- UCAS course code
- VR11
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA History and French
Combine a specialist study of French culture with a range of diverse historical periods.
Duration: 4 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: VR11 / Institution code: M20
- Key features:
Study abroad
Study with a language
- Typical A-level offer: AAB including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: ABC including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: ACC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 35 points overall with 6,6,5 at HL including specific subjects
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £26,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
- Find out more from student finance
- Eligible UK students can apply for bursaries and scholarships
- Funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages
- Many students work part-time or complete a student internship
Course unit details:
Stardom in France
| Unit code | FREN21771 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 20 |
| Unit level | Level 2 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
Adored, reviled and scrutinized by mass audiences, stars are mediatised figures that reveal important trends and values in national popular culture. As well as being real individuals, stars are intricately constructed ‘media texts’ that often reconcile opposites (publicity and intimacy, idealism and ordinariness, Zeitgeist and legacy), and which constitute complex systems of significations that illuminate the ambiguities of a given society – in this case, France.
This course unit focuses on French celebrities from different time periods and from a range of artistic domains (literature, cinema, popular music, visual arts …), with varied gender, class and ethnic profiles, holding both mainstream and niche appeal. This diversity enables us to interrogate the production and consumption of popular culture in France, and to illustrate and problematise key issues shaping French society. These may include, depending on staff specialism and the stars studied, intellectual engagement, feminism, subversion, resilience, irony, cultural heritage...
After an introduction to star theory in the French context, the course examines a selection of stars through the combined vantage points of artistic achievement, critical reception, official discourse and fandom.
Pre/co-requisites
Aims
The principal aims of this course unit are:
- To know and recognize major French stars across a range of media and time periods
- To interrogate the notions of ‘stardom’, ‘mainstream culture’ and ‘legacy’ in France
- To explore the relationship between stardom and wider socio-cultural contexts
- To analyse critically a range of media (films, songs, books…)
Knowledge and understanding
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Relate the close textual analysis of films, songs or other art forms to wider socio-historical processes and contexts
- Understand the impact of social and attitudes on stardom
- Understand the potential of stardom for socio-political commentary
- Analyse star texts across genres, time periods and intellectual issues
- Apply theories and secondary reading to their understanding of stardom in France
Intellectual skills
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Engage in independent reflection and enquiry.
- Conduct in-depth research into key stars and the context of their success.
- Engage in the discussion and critical evaluation of star theory, and critically evaluate the place and meanings of key notions in French society, including gender, ethnicity, intellectualism, popular success and the construction of ‘authenticity’.
- Analyse primary sources and provide a synthesis of the most relevant findings.
Practical skills
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Conduct close textual analysis of ‘star texts’
- Construct a persuasive argument in clear language, grounded in research
- Work individually and collaboratively to deadlines
- Improve their reading and speaking skills in French
Transferable skills and personal qualities
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Engage in independent reflection and enquiry.
- Explain complex findings with precision and concision, across a range of media.
- Communicate effectively about intellectually grounded topics, notions and materials.
- Write a report or essay on a piece of original research.
- Engage in group discussion.
- Take initiative.
Employability skills
- Group/team working
- Group/team working; Initative and creativity; Problem-solving; Critical thinking; Reading and speaking in French and English; Effective presentation skills, in oral and written forms.
- Other
- The course will have particular benefits for students interested in pursuing a career in teaching and learning, diversity and identity management, journalism and the creative industries. The course enhances skills of analysis, synthesis, oral presentation, and written reporting. The course also encourages students to reflect upon the world outside the University, thereby providing confidence in applying academic research to a variety of non-academic environments.
Assessment methods
| Assessment task | Summative or Formative | Weighting within unit |
| Draft | Formative | |
| Blog or Podcast | Summative | 40% |
| Essay plan | Formative | |
| Essay | Summative | 60% |
Feedback methods
- Formative feedback on students’ in-class participation (oral)
- Formative individual feedback on essay plans (written)
- Summative feedback on both assessment tasks (written)
- Additional one-to-one feedback during consultation hours or by appointment (oral).
Recommended reading
Gaffney, John and Diana Holmes (eds). Stardom in Postwar France (Oxford: Berghahn, 2007)
Harris, Sue. ‘Degraded divinity? Sacred monstrosity? Gérard Depardieu and the Abject Star Body’, Screen, 2015, 56/3, pp. 319-334.
Looseley, David. ‘ “Une passion française”: the mourning of Johnny Hallyday’, French Cultural Studies, 2018, 29/4, pp. 378-388
Taylor, Alison. ‘Who the hell is Isabelle Huppert? A French star in America’, in Nick Rees Roberts and Darren Waldron (eds), Isabelle Huppert. Stardom, Performance, Authorship (New York: Bloomsbury Academic), pp. 197-216
Vincendeau, Ginette. Stars and Stardom in French cinema (London: Continuum, 2000)
Further reading will be recommended in class.
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 22 |
| Seminars | 11 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 167 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Barbara Lebrun | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
Please Note: This unit is largely delivered in French.