Book available at the FNAC Cergy

Dear Students,

The book I recommended on Tuesday has been delivered at the FNAC.
The author is Melinda Tims and the book is catalogued by the FNAC under the title Initiation à la civilisation américaine. They might ask you for the name of the teacher who ordered the books.
Please let me know if you are having trouble downloading the material or watching the videos, listening to the NPR broadcasts etc...
I'm looking forward to seeing you on monday or tuesday for the first seminar and the second lecture under undoubtedly better material conditions !

Aude de Mézerac

2008 Primaries

The Primary election campaign has started earlier than ever before and is now well under way.

One of the best ways of learning more about the primary process and about the main candidates for the Republican and Democratic nomination is to check out the New York Times coverage. Visit the website to read articles about the issues around the primary calendar, to follow candidates on the campaign trail and to learn about the political hot potatoes of the day.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front runner, has tried to undermine Barack Obama's claim that he has enough experience to be President of the United States. Find out how he is responding to the challenge by watching the video.

Democratic candidate and governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson is running one of the most entertaining ad campaigns. Find out more and watch the ads here.

On the Republican side, former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuiliani is leading in the polls but losing ground to Mitt Romney and John Mc Cain. Maybe one of the them might be able to overtake him in the small States that vote first in the primary season: Iowa and New Hampshire. However, a few weeks ago, Fred Thompson entered the race. He is an attorney and a former Senator and you might have seen him in the TV series Law and Order in which he played District Attorney Arthur Branch. Will he manage to win the support of evangelical Christians, who haven't clearly picked a candidate yet, and take the lead in the polls? Learn more.

More from me later.

Lecture 1

Welcome to the American Studies Year 2 blog which is meant to enhance the lectures on American history.
I will use it to post links to websites that will help you make the most of the classes.

For instance you might like to listen to a 6 minute interview with Stanley Weintraub who has written a book on the American Revolution from the point of view of the British.
click here.

NPR also offers a very short summary of Thomas Paine's life and famous pamphlet : Common Sense. Apparently Washington would read it to his soldiers when times were tough. Click here.

You will find all the necessary documents for the lectures (powerpoint presentations and extra handouts when necessary) and for the seminars ( home work : text under study and questions on the text) by visiting the American-studies-Year-2 google group.
Please download and print the file for each week's seminar, don't forget that homework is a mandatory requirement. If having the powerpoint presentation helps you follow the lively pace of the lecture, you should print it out and bring it to the class ( I recommend using the option allowing you to print 6 slides per page).