Stories We Tell Course Pairing
France Revisited: Secrets and Scandals (FR104T)
Was Joan of Arc a witch? Did a man with an iron mask really exist? Who resisted and who collaborated? Who are the people? What are their lives? What are the stories that make France? This course invites students on a journey through time to reveal the culture of France over the past four hundred years. The lives and actions of key players will be used to review and reinforce language skills learned in FR101-103 and help students attain intermediate level as defined by ACTFL guidelines in the five skills: reading, writing, speaking, comprehension, and culture of France and the Francophone world. Course includes use of the language in context, with authentic readings, discussion in French, and film clips.
Faculty Biography
Catherine Savell has enjoyed teaching her native language at all levels for many years and helping Loyola students discover the francophone world. She likes building links between the francophone cultures and classroom activities and facilitating experiences for students to discover them first hand. She is involved in a development project in Haiti and linking her work on campus to her overseas activities.
HS 100: France Unplugged: History and Legends from 1490-1989 (HS101T)
This course is part of the array of 100-level courses that examines encounters between cultures around the globe. This course focuses on the development of French national identity and examines the evolution of government and society from the monarchy of Louis XIV, and the construction of Versailles, to the dreams and violence of the Revolutions of 1789-1794. We will study the Napoleonic era and the impact of the wars on the “home fronts” of Europe. In addition, we will address the social and economic turmoil of the 19th and 20th centuries while working to understand capitalism, socialism, liberalism and communism. We will analyze the role of women and fashion in creating the legend of France as well as studying the evolution of French cuisine. The course will examine the French Empire, the staggering population losses of World I and, finally, the legend of the French Resistance during the Nazi Occupation and the impact of the wars of liberation in Vietnam and Algeria.
Faculty Biography
Katherine Stern Brennan PhD researches and writes on the cultural history of seventeenth century France- - focusing on life outside of the court at Versailles. She received her PhD from Johns Hopkins University and has been teaching at Loyola University Maryland for many years. She very much enjoys teaching first year students and helped design the initial format of the Messina program. The challenge of helping students to ask questions of the past in order to better understand the present has always motivated her to connect course work with contemporary issues. She travels to France frequently and when possible returns to a family farm in Vermont.
Mentor Biographies
Elena D. Hicks is the dean of undergraduate admission at Loyola and came to the University in 2007. A Texas native, she began her admission career in 1989 at her alma mater, Texas Christian University (TCU) located in Ft. Worth, TX. There she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and in Speech Communication in Human Relations, as well as a Master of Liberal Arts degree. From TCU, she transitioned to Saint Mary’s Hall (a K-12 day/boarding preparatory school in San Antonio) as director of admission. While there she had a chance to travel with students to Japan and Spain, as well as spend much of her personal time in the interior of Mexico. Dean Hicks recently completed an 18-month leadership program for Jesuit administrators, the Ignatian Colleagues Program, which has assisted her in looking at undergraduate admission and the students it serves in a new lens which is focused on the application of Jesuit principles into the details of the entire admission cycle and evaluation process.
Andy joined the Loyola staff in August 2013 as Associate Director of Facilities and Risk Management after spending seven years as both Coordinator and Assistant Director of Facilities at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. In his position as Associate Director, Andy provides support and direct supervision of daily operations at the Fitness and Aquatic Center.
