Transoceanic Cultures
Select lesson plan from a connected classrooms course between University College Dublin (Ireland) and University of the West Indies (Trinidad)
By Savrina Chinien and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert
University of the West Indies, Trinidad-and-Tobago; Nantes Université
Table of Contents
Course Overview
Sea voyages have been a source of poetic inspiration since time immemorial. From Homer’s “The Odyssey” to James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922) and Derek Walcott’s Omeros (1990), maritime journeys have traditionally been a great source of artistic creation and exploration. Yet, real and imagined experiences of journeys across bodies of water such as the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Pacific have also been synonymous with coerced passages that are deeply linked to memories of loss, trauma and death. Seeking to explore connections between aquatic spaces and experiences of forced migration before, during and after the Middle Passage, up to the present day, this elective module will aim to offer a transoceanic perspective on multilingual (English, French, Spanish) nomadic identities, intergenerational trauma and gendered experiences of sea crossing. As they embark on a transoceanic journey of their own, students from all disciplines will be given the opportunity to connect with international partners to work together to produce a joint digital project on oceanic crossings. To do that, students will utilize various digital tools and platforms – all of which they will become familiar with during the course of the module.
Partners
Instructors
Savrina Chinien is a Lecturer in French, Francophone Literatures and Film and the Coordinator of the French Program at the University of the West Indies, Saint Augustine Campus, Trinidad-and-Tobago. The “Transoceanic Cultures” module was taught (in conjunction with the UCD students) to the third year Undergraduate UWI students as part of their 2022-2023 French B.A. Degree Program.
Laëtitia Saint-Loubert was an Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow during the preparation and implementation of the research-led “Transoceanic Cultures” connected classrooms project. The “Transoceanic Cultures” module was designed and taught as a university-wide elective as part of the 2022-2023 UCD School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics course offering.
Students
University of the West Indies
UWI students: 15 students were registered for the course. All sat the assessments successfully. All UWI students were Year 3 Undergraduate students with the exception of one Year 2 student.
Breakdown of their academic profiles:
| Discipline | Number of students |
|---|---|
| French Major | 6 |
| Double Major (French & Spanish) | 6 |
| Double Major (French & Linguistics) | 1 |
| French Minor & International Relations Major | 1 |
| Double Major (French and Literatures in English) | 1 |
University College Dublin
UCD students: 13 students registered for the course. All sat the assessment successfully. All UCD students were either Year 1 or Year 2 students.
Breakdown of their academic profiles:
| Discipline | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| BA in Modern Languages | 3 |
| Information & Communication Studies Joint Major | 2 |
| Social Justice Joint Major | 1 |
| Social Policy and Sociology | 1 |
| Geography | 1 |
| Sociology Joint Major | 1 |
| Economics Joint Major | 1 |
| Politics and International Relations Joint Major | 1 |
| French Joint Major | 1 |
| English with Creative Writing | 1 |
Objectives and Learning Goals
Module Content
- Topics covered during the seminars will include the following: slavery, indentured labour, sex and human trafficking, experiences of displacement and unhoming.
- Reading and visual materials will be provided to students during the first week of the module; English translations will be provided for materials provided in other languages.
- Certain seminars will be devoted to introducing students to digital publishing in blog format, digital mapping and digital storytelling.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will learn about coerced maritime journeys and crossings across the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean and their enduring effects across time and space;
- In particular, students will be introduced to literature and art forms, including cinema, from various Francospheres that will be connected with other linguistic areas (knowledge of French will be a bonus, but not necessary);
- Through seminar-based discussion and analysis of a selection of primary sources, students will enhance their knowledge and competence in document analysis and presentation;
- By connecting with international peers, students will be offered a unique opportunity to work on a joint project and acquire transferable skills in minimal computing tools to create digital content;
- Students will learn to acknowledge and use appropriate copyright citation and licensing for online content.
- This collaborative project will also enhance the students’ team building, communication, time management and problem solving skills.
Approaches to Teaching and Learning
- Weekly two-hour seminars, with an initial lecture component followed by discussion of extracts from primary sources and related critical readings.
- A number of seminars will also be devoted to introducing students to the creation of digital contents through the use of minimal computing tools.
- This course will offer blended learning: classes will be taught online (as this is planned as a “connected classrooms” course) and in-person.
- Guests speakers will also be invited to present on specific topics. This is a valuable strategy to expose students to diverse perspectives and a more nuanced understanding of the subject.
- UCD Students will be paired with UWI students for their group project. They will be responsible for planning their online work sessions together.
- A padlet will be created and the link will be made accessible for both UCD and UWI students. This will enable the students and the instructors to post comments or any relevant information online for further discussions.
Assessment Strategy
University College Dublin
| Description | Timing | Component Scale | % of Final Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class Test: 3 quizzes on BrightSpace to be completed during the trimester. Each quiz relates to material covered in the seminars. | Throughout the trimester | Graded | 40 |
| Group Project: Connected Classrooms group digital project. | Coursework (End of Trimester) | Graded | 60 |
University of the West Indies
| Assessment Type | Description | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Midterm Assignment | Essay to be written in class on Topic 1. Time frame: 1 hour | 20% |
| Group Project | Connected Classrooms group digital project | 20% |
| Final Exams | 2 essays to be written on all the topics covered. Time frame: 2 hours | 60% |
Feedback Strategy
- Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
- Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
- Group/class feedback, post-assessment
- Online automated feedback
- Students can also meet with the instructors during their office hours
Course Schedule
Weeks 1 – 4: The Middle Passage
Weeks 5 – 8: The kali pani
Weeks 9-12: Contemporary boat people
Select Lesson Plan: The Middle Passage
Week | Works Studied | Plan/Discussion |
|---|---|---|
1 | The Middle Passage – Guy Deslauriers (film, 2000) Scene to be discussed in depth: “The Death Dance” | – Notion of “passage”: polysemic, liminality, suspension – Fluidity of genres studied for this course – Thematic connections/passages – Middle Passage in the film (docu-fiction) – spatial, dialogic of adaptation – Axiological displacement: African enslaved as the subject – Singular/Collective discourse – Identity construct(s) – Notion of H/history |
2 | Middle Passages – Kamau Brathwaite (1993) Poems to be analysed: 1. “The Visibility Trigger” 2. “Colombe” | – Reversed the Middle Passage of slavery – Personal “I” and the communal “I” (“X/self”) – Rights/rites of passage – “Passages” for the poet: spatial, temporal, ritualistic, etc. – Corporeality and the power of language |
3 | Zong! – NourbeSe Philip (2008) Poems to be analysed: 1. “Zong! #1” 2. “Zong! #17” 3. “Zong! #18” | – Corporeality and the power of language – Sacred/altered space – Deconstructing words and letters – Comparative study of the 3 works studied – Notion of “passage” in each one – Study of paratext, footnotes and layout of poems as sites of re/membering |
4 | Guest Lecture by Prof. Paula Morgan, UWI, St Augustine Campus: “Antillean trauma and rememory” | – Trauma History and memory – Literary rewriting of history – Interface of multiple histories – Tropes and symbols- Shifting/fluid grounds of meaning – The Sea Journey – The Sea as Archive – Q & A with students |
