American Association of Teachers of French

National Commission on Cultural Competence

Marie-Christine Koop, Chair

koop@unt.edu

First created in 1993, the AATF Commission on Cultural Competence is currently chaired by Marie-Christine Koop (University of North Texas).

For more information, visit the AATF web site at http://www.frenchteachers.org

 

 

 

OBJECTIVES  OF  THE   COMMISSION

These are the preliminary objectives which will be evolving as work progresses.

A. PRACTICAL TASKS
    1. Articles in the AATF National Bulletin (on-going)
            a. a regular column on the work of the Commission titled "Le carrefour culturel" and prepared by Sharon Rapp and Marie-Christine Koop, appears in every issue of the AATF National Bulletin. It includes announcements of interest to AATF members, resources for presenting culture in the classroom, and progress reports.
            b. Classroom activities around culture (culture capsule on a particular theme, classroom presentation of a film, applications of a web site, etc.) are published in each issue of the AATF National Bulletin.

    2. Maintenance of a web site for the Commission (Marie-Christine Koop)
    This web site contains announcements, resources for teaching culture, opportunities for teachers, seminars and stays in French-speaking countries with scholarships and/or grants, etc.

    3. Sessions at conventions and workshops (Myrna Delson-Karan)
        a. Organization of sessions and workshops at conferences (AATF, ACTFL, regional, state, and local meetings) to present current issues on France and French-speaking countries.
        b. Organization of workshops for teachers, summer seminars, and stays in French-speaking countries with scholarships and/or grants. A summer seminar on contemporary France was organized at the Centre International d'Etudes Pédagogiques (CIEP) in Sèvres in 1997. Plans are under way for a seminar in Quebec in the summer of 2001 or 2002.

B. RESEARCH AND STUDY GROUPS
    1. Programs and research in the area of French culture (Alain-Philippe Durand)
A committee is currently researching the universities which offer doctoral programs in French studies (society and culture, rather than literature) and will contact various organizations outside AATF which focus on French culture.

    2. Cultural content of standardized tests and national exams
A committee will be studying the content of national exams such as the Grand Concours (AATF National French Contest) and Advanced Placement, and state exams leading to teaching certification in order to see what the Commission can do to increase the cultural component of these tests through suggestions to their organizers.

    3. Implementation of the Commission goals to develop cultural competence
Another committee will be studying ways for the Commission to further implement the objectives stated in its first volume edited by Alan Singerman, Acquiring Cultural Competence: Four Stages for Students of French (Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company, 1996). This content of this volume is summarized in the cultural web page maintained by Jayne Abrate

C. PUBLICATIONS
    1. Volumes prepared by the Commission

a. Alan Singerman, ed. Acquiring Cultural Competence: Four Stages for Students of French. Lincolnwood, IL: National textbook Company, 1996. The content of this volume is summarized in the cultural web page maintained by Jayne Abrate.       

b. Marie-Christine Weidmann Koop, ed. Assisted by Rosalie Vermette. France at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century/La France à l'aube du XXIe siècle. Birmingham, AL: Summa Publications, 2000 (300 pages). This volume of 19 articles on contemporary France was completed by participants in the 1997 Summer Seminar on Contemporary France held in Sèvres and other Commission members. It covers major aspects of French society and may be used as a reference manual or a text for advanced courses on contemporary France.  This book may be ordered from the following address: Summa Publications, P.O. Box 660725, Birmingham, AL 35266-0725. ISBN 1-883479-29-0. Price: $33.95. [See order form below.]

c. Marie-Christine Weidmann Koop, ed. Le Québec aujourd'hui. Identité, société et culture. Sainte-Foy, Québec: Presses de l'Université Laval, 2003. ISBN 2-7637-8032-6. CAN$ 30.00. May be ordered online at http://www.ulaval.ca/pul

d. An interactive CD-ROM containing practical applications of the Commission guidelines is currently being prepared by Commission members and other colleagues, and edited by Ann Williams-Gascon.

e. Another volume on contemporary France is currently in progress with a projected publication date of early 2008.

    2. Collection of cultural units
Preparation of flyers, booklets and folders: presenting films in the classroom, introducing contemporary songs, classroom applications of web sites.

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STRUCTURE OF THE COMMISSION

These are several on-going projects currently being developed by the Commission. Additional subcommittees may be added as the need arises.

 

Active Commission Members

Alain-Philippe Durand
University of Rhode Island

Alan Singerman
Davidson College

Rosalie Vermette
Indiana University-Purdue University at at Indianapolis

Ann Williams
Metropolitan State College of Denver

If you would like to participate in the work of the Commission, please contact Marie-Christine Koop at koop@unt.edu

 

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EVENTS  AND  CONFERENCES

 

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ARTICLES  OF  INTEREST   IN  THE  AATF  NATIONAL  BULLETIN

 

 

 

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PROJECTS  DEVELOPED  BY   THE  COMMISSION

1997

A Summer Seminar on Contemporary France for professors of French culture and civilization was organized and directed by Marie-Christine Koop. It was held at the Centre International d'Etudes Pedagogiques (CIEP) in Sevres, France with the cooperation of Alain Kimmel. Its main objectives was the preparation of a volume of articles on contemporary France. An article on the seminar appeared in the November, 1997 issue of the AATF National Bulletin.

1998

A three-hour workshop on various aspects of contemporary France was presented at the AATF national convention in Montreal by participants in the 1997 Summer Seminar on France mentioned above.

2000

The volume of articles France at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century/La France à l'aube du XXIe siècle, edited by Marie-Christine Koop with the assistance of Rosalie Vermette, has been completed and published by Summa in 2000. See additional information and order form below.

