Course overview
The course represents advanced learning, scholarship and research in the discipline of French Studies. It is the final stage of formal language tuition in the French language as well as extending students' knowledge and research skills in French and Francophone cultures, building on the learning and research capabilities gained in levels 1 to 3 of the French Studies major. By requiring students to devise and produce a research thesis, the thesis component provides students with the research skills necessary for further study in research postgraduate programmes. It provides research training based on the skills of textual analysis and documentary searches in relation to specific forms of cultural expression, such as literature, film, media and contemporary debates. It requires students to develop a research question, collect data using on-line resources, plan and complete the project within the specified time frame.
Course learning outcomes
- Evaluate the significance of French and Francophone literary, artistic or cultural productions through the application of analytical methods, documentary searches and critical thought.
- Collect, organise and synthesise materials, including those accessible in digital formats, in relation to different areas of French and Francophone cultures, and ultimately explain the way in which these areas attain their cultural significance.
- Reproduce accurately the different forms of French academic language and communicative strategies required to present higher order and conceptually sophisticated ideas to specialist and general audiences.
- Demonstrate proficiency in the practice of collaborative work and task management in relation to the analysis and interpretation of French and Francophone cultural productions.
- Independently organise and plan a research project in relation to a specific question pertaining to an area of French and Francophone culture, with the aim of producing a thesis that addresses the requirements of the disciplinary area of French Studies.