HNR 403-12A & 12B
Québec: Past, Present, & Future
M, W, F 2-2:50 PM
Aigler, Room 205
Instructor: Dr. Marc O’Reilly
Office Hours: M-W-F 3-4 PM, T-Th 2-3 PM, and on Appointment
Office: Campus Center, Room 307
Mail Boxes: Aigler, Room A100 or Office of Int’l & Multicultural
Programs @ Campus Center
E-Mail: moreilly@heidelberg.edu
Web: http://www.heidelberg.edu/~moreilly
Phone #: 448-2208
Course Content
This Citizen Honors seminar examines Québec, Canada’s French province. In 1534, the French explorer Jacques Cartier discovered this Native American territory and claimed it for the King of France. In 1763, the British appropriated New France four years after defeating the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Québec City. The British renamed the colony British North America. They allowed their French-Canadian subjects to keep their language and religion, Catholicism. In 1867, French- and English-Canadian leaders met in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to found the independent, binational country of Canada. In the 1960s, the Québec Provincial Government under Jean Lesage instituted what became known as the Quiet Revolution. Within a generation, Québec underwent a profound societal transformation as the province modernized economically, secularized, and many French Canadians sought to secede from Canada. So-called separatists united to form the Parti Québécois (PQ), whose charismatic leader, René Lévesque, as Premier called a referendum on Québec’s future in 1980. Although the PQ lost the referendum and Québec remained part of Canada, his government ensured that the majority French population, long subservient to the minority English within the province, exercised ultimate power over such matters as language, education, employment, investment, and culture. Today, Québec’s six million or so inhabitants, more than three quarters of whom describe themselves as French, continue to wrestle with separatism as they try to reform their ailing health-care system, compete in a globalized economy, and contend with their English-speaking neighbors in Canada and the United States.
So that students can understand Québec’s past, present, and future, this course will spotlight French Canada’s history, politics, economics, society, and culture. Highlights include an examination of New France, the French colony established following Jacques Cartier’s discovery; French-Canadian nationalism; the role of the Catholic Church; the Quiet Revolution, which ushered in the “Maîtres chez nous” economic program that showcased Hydro-Québec, the provincial electrical utility, and led to the international success of the Bombardier company and other businesses; the importance of hockey and the Montreal Canadiens to Québécois identity; French-Canadian literature and film; the Québec City winter carnival and other annual festivals; urbanization and multiculturalism in Montréal, Québec’s most populous and prominent city, which hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics; as well as Native American, health care, and other public policy issues.
On May 17, students enrolled in HNR 403-12B and others (including those in HNR 403-12A) who are interested will travel by bus to Montréal and Québec City for a five-day trip (May 17-21). They will have an opportunity to visit Old Montréal (with landmarks such as La Place Jacques-Cartier and La Cathédrale Notre-Dame) and Vieux Québec (home to the Château Frontenac and La Rue Petit-Champlain, the oldest street in North America); other famous sites such as McGill University and Olympic Stadium in Montréal and Les Plaines d’Abraham and L’Ile d’Orléans in Québec City; and museums such as the Musée des Beaux-Arts and Musée Juste Pour Rire in Montréal and the Musée de la Civilisation in Québec City. Students will also be able to shop, eat, and experience the night life on La Rue Sainte-Catherine in Montréal and on La Grande-Allée in Québec City.
Required Readings (Books Available at the Heidelberg College Bookstore)
• John Dickinson and Brian Young, A Short History of Quebec, Third Edition (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003).
• Daniel Poliquin, In the Name of the Father: An Essay on Quebec Nationalism, translated by Don Winkler (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2000).
• Taras Grescoe, Sacré Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec (Toronto: Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 2000).
• Eric Wilson, Cold Midnight in Vieux Québec: A Tom Austen Mystery (Toronto: HarperCollins, 1996).
• Students must read a Québec newspaper or newsmagazine on a weekly basis. I suggest that you read the on-line version of The Montreal Gazette. If you can read French, then access the on-line versions of La Presse or Le Devoir, both Montréal newspapers, or Le Soleil, a Québec City paper. L’Actualité is an excellent newsmagazine. Reading a newspaper and/or newsmagazine will help you better understand current political, economic, and cultural events in Québec. We will discuss those events in class on a regular basis.
• Students will also be required to read xeroxed articles and other materials throughout the semester. I will distribute those readings in class.
