U N I V E R S I T Y  O F  P I T T S B U R G H

October, 2001 

Video Technology Enhancement for the Department of French & Italian

Phil Watts teaches undergraduates with upper-level French skills how to understand a culture by reading, viewing, and analyzing cultural artifacts. In his course, France Today, Watts and 20 to 30 students a year examine the politics, religion, class structure, immigration, and social identity of contemporary French culture. They do this by scrutinizing modern French films, documentaries, and literature. The course makes contemporary French culture come alive for these students and teaches them to critically evaluate cultural artifacts at home or abroad.

Watts’ ACIE grant for Video Technology Enhancement for the Department of French & Italian will provide the French and Italian department with a code-free DVD and a multi-standard VCR, the technologies required to bring a broader range of significant videos, television programs, and documentaries produced in Europe to the American classroom. Until now, access to this media has been severely limited for U.S. students by incompatible European production formats. The ACIE grant will provide Watts and his students with the capability to view films and videos produced in French (obviously reflecting French culture more accurately), thus bringing a broader, more representative, range of artifacts to the classroom.

Watts spends every summer in France gathering information for his classes; furthermore, generally half of his students have also visited France. The students who have not yet had an opportunity to travel benefit from the perspective of those who have, and all students come away with a broader, more discerning view of French society
and culture.

 

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