absence you are required to bring a doctor's note
• 25% - Final Exam will be held on August 6 and will involve a choice between two possible essay topics. Class on August 4 will be a review session. You will be given the essay topics in advance, with the understanding that this demands a certain amount of preparation on your part

Notes

Read Jones's history as if it were a novel. Don't get bogged down in little facts and details, don't try to make an outline of every event he mentions. Use it as background, to double-check facts. The first three chapters have not been assigned, but you may wish to skim them.

The essays in the course reader are intended as springboards for both the reactions and class discussions and should be read with care.

Note: topics that relate to material you may cover in French class have been flagged.

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COURSE SCHEDULE

All assignments must be completed for and by the day listed. The short films, ranging from 5 to 18 minutes, will be viewed during class.

WEEK 1

Wednesday 24 June
Paris as palimpsest

Reading:

• (Jones) be sure to have read pp. 46-48 “The Philip Augustus Wall,” and pp. 96-99 “The Louvre.”

The lecture is followed by a class outing: The Walls of the Louvre
Bring along the maps! (the first 5 pp. of the reader)

Thursday 25 June
From Henri IV to Louis XIV: Building projects as a means to power

Readings:

• Jones, Ch. 5, “Grand Siècle, Great Eclipse 1594-1715,” pp. 132-172.
• “The Frogs who asked for a King,” from Jean de La Fontaine, Fables Text

Friday 26 June - Program Excursion to Chantilly

WEEK 2

Tuesday 30 June
The Enlightenment rejection of Old European ideas on religion and politics. France and the US today : What is an ideal system?

Readings:

• Jones, Ch. 6, “The Kingless Capital of the Enlightenment 1715-1789,” pp. 173-214.
• From Voltaire’s Treatise on Tolerance (1763) and his Philosophical Dictionary (1764); the Baron d’Holbach, Good Sense (1770) ; Mercier de la Rivière, The Natural Order ; Charles de Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (1748); Denis Diderot, essays from The Encyclopedia (1751), “On Slavery” and “On Political Authority.” (French class : « les Lettres persanes » de Montesquieu)

Wednesday 1 July

1:00 pm - Introduction to “La Fille Mal Gardée” (1 hour)
7:30 pm - Ballet performance of “La Fille Mal Gardée” at the Opéra Garnier

Thursday 2 July
Marie-Antoinette and other causes of the French revolution. France and the U.S. today: Women in the Public Eye

Reading:

• Jones, Ch. 7, “Revolution and Empire 1789-1815,” from p. 215 up to p.235
• Lynn Hunt, “The Many Bodies of Marie-Antoinette.” in, The French Revolution, Recent Debates (Gary Cates, ed, NY: Routledge Press, 1998. (French class: « L’Affaire du collier »)
• B. Blitt, «The Politics of Fear, » The New Yorker, July 21, 2008 (cover) ; Rachel Swarns, « A Broader Role for ‘Mom in Chief,’ » NYTimes/Le Monde, Feb. 14, 2009, p.3 and « First Lady Evolves from Caricature to the Real Thing, » NY Times/Le Monde, May 2, 2009. p.3.
• A newspaper account and statistics relating to the professions of those who attacked the Bastille on July 14, 1789

Friday 3 July - Program Excursion to Chartres

WEEK 3

Tuesday 7 July
Napoleon: Enlightened, Despotic, Revolutionary, or what?
France today : Nicolas Sarkozy, Napoleonic or what?

Reading:

• Jones, finish Ch. 7, pp. 235-262
• Selections from Napoleon’s statements, private and public; excerpt from Madame de Remusat, Memoirs (1802-1808) (first published in1880).
• (French class : « Napoleon et Josephine»)
• Adam Gopnik, « Letter From France. The Human Bomb : the Sarkozy regime begins, » from The New Yorker, August 27, 2007

Wednesday 8 July
2:00 pm - Class outing: Les Invalides (Napoleon’s Tomb)

Meeting point: this is complicated. Verify this on your map. The south, back part on the Avenue de Tourville is where one finds the entrance to the church. We will meet on the steps in front. The closest Metro stops are not close, and the area is disorienting : « Ecole Militaire » (Metro 8), or « Varenne » (Metro 13). Forget the “Invalides” stop, it is miles away. Give yourself extra time to get there ! My cell: 06-85-36-74-11. As backup have the number of a classmate.

Thursday 9 July
Peasants and Workers: Timeless, unchanging misery?
France (and the US today): Is life that much better today?

