Paula Schwartz
Lois B. Watson Professor of French
Email: schwartz@middlebury.edu
Phone: work802.443.5802
Office Hours: SPRING 2013: M W 4:30-5:30, Tu 1:30-2:30, and by appointment
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Paula Schwartz holds an A.B., from Duke University; an M.A. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from the Institute of French Studies, New York University.
Her teaching and research interests include twentieth-century France, French civilization and history, World War Two, the French Resistance, gender studies, and food and culture studies.
See below for a list of some of her recent publications.
Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
FREN 0205 - Toward Liberated Expression
Toward Liberated Expression
A course designed to increase and perfect the ability to express oneself in spoken and written French. Emphasis on precision, variety, and vocabulary acquisition. Sections limited to 15 students. (FREN 0203 or placement) This requirement for the major and the minor may be satisfied by placement at a higher level. 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Spring 2012, Spring 2013
FREN 0230 - Introduction to Contemp France ▲
Introduction to Contemporary France
An introduction to several major sectors and themes: the family, the school system, social structures, the economy, the political structures and parties. Emphasis on the vocabulary of these sectors, language appropriate to situating them in context, and the ability to analyze documents involving such themes. (FREN 0210, or FREN 0221; FREN 0205 by approval only; ordinarily this course is closed to first-semester first year students) This requirement for the major may also be met by certain courses in France, or by an equivalent in the summer French School. 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013
FREN 0346 - Food And Culture
"I eat - therefore I am", Food and Culture in France*
What's in a meal? Historians and anthropologists have long shown food and eating practices to be a function of culture. In France in particular, food and cuisine are fundamental elements of national heritage and cultural identity. What does the organization of the eating ritual say about the French? What do food and eating have to do with class and gender, time and space? How are eating and drinking unique forms of political expression? Works from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives will inform our study of French society through its singular approach to the culture of the table. Readings will include works by Brillat-Savarin, Barthes, Zola, and others. (FREN 0221 or FREN 0230 or by waiver). 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Spring 2009, Spring 2013
FREN 0460 / INTL 0460 / SOAN 0460 - Resistance & Memory ▲
Resistance and Memory: France in the Second World War *
The Second World War has cast a long shadow over France's postwar history and politics. Contemporary events are still refracted through the prism of a past that, as one historian has noted, does not seem to go away. We will focus on a critical aspect of that past, the French Resistance, a politically and socially diverse underground movement that took root in a divided nation under the collaborationist Vichy regime and German occupation. What forms did refusal take, how did resistance function, and what motivated resisters to risk their lives? We will examine the myths, realities, and legacy of the Resistance through original documents and period artifacts, memoirs and testimony, film and fiction, and seminal works of postwar historiography. Students will produce a significant piece of independent research to present to the class. (Open to French Senior Majors). 3 hrs. lect/disc.
Spring 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Fall 2013
FREN 0500 - Independent Projects ▲ ▹
Independent Project
Qualified students may be permitted to undertake a special project in reading and research under the direction of a member of the department. Students should seek an advisor and submit a proposal to the department well in advance of registration for the term in which the work is to be undertaken. FREN 0500 projects or essays proposed by senior majors for fall or spring may be eligible for departmental honors. (Approval required by the department as a whole. See requirements above.)
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
FREN 0700 - Senior Research ▲ ▹
For senior majors who are candidates for departmental honors. Students should seek an advisor and submit a proposal to the department well in advance of registration for the term in which the work is to be undertaken. (Approval required by the department as a whole. See requirements above.)
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
FREN 1004 - French & American Encounters
Close Encounters of the French and American Kind
The relationship between France and the United States is sometimes satirized in the imaginary dialogue of a couple. To one’s declaration of love (“I love you”), the other responds: “Me neither.” Misunderstandings, resentments, and tensions have come to characterize each people’s notion of the other, but that has not stood in the way of genuine, mutual admiration and even love. In this course we will explore manifestations of this cross-cultural phenomenon in politics, society, and daily life to uncover the assumptions and values that inform a passionate transnational story of love and hate. Readings will be interdisciplinary in nature. Students will do substantial research projects to present to the class. This course counts as elective credit towards the French major.
Winter 2012
FYSE 1192 - Pol & Cult of Fr Resistance
IGST 0702 / INTL 0702 - EUS Senior Thesis
European Studies Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013
INTD 1073 - Europeans
"Europeans"*
This course is a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to the politics, societies, and cultures of contemporary Europe, with a focus on France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The new European community is a complex arrangement of different nation-states and peoples, each with its own unique traditions and cultures. While the success of the European project depends in large part on the successful negotiation of these differences, some fear the eradication of difference at the expense of national identity. What do Europeans hold in common? Is there such a thing as "national character" and if so, how does it compare to national identities and stereotypes? What is the status of ethnic or regional communities within and across the nation-states of Europe? How has history shaped national consciousness? We will consider these and other questions from a range of perspectives, drawing on sources in the social sciences, the press, literature, and cinema. Students will conduct substantial research projects in teams and present their findings to the class.
Winter 2010
Recent Publications
"Occuper les occupants: Maedelarbeit ou le 'travail de jeunes filles'," in Amours, guerres et sexualité, 1914-1945,Musée de la Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine-Musée de l'Armée, Gallimard, 2007.
" 'On vit mal': Food Shortages and Popular Culture in Occupied France, 1940-44," Food, Culture & Society 10:2, summer 2007: 262-295 (with Kenneth Mouré, coauthor).
"Partisanes and Gender Politics in Vichy France," French Historical Studies 16:1, Spring 1989. Reprinted in: The Home Fronts, International Library of Essays in Military History, volume IV, Ashgate Press, 2007; The Second World War, International Library of Essays in Military History, Ashgate Press, 2006; The World War Two Reader, Routledge, 2004.
SEE ALSO : « Les Partisanes et la politique du genre dans la France de Vichy, » in France Bloch et Frédo Sérazin : Un couple en Résistance [dossier pédagogique, CD, DVD], Sérén-CRDP, Paris, Poitiers, 2009.
"Resistance et différence des sexes: bilan et perspectives," Mechtild Gilzmer et al., eds., Les femmes dans la Résistance en France, Tallandier, 2002.
"Women's studies, gender studies: le contexte américain," Vingtième siècle. Revue d'histoire 75, juillet-septembre 2002.
