Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	LH Advanced Option: Bread, Wine and Barricades: Freedom, Ecology and the Nature of Modern France
School	History and Cultures
Department	History
Module Code	09 38740
Module Lead	Simon Jackson
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-10 hours Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-170 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	This option explores the political, social and cultural history of modern France since the late nineteenth century through one its most iconic characteristics: food and farming. We will begin with an anthropological exploration of some classic sites of the French 'empire of taste', such as the baguette or wine. We then look at ways in which the culture and politics of food have contributed to different ideas of what France is or should be: a sprawling colonial empire reliant on the crops grown within its boundaries, a Republic premised on specific forms of political freedom and economic equality, a cultural 'melting pot' in which rice or couscous symbolised fragile dreams of inclusive citizenship or anti-imperial resistance, a geopolitical player that championed EU agricultural policies but also nurtured environmental social movements and specific conservationist understandings of nature. Overall, the option delivers a deep history of modern France as it shaped and was shaped by food in all its forms.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: analyse and explain key events and historical processes relevant to the subject under scrutiny, analyse and explain reasons for and implications of these events and processes (including analysis of primary evidence where appropriate) compare and evaluate the main scholarly views on the subject under investigation, critically evaluate the historiographical context and trends of the subject under exploration work with an appropriate degree of learner independence to explain and analyse the material under scrutiny summarise, analyse and evaluate the subject material clearly and effectively in writing, synthesise and evaluate themes across a wide range of diverse material
Assessment
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: S1 = 1 x 3,000 word essay (100%)
Other
Reading List