Course Requirements for HNR 403-12A
Essays: Students will write three (3) reflective essays. In each 3-5 page essay, a student will ponder, analyze, and comment upon an issue pertaining to Québec that she or he will have read as a class assignment and/or will have been discussed in class. Each essay will be due one (1) week after the reading assignment and/or class discussion. OBJECTIVES: The essays allow you to revisit class material and understand it in a more thoughtful, sophisticated way.
Paper or Portfolio: Students must turn in either a 12-15 page analytical paper or some kind of portfolio, which can include drawings, paintings, poems, short stories, photographs, or whatever you deem appropriate, on some aspect(s) of Québec society. Students must turn in a draft of their work on March 31. Each student will read/look over and comment on one or two other projects. I will read/look over all of them and provide comments. The final paper or portfolio will be due on May 5. OBJECTIVES: The paper or portfolio allows you to examine an issue of personal interest, develop expertise on a topic, and augment your creative skills. Commentary on your draft will enable you to make revisions, consider new or additional ways to improve your content, and consider how others perceive your work.
Oral Presentation: Each student will present his or her paper or portfolio (on either April 21, 23, 26, 28, 30, or May 3). Each presentation will be ten (10) minutes. A short Question and Answer session will follow. OBJECTIVES: The presentation enables you to improve your oratorical skills as well as share with the class your semester’s work.
Participation: Students must attend class regularly (I will keep track of your attendance), provide input (in the form of questions and answers) during seminar, respect classmates and the instructor, and conduct themselves in a mature and responsible way. OBJECTIVES: Improve your oratorical, persuasion, and listening skills and recognize the importance of proper comportment and etiquette in the classroom.
Distribution of Grades
Essays 30%
Paper or Portfolio 40%
Oral 20%
Participation 10%
Late essays and papers/portfolios will be docked one grade (A to A-, for example) for every day past the deadline. Also note that any student guilty of cheating or plagiarism will receive an F for the assignment and can be dismissed from the college.
Course Requirements for HNR 403-12B
Essays: Students will write three (3) reflective essays. In each 3-5 page essay, a student will ponder, analyze, and comment upon an issue pertaining to Québec that she or he will have read as a class assignment and/or will have been discussed in class. Each essay will be due one (1) week after the reading assignment and/or class discussion. OBJECTIVES: The essays allow you to revisit class material and understand it in a more thoughtful, sophisticated way.
Paper or Portfolio: Students must turn in either a 12-15 page analytical paper or some kind of portfolio, which can include drawings, paintings, poems, short stories, photographs, or whatever you deem appropriate, on some aspect(s) of Québec society. Students must turn in a draft of their work on March 31. Each student will read/look over and comment on one or two other projects. I will read/look over all of them and provide comments. The final paper or portfolio will be due on May 5. OBJECTIVES: The paper or portfolio allows you to examine an issue of personal interest, develop expertise on a topic, and augment your creative skills. Commentary on your draft will enable you to make revisions, consider new or additional ways to improve your content, and consider how others perceive your work.
Oral Presentation: Each student will present his or her paper or portfolio (on either April 21, 23, 26, 28, 30, or May 3). Each presentation will be ten (10) minutes. A short Question and Answer session will follow. OBJECTIVES: The presentation enables you to improve your oratorical skills as well as share with the class your semester’s work.
Participation: Students must attend class regularly (I will keep track of your attendance), provide input (in the form of questions and answers) during seminar, respect classmates and the instructor, and conduct themselves in a mature and responsible way. OBJECTIVES: Improve your oratorical, persuasion, and listening skills and recognize the importance of proper comportment and etiquette in the classroom.
Journal: Each student must keep a journal during her or his trip to Montréal and Québec City. You will record your impressions and reflect on what you have experienced. The journal will be due on June 1. OBJECTIVES: The journal allows you to gather useful information on a daily basis, document your visit to French Canada, and better understand what you will have learned during the semester.
Distribution of Grades
Essays 30%
Paper or Portfolio 30%
Oral 20%
Participation 10%
Journal 10%
Late essays, papers/portfolios, and journals will be docked one grade (A to A-, for example) for every day past the deadline. Also note that any student guilty of cheating or plagiarism will receive an F for the assignment and can be dismissed from the college.
Class Outline and Reading Assignments
WEEK 1: Introduction: North Americans, Canadians, Québécois -- Identities and Values.
Readings: Clifford Krauss, “Canada’s View on Social Issues Is Opening Rifts With the U.S.,” The New York Times (Xerox); “Canada’s New Spirit,” The Economist (Xerox).
