FRANCE'S ABOLITION AND REPUBLICS

AFAS1000OC: France’s Abolitions and Republics. 3 points.

Instructor: Véronique Charles

​Taught in English.

This course is approved as a Global Core at Columbia.

To what extent was the abolition of slavery co-constitutive to the creation and recreation of France’s first two republics? In light of a second and more “universal” abolition of slavery that France’s third republic inherited; what contradictions did the imperial nation-state carry onto the colonial conquest of Atlantic Africa? Students will explore how this particular past of slavery and its afterlife marked Black French intellectual and cultural production. This course thus bridges metropolitan and colonial histories to shed light on humanist revolutions in Europe and its limitations. Leading figures in the cultural and academic spheres of Black France will serve as guest lecturers throughout the summer term. Students will also have the opportunity to attend theatrical performances, museums, and art galleries as well as the opportunity to visit principal landmarks that attest to this larger history. "France’s Abolitions and Republics" is part of a consortium of Black France course offerings at Columbia University and other partnering U.S.-based universities.

To enroll in this course, you must apply to the  Columbia Summer in Paris program, through the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE). Global Learning Scholarships available. Tuition charges apply.