Ni Putes Ni Soumises (NPNS), "Neither Whores nor Submissives," is a French feminist movement set up in response to acts of violence against women, particularly in Islamic neighborhoods. In 2003, NPNS staged a march through more that 20 cities of France. Their message was incorporated into the official Bastille Day celebrations later that year in Paris, when 14 posters of modern woman of different ethnicities dressed as Marianne were displayed on the columns of the Palais Bourbon, the home of the Assemblée nationale. (Image of Safia as a modern Marianne. Source: Les symboles et les valeurs del la République. License: CC BY-NC-SA.)
Instructor(s)
Catherine Clark
MIT Course Number
21G.311
As Taught In
Spring 2014
Level
Undergraduate
Course Description
Course Features
Course Description
This course examines major social and political trends, events, debates and personalities which help place aspects of contemporary French culture in their historical perspective through fiction, films, essays, newspaper articles, and television. Topics include the heritage of the French Revolution, the growth and consequences of colonialism, the role of intellectuals in public debates, the impact of the Occupation, the modernization of the economy and of social structures. The sources and meanings of national symbols, monuments, myths and manifestoes are also studied. Recommended for students planning to study abroad. Taught in French.
