Suggested Presentation Topics
MODULE 2
A presentation for this module might help us grasp the significance of the post-revolutionary periods in France and the U.S.—how their revolutionary experiences were related and how they differed, what ideas of democracy were circulating in the two nations following their late-18th-century revolutions, etc. Or a presentation might help us understand the cultural and literary period from which these French authors are writing about the U.S.
Possible topics:
Comparison of American and French revolutions OR of American and French revolutionary ideals
French universalism
French role in the American revolution
French Romanticism and the mal du siècle (malady of the century)
MODULE 3
A presentation for this module might help us understand the complex history of French-speaking and French-heritage people in Louisiana by diving deeper into the experiences and histories of particular groups, or by explaining the complicated history of Louisiana itself. Or a presentation might broaden our perspective on the importance of religion and language in defining whiteness in the U.S. more generally.
Possible topics:
History of Cajuns and/or Creoles in Louisiana
History of Louisiana
Religion in the early U.S.
History of French-speaking, and Francophone literature in the U.S./Louisiana
MODULE 4
A presentation for this module might expand the historical context for the Harlem Renaissance and Négritude, as well as for their interactions, giving us a better sense of the differences between the experiences of black writers in New York and Paris. Or a presentation might extend our knowledge of one of these movements beyond the texts we are reading, by considering other writers and/or by drawing in their connections to more direct political activity or to other arts.
Possible topics:
The Harlem Renaissance/The “New Negro”
Négritude
The Great Migration
French colonial history
MODULE 5
A presentation for this module might help us recognize the different histories of Feminism and women’s rights in French and American contexts and the ideologies of “femininity” behind some of those differences, or the ways that feminist movements intersected with other political events and movements in one or both countries.
Possible topics:
History of women’s rights in the U.S. and/or France
“Femininity” in French and/or American history
Intersections between feminism and anti-racist/anti-colonial movements