This course begins with a brief history of European colonization and includes a unit on French expansion as it relates to immigrant communities in Paris. Next, the class will cultivate a broad sense of the period of independences, decolonization, and the formation of new nations as a period in world history, once again contextualizing the different waves of immigration to the city of Paris. Students will use Parisian sites and a variety of materials available locally to study immigration patterns and the recent development of the Parisian cityscape while privileging immigrant perspective. Weekly assignments, which can be done flexibly, will involve visits to museums, monuments, neighborhoods, markets, and cafés. A number of local scholars, artists, and activists will provide guest lectures to guide our study. Each student will devise a project that will involve exploring the city from a viewpoint that falls within their interest, defined through discipline or theme. The latter part of the course will consist of independent work involving exploration of the city through the prism of the student’s project and it will be done in close consultation with the instructor. Interviews and shadowing of individuals (with prior permission) who are living the immigrant experience will inform the final project, which will take the form of a multimedia journal.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 15

Crosslisted Courses:

Prerequisites: A special hybrid course offered for Wellesley students studying abroad at American University in Paris.

Distribution Requirements: LL - Language and Literature; ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video

Typical Periods Offered: Spring

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered

Notes: