Global Paris: Culture, History and Identity in the French Capital

This course will explore the city of Paris as historical artifact, artistic hub and lived reality, to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the city's complex history and its role in constructing, reinforcing and revising French cultural and political identity. Taking the city as analytical object, the course will be composed of seminars, visits to cultural sites including museums, monuments and châteaux, collaborative workshops and guided walking tours of historically and culturally-significant districts.

The course will critique the dominant narratives and myths surrounding the city, studying Paris's reputation as a global capital of art, literature and politics. Yet it will do so while also exploring under-examined and forgotten parts of the city relating to colonial history, revolutionary history, the legacy of slavery and the evolution of the Republic.