2001

A two-week research seminar in Quebec was organized in July 2001 under the direction of Marie-Christine Koop. It was funded by a large grant from the Ministère des Relations internationales du Québec. See the follow-up article below which appeared in the September 2001 issue of AATF National Bulletin.

2003

• A volume of articles on Quebec, prepared as a follow-up to the 2001 Research Seminar held in Quebec, was published by the Presses de l'Université Laval in 2003 with the title Le Québec aujourd'hui. Identité, société et culture.

• An interactive CD-ROM on classroom applications to develop culture competence, following the first volume published by the Commission, is being edited by Ann Williams-Gascon.

2008

• Another volume on contemporary France is in progress, with a tentative publication date in early 2008.

• Plans are under way to organize a summer seminar in Belgium, and possibly Switzerland, in July 2008, around the AATF convention to be held in Liège.

 

Books Published Under the Auspices of the Commission

 

France at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century: Trends and Transformations/La France à l'aube du XXIe siècle: tendances et mutations

Marie-Christine Weidmann Koop, Editor

Assisted by Rosalie Vermette

ISBN 1-883479-29-0. Pp. 300. $33.95

Table of Contents

Preface - Marie-Christine Weidmann Koop

I. POLITICS • "France on Alternating Power: Cohabitation III" - Douglas J. Daniels • "The French Communist Party in the 1990s: Decline, Renewal, and the Socialists" - Christopher Pinet • "French Environmental Policy: Better Late than Never"- Michel Gueldry • "The Crisis of the French Social Protection System" - Alan Singerman • "La France dans l'Europe de l'an 2002, ou comment une France peut en cacher une autre" - Claud DuVerlie.

II. SOCIAL ISSUES • "Les mutations de la famille" - Alain Kimmel • "France's Aging Population" - Alice J. Strange • "Démocratisation de l'enseignement en France: illusion ou réalité?" - Marie-Christine Weidmann Koop • "Voices for the Voiceless: Graffiti and Social Issues in Contemporary France" - Ann Williams-Gascon.

III. IDENTITY • "France in Trouble or Just in Transition?" - Edward C. Knox • "France's National Identity and the French Press"- Jacqueline Thomas • "Multiculturalism in Debate: The Immigrant Presence as Social Catalyst in Contemporary France" - Fred Toner.

IV. CULTURE • "French Leisure: A Social Order in the Making" - Roland Simon • "Le dire-vrai du roman social contemporain" - Marc Bertrand • "The Cosmopolitan Tradition in French Film" - Jeri DeBois King • "New Cultural Spaces in France" - Gregg Siewert.

V. PERCEPTION OF FRANCE FROM THE UNITED STATES • "La France et ses rapports diplomatiques avec les Etats-Unis vus par la récente presse américaine" - Michel Sage • "Hollywood Remakes of French Films: Cultural and Cinematic Transformation" - Colette G. Levin.

CONCLUSION • "Bibliographic Essay on Contemporary France" - Rosalie Vermette.

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ORDER FORM

Please ship me ____ copy (ies) of France at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century at the rate of $33.95 US. Shipping and handling charges: $4.00 for the first volume (in US $ only), $.85 for each additional volume; Canadian and foreign: $4.00 first volume, $1.00 each additional. Please print:

Name:

Address (include state/province, zip code, and country):

Check enclosed ___

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Send this form to: Summa Publications, P.O. Box 660725, Birmingham, AL 35266-0725, USA.

 

Le Québec aujourd'hui.

Identité, société et culture

Marie-Christine Weidmann Koop, ed.

Presses de l'Université Laval, 2003

ISBN 2-7637-8032-6. Pp. xi + 309. Can $30.

May be ordered from www.ulaval.ca/pul

Table des matières

Avant-propos & Introduction - Marie-Christine Weidmann Koop

I. Héritage historique et identité québécoise

• Modernité et histoire des idées au Québec. Une perspective historiographique - éric Bédard
• La politique d'une société distincte et plurielle - Louis Balthazar
• Le Québec au sein de la fédération canadienne: entretien avec Stéphane Dion - Dominick De Filippis

II. Institutions et questions sociales

• La politique au Québec: état des lieux - S. Pascale Dewey
• Le système éducatif québécois: histoire, organisation et enjeux - Marie-Christine Weidmann Koop
• Le mouvement des femmes au Québec: histoire, défis et contributions à la société québécoise - Chantal Maillé
• Les autochtones et le Québec - éric Gourdeau

III. Aspects culturels

• Langue française et politique des dictionnaires au Québec - Mark West
• Défis et dilemmes de la modernité artistique au Québec: le cas de Jean Paul Lemieux - Louise Vigneault
• Arts et traditions populaires du Québec: la protection de la culture « vivante » - Lise Fournier

IV. Littérature et cinéma au Québec

• Lieux de mémoire: l'imaginaire québécois à travers le roman, 1900-1970 - Renée Norrell et Warren Johnson
• Up Against the Joual: dépaysements linguistiques et le théâtre québécois - Ritt Deitz
• Les origines de l'écriture migrante. L'immigration littéraire au Québec au cours des deux derniers siècles - Daniel Chartier
• Le roman à l'écran: trois modèles d'adaptation dans le cinéma québécois - Colette G. Levin

V. Ressources sur le Québec

• L'identité québécoise en ligne - Thomas M. Carr, Jr.
• L'organisation des études québécoises aux États-Unis: le rôle de l'American Council for Québec Studies - Emile J. Talbot
• L'Association internationale des études québécoises (AIéQ) et le Québec comme objet d'étude - Robert Laliberté

Appendice - Brève chronologie du Québec - Marie-Christine Weidmann Koop

 

 

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TEACHER'S  CORNER

This section is located in the cultural web page maintained by Jayne Abrate

 

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Return to Marie-Christine's home page.

Last updated: May 14, 2006

Page maintained by: Marie-Christine Koop