Histories of slavery, colonisation and their aftermaths have profoundly shaped human cultures and natural ecologies throughout the world. This module explores the intersections of French colonial history and the ongoing ecological impacts of colonialism in the francophone world. The environmental challenges and vulnerabilities of France’s former island colonies are all too evident: from the environmental effects of French nuclear testing in the Pacific to the increased cycles of Caribbean hurricanes. France’s long history of dehumanisation and colonisation of people worldwide is intimately linked to environmental injustices in these contexts.

Engaging ecocriticism, feminist and decolonial thought, the aim of this module is to examine the ways that authors and artists have explored intersecting racial, gender and environmental inequalities as legacies of coloniality.

Students will study a range of media, including fiction, poetry, graphic novels, visual arts, film and music, and consider in what ways, these works can build decolonial ecologies. How do these texts challenge and suggest ecoregional alternatives to the human and environmental impacts of the Anthropocene, the Plantation/ocene and ongoing occupations/dispossessions of land?

This module will give students the opportunity to compare media with an environmental focus from a range of periods with attention to their cultural and historical contexts.

Students will also be introduced to key ecocritical and postcolonial conceptual and theoretical strategies for undertaking analysis of the media in question, and to address new and urgent questions about the past and present in francophone regions.

The module will be organised according to three oceanic spaces: the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, each corresponding to a specific teaching block.

Key words: eighteenth century, nineteenth century, contemporary, Francophone islands, African diaspora, women and gender studies, environmental humanities, postcolonial studies.

On successful completion of the module you will be able to:

1. Discuss the ecological impacts of French colonialism in a range of cultural texts/media and across historical periods (LO1);
2. Compare and contrast the exploitation of colonised populations and the land, and ongoing environmental injustices in former plantation societies of the francophone world (LO2);
3. Explain forms of ecoregional resistance and sustainability in French and Creole speaking island spaces (LO3);
4. Critically analyse intersections of race, gender and environmental domination within the context of French colonial history LO4);
5. Reflect on your own research and learning during the module (LO5);
6. Create evidence-based and balanced media content informed by theory and scholarship (LO6).

The module will be delivered through a range of interactive lectures, seminars and workshops supplemented by online learning activities and materials – and may include, where relevant, asynchronous materials such as short lecture recordings. Full details on the delivery mode of this module will be available on Learning Central at the start of the academic year. There will be at least 2 hours contact time per week.

• Critical analysis of a variety of texts in French (cultural artefacts, fiction, poetry, graphic novels, visual arts, film and music) to enhance understanding of the intersections of French colonial history and the ongoing ecological impacts of colonialism in the francophone world.
• Presentation skills and ability to present arguments in written and spoken format.
• Ability to engage critically with theoretical, conceptual and historical issues.
• Ability to apply theoretical approaches to a variety of texts.
• Essay planning and essay skills.
• Communication of complex histories, debates and issues in an accessible format (e.g. via podcast or e-zine)
• Ability to reflect on learning and write reflexively.

The method(s) of assessing the learning outcomes for this module are set out in the Assessment Table, which also contains the weightings of each assessment component.

Mapping of Assessments to Learning Outcomes

Essay (2000 - 25000 words) or pre-recorded oral presentation (20 - 25 mins): assesses LOs 1, 2, 3, 4

Creative project (choice of format: 5-7 minute podcast or illustrated ezine (800-1000 words) or 1 minute campaign film). Plus 1 x reflective commentary (1000-1500 words) based on research, reading and creative process for creative project: assesses LOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The opportunity for reassessment in this module

You may be required to resit one or more of the assessments in this module if you fail the module. The Examination Board will advise you which assessments you need to resit during the August resit period. Resit assessments that are not supported by extenuating circumstances will be capped at the pass mark applicable to your programme.

Key concepts and questions explored during the module will include:

• The role of ancestral/indigenous/marginalised knowledge systems in resisting colonial extractivism and dispossession
• Ecocriticism and Black eco-feminist thought
• Ecology and human-caused disasters
• Humanitarian aid
• Contre/plantation, plot, garden
• Waste colonialism and secondhand economies
• Toxic pollution and the chlordecone scandal
• Early climate change
• Coloniality, environmental destruction, deforestation and land clearances