Undergraduate - UnitAZA2423 - Field Studies in Francophone Africa

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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12 points, SCA Band 1, 0.250 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	South Africa School of Social Sciences
Monash Passport category	International Short Field Experience (Explore Program)
Offered	Not offered in 2015
Coordinator(s)	TBA

Synopsis

Francophone Africa (including the Indian Ocean) offers a very diverse linguistic and socio-cultural background that is ideal for the study of issues such as: the evolution of French language outside of France, the cultural mix of francophone countries, the legacy of French colonization in Africa, Franco-African relations, francophone countries and globalisation and so on. This intensive field study unit in that region will provide the opportunity for French studies and Cultural Studies students to experience a two-week immersion in a francophone country in order to improve their socio-cultural awareness of Francophone Africa and for those who desire, to improve their language competency.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students should be able to demonstrate knowledge of and familiarity with the following types of information, academic perspectives and skills:

Demonstration of a critical awareness of issues pertaining to Francophone Africa, i.e. the evolution and practice of French language outside of France, the cultural mix of francophone countries, how the past of francophone Africa informs its present (for e.g. the legacy of French colonization), Franco-African relationships and so on
A better understanding of Francophone Africa and how it relates to the world and vice versa, i.e. for e.g. the use of French as a medium of communicating with the world
Appreciation of the significance of how the different places visited and different activities conducted on this field trip gives an idea of or constructs a certain notion of 'frenchness' within a particular linguistic, socio-cultural and historical context
Acquisition of practical skills and field-based experience for research and gaining an understanding of practical implications of theoretical discourse, i.e. language as it is practiced in real life and culture as it is displayed, lived etc
Demonstration of an awareness and an understanding of the major theoretical approaches in French/Francophone Studies within academic debate in Africa and internationally
Ability to employ those and evaluate such theoretical approaches in an interpretation of the various places visited and activities conducted on this field trip
Besides the cultural aspect of the program, if students have previously completed French studies units, they are expected to demonstrate a certain level of competency in French and to focus on consolidating it during the field trip
Students undertaking this unit at a 3rd year level will be expected to meet all these objective criteria at a higher level of demonstrable and proven competency than those completing the unit at a 2nd year level.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 288 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Additional requirements
Field trip

Chief examiner(s)

TBA

Prohibitions

AZA3423, ATS2423, ATS3423