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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : European Languages and Cultures - French

Undergraduate Course: Simone de Beauvoir: Intellectual of the 20th Century (ELCF10027)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course concentrates on one of the leading intellectual figures of 20th century France: Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986). Study of her writing and thought offers the opportunity for students to engage with key philosophical, political, literary and feminist debates and to explore some of the major preoccupations of the intellectual in post-war France (for example, notions of occupation and resistance; Existentialism and la litterature engagee; the relationship between literature and politics, philosophy and feminism). The role of the intellectual, and representations of the intellectual, will be studied through a variety of genres (novel, essay, autobiography).
Course description An in-depth analysis of the writings of Simone de Beauvoir, and their legacy in literary, philosophical and socio-political contexts.
Seminar format, with individual, pair and group activities. Oral presentations and autonomous learning group work.
Texts studied on the course (in the original French): Le Deuxième sexe, L'Invitée, Le sang des autres, La femme rompue, Mémoires d'une jeune fille rangée.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: French 2 (ELCF08001)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Entry to Honours in French
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 22, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 172 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 60 %, Coursework 40 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) One 2,000 word essay (40%) and one 90 minute exam (60%)
Feedback Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)1:30
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. To demonstrate an advanced knowledge of a range of sources in their socio-historical and cultural contexts as well as a good understanding of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks needed to analyse them
  2. To select and apply relevant theoretical and methodological approaches in their critical evaluation of philosophical thought, and literary texts, and to demonstrate mastery of relevant technical terminology and research methods
  3. To assess and synthesise primary and secondary sources and to engage critically with these sources, showing awareness of nuance and accommodating ambiguities
  4. To construct coherent arguments which engage effectively with the sources and the relevant contexts and to present them with a high level of clarity in both oral and written form
  5. To demonstrate autonomy and initiative in their activities, carry out independent research under the guidance of the tutor, and to show awareness of their own and others¿ roles and responsibilities as part of a team
Reading List
Set texts (published by Gallimard, unless indicated otherwise)
L'Invitée (1943)
Le Sang des autres (1945)
La Femme rompue (1967)
Mémoires d'une jeune fille rangée (1958)

Initial Background reading
Le Deuxième sexe, vols I and II (Paris: Gallimard: 1949).
Evans, Ruth, (ed), Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex: New Interdisciplinary Essays (Manchester, MUP, 1998)
Fallaize, Elizabeth, Simone de Beauvoir: A Critical Reader (London, Routledge, 1998)
Moi, Toril, Simone de Beauvoir: The Making of an Intellectual Woman (Oxford: Blackwell, 2008).
Tidd, Ursula, Simone de Beauvoir (London: Reaktion Books, 2009).
(there are also many books on Simone de Beauvoir in Ed Uni Lib).

Further suggestions (primary texts for dissertation etc)
Other works by Beauvoir eg. Une mort très douce; Les Mandarins, I and II; Les Belles Images; Pyrrhus et cinéas; Tous les hommes sont mortels; correspondence with Sartre, Algren etc., or early diaries, memoirs (3 vols following the Mémoires) etc. or you may choose to analyse a text or film using the theoretical underpinnings of Le Deuxième sexe (and/or other works by Beauvoir) to inform your analysis.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills By the end of the course, students will have further developed their skills in the areas of research and enquiry, personal and intellectual autonomy, communication, and personal effectiveness. For further specification of these skills see the university¿s graduate and employability skills framework at http://www.employability.ed.ac.uk/documents/GAFramework+Interpretation.pdf
KeywordsDELC Beauvoir
Contacts
Course organiserDr Susan Bainbrigge
Tel: (0131 6)50 8417
Email: Susan.Bainbrigge@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Elsie Gach
Tel: (0131 6)50 8421
Email: Elsie.Gach@ed.ac.uk
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