The four courses that I created and taught, one in French and three in English (literature in translation), are as follows.
"This course will teach students to read and appreciate contemporary francophone literature of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Haiti by familiarizing them with the colonial and post-colonial history of the region, its cultural richness and its literary modes. Students will read works by six major authors of the French Caribbean."
This course will offer adult learners historical background and theoretical frameworks for understanding contemporary francophone literature of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Haiti, translated to English, familiarizing them with the colonial and post-colonial history of the region and some of its cultural riches and literary modes. As background, students will learn about the French colonial presence in the Caribbean, the “French Atlantic Triangle” (which intertwines the slave trade and the sugar trade) and and the development of creole dialects and culture.
This course, taught in English, will introduce first-year students at Saint Joseph’s University to undergraduate scholarship through substantive readings (both primary and secondary materials), research tasks, critical discussions and cultural experiences outside of class. The focus will be on the Francophone world. We begin with the development of the political and cultural site called “France” and evolving notions of francité (“Frenchness”), extending through the “civilizing mission” and the French colonial experience, to anti-colonial movements inspired by ideals of the French Enlightenment. We end with the contemporary world, including the international network called the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (http://www.francophonie.org/English.html). Ethical analysis of race-, nationality- and ethnicity-based thinking, value judgements and social/economic/political structures will be a significant component of the course.
This course is intended to provide an English-language introduction to the history of the French-speaking Antilles and its complex mix of cultures. It will also allow students to read a sample of writers from Haiti, Martinique and Guadeloupe (in translation). The fundamental characteristics of the course are: 1) A primary focus on historical events, literary modes and the cultures of the francophone Antilles, including the Atlantic slave trade and its aftermath, race and racism, communal relationships, persistent social injustices and forgotten or silenced histories; 2) paying attention to marginalized voices and modalities, in literature and in historiography; 3) emphasizing the rich cultural traditions and intellectual movements arising from (or resonating in) the French Caribbean, including story-telling and orality, creoles, vaudou, opposition to Duvalierism, négritude, antillanité and créolité; 4) critically viewing the relationships between this region and the francophone world at large. Course content includes significant historical and theoretical readings that will focus on the exercise of power and on persistent forms of injustice and resistance. The course is fitting for students pursuing minors in Faith-Justice minor or Africana Studies. It fulfills the GEP diversity overlay requirement and the GEP ethics-intensive overlay requirement.