Rennes - Licence 3

Cours Magistral de Sandrine ORIEZ

This course will examine the events and social phenomena that have transformed British society since WW2 and contributed to shape its contemporary identity: post-war reconstruction and “consensus”, the setting up and subsequent reform of the Welfare State, decolonisation and the successive waves of immigration from former colonies, the challenge to traditional class and/or gender (collective) identities and categorisations, etc. These themes will be tackled through the study of various primary sources (texts, images, audiovisual documents) and students will be asked to produce written and oral analyses.

The publication in 2020 of A Promised Land, the first volume of Barack Obama’s presidential memoirs, gives us the opportunity to study the presidency of the first African-American president in the history of the United States of America. His election was hailed by most political pundits as the start of a major transformation of America. First of all, some argued that his presidency was going to pave the way for the emergence of a post-racial America. However, the fact that he had to deliver a speech on race in Philadelphia during the campaign was an indication that racial issues remained highly sensitive. Once he was elected, he was faced with very serious problems, starting with the economic crisis which hit the country in 2007 and the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The purpose of this course is to study the landmark moments of Obama’s presidency to evaluate whether he was a transformative president or merely a pragmatic one.

Anglais
L3 Psychologie Gr 7
Sem 2

The Enlightenment in the British Worlds and its Legacy: Modernity and Ambivalence (Valérie Capdeville)

The Enlightenment remains an enduring object of historical interest and intellectual debate both in the academic world as well as amongst the wider public. The Enlightenment was characterised by an impulse towards modernity in matters of government, politics, religion and aesthetics. But was it an intellectual movement led mainly by European elites? French historian Antoine Lilti posits the Enlightenment as a space for critical debate on modernity and an ideal of emancipation through knowledge. For social and cultural historians, it was a lived experience, or a particular lifestyle as much or even more so than a set of ideas. For decades, historians have endeavoured either to claim it or to criticize it. Was the Enlightenment plural, or global? The Enlightenment also refers to a philosophical and political heritage that is still relevant today.
This course aims to introduce the students to the main concepts, values and debates of the Enlightenment, as well as to the cultural and social practices that emerged in the British worlds during the long eighteenth century. Through a selection of primary and secondary sources, this course will especially shed light on the ambivalence and contradictions of that ‘Age of Reason’ and interrogate the notions of freedom of expression, progress, toleration or democracy as well as the Eurocentric vision of the Enlightenment. Can Enlightenment debates help us understand today’s controversies over secularism, colonialism, and even over the environmental crisis or social media?

TD L3 groupe 3: Howards End / Nice Work