Course overview

The largest concentration of countries in the world in which French is the official language is inAfrica. Yet very little is known in the English-speaking world about the history, politics and society of those vast areas of the African continent that were previously under French colonial rule and that are today referred to under the generic term 'Francophone Africa'.

The first of its kind in Europe, this MA offers a programme that focuses exclusively on Francophone Africa. It provides an exciting opportunity to study in depth France's relations with both French-speaking North Africa (focusing in particular on Algeria) and sub-Saharan Africa. A key feature of the degree is that it incorporates a study of the history of the very different approaches to French colonial rule in each of these regions with an analysis of how this historical relationship has shaped - and continues to shape - contemporary relations between France and its former African colonies. France's rapidly changing relationship with both North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa in the contemporary period and the impact of France's African empire on France today are key areas of study.

The course will be taught by three of the UK’s leading specialists on Francophone Africa: Professor Martin Evans, Professor Tony Chafer and Dr Natalya Vince. Professor Evans and Dr Vince have field experience of working in Algeria and Professor Chafer has field experience of working in sub-Saharan Africa, notably in Senegal. The teaching team has developed excellent links with the universities of Algiers and Dakar and also with the Ecole Normale (teacher-training college) in Algiers. The University of Portsmouth is linked to these universities as part of a British Academy-funded UK Africa Academic Partnership and is currently involved in a joint research project and training programme with these institutions. Meet the team. 

The teaching team has links with a network of international specialists working on Francophone Africa from the UK, France and North America, who will be invited to give visiting lectures and workshops as part of the teaching programme. Recent and forthcoming events include a three-day conference on Algerian and Arab revolutions in an international and comparative perspective, and a workshop on Doing Research in Francophone Africa. For more information, see CEISR events.

Students will be encouraged to use our institutional and workplace links to obtain placements in Algeria and Senegal.

Course content

The course will be informed by three distinctive intellectual approaches. The first will be comparative. The focus will not be on a particular nation or area, but will examine connections and relationships across the whole of Francophone Africa. Second, the course will study Francophone Africa within a transnational context, underlining how Africans have engaged with, for example, decolonisation, nationalism, the Cold War, political Islam and globalisation. Third, the course will situate the region within its wider global context, with a view to analysing the singularity of the colonial and post-colonial experience of Francophone Africa.

Students take two core taught units:

• France and Africa: from the colonial to the contemporary era
• Post-colonial memory in Francophone Africa and France

In these units students will study French colonial rule in North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa; decolonisation and the end of France’s African empire; France’s ‘special relationship’ with Africa 1960-1989; Franco-African relations in the era of globalisation; colonial memory and representations of empire in the post-colonial period; and the post-colonial impact of France’s African empire on metropolitan France. Students will also be trained in research methods. This provides students with generic research methods training as well as specialised training for students undertaking research on Francophone Africa, including oral history. This will prepare students for writing their dissertations/projects.

In the second phase, students will be able to choose from options, which will include:

• Europe in the World (this unit considers France from within a European perspective, and is divided into two blocks, the first consideringkey themes in Europe's relationship with the wider world, the second enabling students to focus specifically on Africa)
• French Translation (including a specialised workshop on translating texts on Francophone Africa)
• Nation and Identity in Europe (This unit enables students to explore the impact of France's imperial past on past and present constructions of identity in in a European comparative context)

Option provision may vary year-on-year

As this is an MA by Research, all students will complete two extended assignments (dissertation and project), under the supervision of a dissertation/project tutor. These assignments will be based around the individual student’s particular areas of interest and may take the form of, for example, an analysis of primary source material, a dissertation on a particular historical or contemporary issue, a country or regional case study, a project focusing on a particular event, institution or cultural activity (eg an exhibition or museum) or on some aspect of the impact of France’s African empire on contemporary France.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching is conducted through a combination of lectures, seminars and small-group tutorials. In addition, you will have access to staff on an individual tutorial basis. You will also be assigned dissertation/project supervisors to support you in the research and writing of your two extended assignments.

Assessment is normally in the form of an extended essay on a specific topic within a unit, allowing you to specialise on a subject that particularly interests you within the broad topic area of the unit, or (in the case of the Translation unit) by means of translation exercises accompanied by a commentary.

A one-day annual Francophone Africa symposium, with invited specialists in the field from the UK and overseas, is an integral part of the degree programme.

Career prospects

The course will be attractive to a wide range of students who wish to gain an advanced understanding of a region of the world that still remains relatively little studied, particularly in the English-speaking world. It will be of interest to students who have become interested in French-speaking Africa through their undergraduate degree programmes in International Relations, International Development Studies, European Studies, History, Politics, Modern Languages, French Studies or African Studies. In addition, it will appeal to students who wish to enhance their employability by extending their area of expertise and to anyone with professional experience whose work takes them to French-speaking Africa and who need to gain an in-depth understanding of the region.

In providing students with an advanced understanding of Francophone Africa, the course will appeal both to students who simply wish to improve their understanding of this region of the world and to those who wish to enhance their employability by extending their area of expertise. It will also be of interest to anyone with professional experience whose work takes them to French-speaking Africa and who needs to gain an in-depth understanding of the region.

While knowledge of French will provide access to a wider range of source materials, this is not a requirement in order to take the degree programme.

Facilities and features

The MA is based in the School of Languages and Area Studies within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The School is located in the historic Park Building, in the centre of the city of Portsmouth. The School of Languages and A rea Studies is a University department with an international reputation. We welcome students from across the world to our large portfolio of both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The School also has its own learning resources centre, providing a variety of  open access resources that range from newspapers and journals to self-access texts, reference resources such as dictionaries and grammar books, satellite receivers and a multimedia development unit. It also has DVD/video viewing facilities and Wi-Fi access.

We are a short walk from the main University Library, which is open from 8am to midnight seven days a week (with reduced hours during vacations) and is a European Documentation Centre. The library contains more than half a million printed books. You will also have access to some 43,000 online journals and are eligible to join the ‘Sconul’ scheme, which is a cooperative venture between higher education libraries that makes it easier for you to use academic libraries nearer to home or work. The MA Francophone Africa also has a dedicated subject librarian to assist you.

You will have dedicated administrative support, as well as access to computer facilities at the University Library, in Park Building and in other University buildings.

Entry requirements

The entry requirements for MA Francophone Africa are shown above, for more detailed information please contact:

Department: School of Languages and Area Studies (SLAS)
Tel: +44(0)23 9284 8299
Email: humanities.admissions@port.ac.uk