An ambivalent asylum: the histories and memories of refugees in early twentieth-century France

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Different approaches to the study of refugee history in France.
• The key issues, events and people that shaped the history, politics and societal structures concerning refugee issues in France during the first half of the twentieth century.
• Other cultures and societies in France and Europe more generally along with the similarities and dissimilarities between these and your own.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Take notes and keeping records
• Adhere to guidelines and deadlines.
• Plan and organise your learning through self-management.
• Produce writing in appropriate genres and to required conventions, including referencing and identification.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Formulate and defend arguments clearly and persuasively on the basis of evidence.
• Analyse and discuss questions about refugee history in France.
• Define, present and exemplify concepts relating to refugees in France.
• Select, synthesise and focus information from a range of sources in both English and your target language(s) (French, German and Spanish).
• Apply knowledge, understanding and analysis critically to different topics on French history.

This module introduces you to the circumstances surrounding the reception of refugees in France together with the opportunities, restrictions and dangers that shaped their experiences during the first half of the twentieth century. In the first instance you will be introduced to some key definitions and concepts. The arrival of refugees from different national contexts will then be compared, contrasted and contextualised in relation to the major historical events of the period: the First World War; the Popular Front; the concentration camps and para-military work companies of the Second World War; the Resistance; and the post-Liberation culture of commemoration. One of the overarching themes linking the different historical periods is the process of integration/incorporation and you will be invited to reflect on how inclusion and exclusion occurred. A second thread considers how French opinions and responses were influenced by previous conflicts and events.

In addition to exploring the broad context of this period of refugee history, you will be strongly encouraged to analyse how events were experienced and remembered by the refugees themselves by reading extracts from memoirs or oral histories. This emphasis on how the social interconnects with the personal will allow you to practise reading skills acquired from other units. The module concludes by tracing the creation and development of monuments dedicated to the memory of refugees in contemporary France.

Teaching methods include

• Weekly lectures and seminars.
• A set of weekly questions to guide you in your reading.
• Discussions arising from student-led seminars with the module convenor acting as a guide and learning facilitator.
• Informal feedback from the module convenor and students on oral presentations.

Learning activities include

• Directed and undirected reading in both English and French.
• Preparation of cogent and well-founded arguments for oral presentations and group discussions.
• Reviewing other students’ presentations.
• The research and completion of written assignments.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.