Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

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Co Requisite Comment

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Aims

The events of May 1968 were a profound psychological shock to de Gaulle’s Presidency and the
Fifth Republic. A student rebellion at Paris’s prestigious Sorbonne University sparked a general strike
of roughly ten million workers. Scenes of factory and university occupations as well as mass
demonstrations and street-fighting suggested a profound political radicalisation of both the labour and
students’ movements and the events are widely seen as the catalyst of the French women’s
movement. This module will examine the events and the political, social and intellectual context
through the use of primary documents. This module will consider how the events pitted activists,
union and party leaders, the government, and the police against one another in complex and fast-changing ways. The module will analyse the rich variety of primary documents and representations
associated with May 1968.
The aims of this module are:
•To examine the social upheaval of the events of May 1968 in France in terms of political, social and
intellectual history.
•To identify a range of primary sources and contemporary literature.
•To examine and evaluate a range of historiographical perspectives.
•To provide an opportunity to acquire sound general knowledge of the subject, reading widely and
critically in the primary and secondary literature associated with it and develop the capacity for
independent study.

Outline Of Syllabus

Intended as a guide only; week by week topics may be slightly different from the following:
Social origins: expansion of higher education and economic modernisation
Intellectual origins: Sartre and situationalism
French labour movement in 1960s
Student rebellion
General Strike
Workplace occupations
Revolutionaries and labour leaders
De Gaulle, CRS and the Government
Contradictory legacies of May 68

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

Students will acquire a knowledge and understanding of the events of May 1968.
The module is intended to enable students to develop an understanding of the relationship between
this political event and its intellectual, social and political context.
Students will attain a wider knowledge and understanding of French society and ‘the sixties’

Intended Skill Outcomes

Students will develop research skills and the ability to present ideas coherently to a group of peers in
the form of a pre-circulated summary introduction to a seminar theme, to be followed by an oral
presentation.
They will be able to identify and evaluate the usefulness of a range of primary sources,
comment on their provenance, perspective, content and significance, and be able to apply them
appropriately in their oral and written discussion of the period.
This module will foster the development of a capacity for independent study and critical judgement and of the ability to respond promptly, cogently and clearly to new and unexpected questions arising from this study.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures will help to frame scrutiny of primary evidence with the research context and an introduction to core concepts.

Seminars encourage independent study and promote improvements in oral communication, problem-solving skills and adaptability.

Drop-ins allow students to engage in dialogue about historiography and sources in relation to their assessments.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Exams test acquisition of a clear general knowledge of the subject plus the ability to think and analyse a problem quickly, to select from and to apply both the general knowledge and detailed knowledge of aspects of the subject to new questions, problem-solving skills, adaptability, the ability to work unaided and to write clearly and concisely.

Documentary commentary exercises and examinations test knowledge and understanding of the texts set for the
module. The ability to compare and contrast related source texts on a common subject. The ability to expound and
criticize a textual extract lucidly, succinctly and with relevance in a relatively brief space, and, in an exam, under pressure of time.

Work submitted during the delivery of the module forms a means of determining student progress. Submitted work
tests knowledge outcomes and develops skills in research, reading and writing.

General Notes

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