FAS 230/WST 235/WST501-Topics 

Franco American Studies: 

Franco-American Women's Experiences
Instructor: Rhea Cote Robbins 
This Page updated: May 2023 

Course Description-(no longer offered): 
This course will examine the immigration experience and subsequent lifestyles of the present-day Franco-American woman and her cultural ancestors.Following their immigration from France to New France, Canada, and across the border into the United States, through reading of literature and discussion,the class participants will become informed of the historical and cultural implications for the women immigrants and the definition they impartedto the culture through their contributions from the 1600s to the present.These women braved the new worlds of the wilderness, farmlands and the industrial settings to help establish the French culture as we know it today on the North American continent. In addition, to the readings, this course will use film, slide presentations, guests lecturers, and music to examine the artifacts, crafts, rituals, folklore and more of the daily lives of the women following their ocean and border crossing as the route to discovering the meaning of their lives. Prerequisite: FAS 201 or permission.3 Credit Hours
 

Course Topics (Subject to change):

  • Les Filles des Roi, French Women of North America 
  • Nuns 
  • The Pioneers 
  • The Pioneers continued 
  • The Acadian Diaspora 
  • The Acadians, 'Cajuns, Return 
  • Les Québécoises 
  • Choices--Home, Mill, Office, or Nunnery... 
  • Work and Family 
  • Journalism 
  • The Farm Wife/Daughter/Maman/Mémère 

 

Required Texts:


The UMA Bookstore 800 number is: 1-800-621-0083 
The fax number of the UMA bookstore is: 1-800-243-7338 
The UM Bookstore number is: 581-1700 
or order online at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ or www.amazon.com 

Canuck and other Stories, ISBN-10: 0966853628 

Evangeline, Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, ISBN 0-920852-13-0 

Calico Bush, Field, Rachel, Bantam Doubleday, ISBN 0-440-40368-5 

Shadows On The Rock, Cather, Willa, ISBN 0-679-76404-6 

Pélagie, Maillet, Antonine, Goose Lane Editions, ISBN 0-8649-2405-4 

Selected works by Chopin online, Chopin, Kate 

My Mother's Walls, Petrie, Lanette, Landry, Proof Positive Press, Bradley Maine 04411 (A course packet item) 

ECHOES magazine, Nos. 42, 43, and 44; ISSN 1043-3341, ECHOES Press, Inc., Caribou, ME.� 04736-0626 

Wednesday's Child, Rhea Côté Robbins, Rheta Press, 0-9668536-0-1 

Other Course packet with selected readings as well as readings from the Internet. 

Video:� Harvest of Hope, Available for viewing at your local library or at UNET sites throughout the state, or mailed to those not near a site.
Frequently Asked Questions about FAS 230/WST 235
Franco-American Women's Experiences

How much time will it take me to fulfill the requirements for this course? Plan on spending the same amount of time on this asynchronous course as you would any other traditional classroom course you would take. You will have reading and writing assignments which will inform the discussions that are to take place on-line. 

How many formal written assignments, besides the weekly, not so formal, written assignments are there? There will be two: An Interview Essay and a Final Project Essay

How comfortable do I have to be with computers inorder to take this course? If you can read and send email, surf the web, this course will be set up to resemble these common computer activities and you should feel very confident and comfortable in dealing with the material presented in this course on-line.

How should I plan my time around assignments each week? Plan on at least one to two hours for each assignment reading and responding.  Please don't let yourself fall behind in the work that is due each week.

How can I feel a part of the class process through this asynchronous course over the Internet? Classroom community and personality will develop on-line in the way that it happens in a face-to-face classroom, through the sharing and taking part in the discussions and initiating interactions.  Internet communication is a modern version of "letter writing" as a way to communicate and learn something/someone.

As a learner ask yourself these questions in order to assess whether this course is for you:

Am I a self-starter who is eager to learn and explore the topics in this course?

Am I in charge of my learning process in terms of how I learn and communicate?

Am I a visual, auditory, or tactile learner or a combination of two or more learning styles?

Do I feel confident in asking questions or seeking help if I need to clarify something?

Do I need a face-to-face learning environment or does this type of course fulfill my learning needs at a different level? List advantages/disadvantages of each.

 How do I deal with learning, homework, stress, problems and challenges?

What else can I do to make this semester to meet my learning/education goals?