Videos: Depiction of French Canada in episode of Comedy Central’s South Park; Importance of bilingualism in Canada, scene from the movie Canadian Bacon (starring John Candy and featuring Dan Ackroyd).
WEEK 2: New France, French Canada, and Pre-Industrialization.
Readings: Dickinson and Young (D & Y), A Short History of Quebec, chs. 1-3.
• No Class on Monday (January 19), Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
WEEK 3: Transition & Industrialization.
Readings: D & Y, chs. 4-6.
WEEK 4: Church, State, and Quiet Revolution.
Readings: D & Y, chs. 7-9.
WEEK 5: Nationalism, Separatism, & Distinct Society, Part I.
Readings: D & Y, ch. 10; and Poliquin, In the Name of the Father.
WEEK 6: Nationalism, Separatism, & Distinct Society, Part II.
Reading: Poliquin (Continued).
WEEK 7: The Arts, Part I: Film.
Readings: Frederic Brussat, “Movie Review of Jesus of Montreal,” Spirituality & Health (Xerox); and Peter Brunette, “A Farewell, with Facile Analysis; Denys Arcand’s “The Barbarian Invasions,” indieWIRE (Xerox).
Film: Jésus de Montréal (1989), Directed by Denys Arcand.
Special Lecture: On Monday (Feb. 23), we will travel to Bowling Green State University (BGSU) to listen to Léa Pool, an award-winning Québec filmmaker, and view her film Emporte-Moi (Set Me Free). Her talk, part of BGSU’s Pallister French- Canadian Lecture Series, is scheduled for 7 PM in Gish Film Theater, Hanna Hall. A reception will be held at 6 PM in Hanna Hall.
WEEK 8: The Arts, Part II: Festivals (Mardi Gras, Comedy, Music, and Film).
Readings: Wilson, Cold Midnight in Vieux Québec; Valerie Summers, “Quebec Winter Carnaval” (Xerox); Information on the Québec Winter Carnival (http://www.carnaval.qc.ca); Information on the Montréal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival (http://www.hahaha.com); Information on the Montréal International Jazz Festival (http://www.montrealjazzfest.com); and Information on the Montréal World Film Festival (http://www.ffm-montreal.org).
SPRING BREAK: MARCH 6-21
WEEK 9: Literature (Novels, Short Stories, Poetry).
Readings: Louis Hémon, Maria Chapdelaine (Xerox); Emile Nelligan, “Le Vaisseau d’Or (The Gold Ship)” (Xerox); Matt Cohen & Wayne Grady, “Introduction,” in The Quebec Anthology 1830-1990 (Xerox); Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, the Younger, “The Legend of Rose Latulipe” (Xerox); Louis Fréchette, “How I Learned to Speak English,” (Xerox); Sylva Clapin, “Hay Fever” (Xerox); Yves Thériault, “Mother Soubert’s Pig” (Xerox); Anne Hébert “The Torrent” (Xerox); Hubert Aquin, “Back on April Eleventh” (Xerox); Roch Carrier, “The Goldfish” (Xerox); Gabrielle Roy, “Part II of Children of My Heart” (Xerox); Suzanne Jacob, “Pomme Douly and the Instant of Eternity” (Xerox); Anne Dandurand, “To Console Myself. I Imagine That the Bombs Have Fallen” (Xerox); and André Carpentier, “Tragedy Houses My Wound” (Xerox).
• March 25 is the last day to drop the course.
WEEK 10: Sports (Hockey, Baseball, The Olympics).
Readings: David Aretha, The Montreal Canadiens Hockey Team (Xerox); Further Information on the Montréal Canadiens (http://www.canadiens.com/eng); Information on the Montréal Expos (http://montreal.expos.mlb.com/mon/home.html); and Information on the 1976 Montréal Summer Olympics (http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/1976- Summer Olympics)
Video: The Sweater (Based on Roch Carrier’s Popular Story).
WEEK 11: Journey Through Québec, Part I.
Reading: Grescoe, Sacré Blues.
EASTER BREAK: APRIL 9-12
WEEK 12: Journey Through Québec, Part II.
Reading: Grescoe (Continued).
• No Class on Friday (April 16).
WEEK 13: Oral Presentations.
• No Class on Monday (April 19).
WEEK 14: Oral Presentations.
WEEK 15: Oral Presentations & Introduction to Basic French.
Reading: Steve Timmins, French Fun: The Real Spoken Language of Québec (Xerox).
TRIP TO MONTREAL & QUEBEC CITY: MAY 17-21