Reading:

• Jones, Ch. 8, “Between Napoleons.”
• Robert Darnton, “Peasants tell Tales, The Meaning of Mother Goose,” from The Great Cat Massacre (NY: Basic Books, 1984/1999, pp. 9-65)
• (French class : Charles Perrault and «Le Petit chaperon rouge»)
• Statistics on peasant mortality during the ancien régime
• Jules Michelet, “Cheap Calico,” excerpted from The People (1846); Paul Krugman, “Op Ed: Poverty is Poison,” NY Times/Le Monde, Feb. 23, 2008; Pope Leo XIII, from De Rerum Novarum (1891); Steven Erlanger, “French Strikers Hang on the Threads of a Worldview,” NY Times, April 17, 2009, p. A13.

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WEEK 4

Tuesday 14 July - NO CLASS

Wednesday 15 July
Napoleon III: Authoritarian Populism and its weaknessess.
France and the US today: who owns a city?

Reading:

• Jones, Ch. 9, “Haussmannism and the City of Modernity,” pp. 299-343.
• Paul Goldberger, “Eminent Dominion, Rethinking the Legacy of Robert Moses,” from The New Yorker, Feb 2, 2007.

Thursday 16 July
The Third Republic: Sacre Coeur vs. Eiffel Tower.
France and the U.S. Today: Melting Pot or Pressure Cooker?

Reading:

• Jones, Ch. 10, “The Anxious Spectacle, 1889-1918,” pp. 344-377.
• Photographs from the Parisian Universal expos of 1889, 1900, and 1937.
• William Pfaff, “The French Riots: Will they change anything?” NYRB 12/15/05; Steven Erlanger, “Melting Pot of Melodrama Enthralls French Nightly,” NY Times, March 3, 2009; Ginger Thompson, “Balancing the Needs of Education vs. Assimilation,” NY Times/Le Monde, March 28, 2009, p. 7.

Friday 17 July - Program Excursion to Versailles
Note: we will all visit the interior of the Chateau at 4:30. Before that, you can either visit Louis XIV’s gardens with me (theme: myths and power) or Marie-Antoinette’s “domaine” with Will Bishop.

WEEK 5

Tuesday 21 July
World War I and its aftermath
Today: Memory and memorials

Reading:

• Jones, Chapter 10, cont. (378-84) and Ch. 11, “Faded Dreams, Lost Illusions 1918-1845,” up to page 413.
• Roland Doregelès, “That Fabulous Day ;" Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (1929) ; Obituary of Lazare Ponticelli, age 110, IHT, March 13, 2008.
• (French class : les poilus.)

Wednesday 22 July
2:00 pm - Class outing: The “Memorial des déportés” and the nearby Marais
Meeting point: the Square de l’Ile de France at the eastern-most tip of the Ile de la Cité. Note: hard to find so use your map! Nearest metro: Pont Marie

Thursday 23 July
WWII: Defeat, Occupation, Collaboration, Resistance, Liberation
Today: can you still be proud of your country?

Reading:

• Jones, Ch. 11 continued, pp. 413-425.
• Robert O. Paxton, “Inside the Panic,” in The New York Review of Books, Nov. 22, 2007; Tony Judt, “The Problem of Evil,” in NYRB, Feb. 14, 2008 ; Jean-Paul Sartre, « The Responsability of the Individual, » from Existentialism (1956).
• (French class : Les Plages de débarquement).

Eiffel Project Due Today!

WEEK 6

Tuesday 28 July
What is “socialism?”

• Reading: Jones, Ch 12, “The Remaking of Paris 1945-1995,” from p. 426 to p.456.
• Excerpts from Albert Camus, The Rebel (1956) ; Mark Lebovich, « Socialism, U.S.A ? » NY Times/Le Monde, March 7, 2009, p. 1 ; Jeff Zeleny, « President calls back to say he’s no socialist, » IHT, March 9, 2009, p. 4.

Wednesday 29 July
Film screening: Chacun cherche son chat by Cedric Klapisch (1999.)

Thursday 30 July
Is change good?

Reading:

• Jones, Ch 12. continued, pp. 456-463, and “Conclusion,” pp. 465-474.
• Herbert Muschamp, “Growing Accustomed to Paris’s New Face,” from The New York Times, June 18, 1995 ; Paul Goldberger, « Toddlin’ Town, » The New Yorker, March 9, 2009, pp. 80-81 ; Richard Bernstein, « The Death and Life of a Great Chinese City, » The New York Review of Books, March 26, 2009, pp. 40-42.

WEEK 7

Tuesday 4 August - Final Review

Thursday 6 August - Final Exam

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