David Cameron: it's time for Tory campaign to let rip in final week | Politics | The Guardian

David Cameron: it's time for Tory campaign to let rip in final week | Politics | The Guardian

Le Monde: La faim touche de plus en plus de Britanniques

La faim touche de plus en plus de Britanniques

Russell Brand interviews the leader of the Labour Party

Russell Brand, no doubt the most popular radical in Britain, interviews the leader of the Labour Party. He begins by asking him if politics is a waste of time.



Milibrand: The Interview - OFFICIAL VIDEO The Trews (E309) - YouTube

The election and public services

As you know, every election in Britain has had to deal with the question of the public services which are so important to everyone's lives. Clement Attlee's government radically changed health, Churchill and Macmillan kept on building social housing, Harold Wilson pushed for new universities, Margaret Thatcher sold off council houses and privatized parts of the public services, etc. This rather long article looks at what the different parties say are their priorities in this area in 2015.

Read it here

L1 panorama: l'examen. Nouvelle information mise à jour

Information importante : faites circuler!
Attention. Cette information a été mise à jour le 28 avril. Cette information remplace celle qui était affichée le 22 avril.

L'épreuve  de L1 Panorma civilisation/littérature aura lieu  jeudi 7 mai de 11h à 13h dans l'amphi A1 de la faculté de droit, 83 Avenue général de Gaulle à Créteil (métro Créteil l’Echat).

L’examen durera 2 heures. Les étudiants seront interrogés sur deux des quatre cours – un de littérature (soit le cours de Mme Fabre, soit le cours de Mme Chevrier-Bosseau) et un de civilisation (soit britannique -- cours de M. Mullen --, soit américaine -- cours de M. Marche). 

Les étudiants ne pourront pas choisir : l’un ou l’autre sujet leur sera imposé de façon arbitraire. La moyenne des notes obtenues comptera pour l’ensemble de l'ECUE Panorama de la littérature et de la civilisation.

(Notez que les étudiants en hypokhâgne auront besoin de vérifier l'information auprès des responsables).

Nigel Farage, Who are you ? - Channel 4 documentary - YouTube

The United Kingdom Independence party (UKIP) is a right wing party with a surprisingly high level of support in opinion polls. This documentary, about its leader Nigel Farage, trie to explain why.



Nigel Farage, Who are you ? - Channel 4 documentary - YouTube

General Election 2015: Prospect of Labour-SNP coalition makes one in four voters less likely to support Ed Miliband, says survey - General Election 2015 - UK Politics - The Independent

General Election 2015: Prospect of Labour-SNP coalition makes one in four voters less likely to support Ed Miliband, says survey - General Election 2015 - UK Politics - The Independent

BBC radio podcast: A history of Britain in numbers

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/hbn

L1 Panorama de la civilisation britannique, Britain since the Romans.

You will find here all the six lectures, in MP3 format, to help you revise for your exam which is on May 7.

Lecture 1 Roman Britain

Lecture 2 Invasions

Lecture 3 The High and Late Middle Ages

Lecture 4 The Reformation  and the Civil War

Lecture 5 Industrial Revolution and Empire

Lecture 6 The twentieth century in Britain


Keywords: lecture series, British history, podcast, overview

Party Election Broadcast: Plaid Cymru (21Apr15) - YouTube

Here is the video of Plaid Cymru, the nationalist party for Wales. Notice the humorous element, which is often present in British political broadcasts.



GE2015 Party Election Broadcast: Plaid Cymru (21Apr15) - YouTube

Vote TUSC against CUTS - TUSC election broadcast - YouTube

One of the smaller political parties is the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition. They will almost certainly not get any MPS, but they use the election campaign to spread their ideas. Here is their  party political broadcast.



Vote TUSC against CUTS - TUSC election broadcast - YouTube

Liberal Democrat Party Political Broadcast; 1 April 2015. - YouTube

And here are the Liberal Democrats.

Liberal Democrat Party Political Broadcast; 1 April 2015. - YouTube

Party Election Broadcast: SNP (03Apr15) - YouTube

And here is a broadcast from the Scottish National Party. The SNP is in favour of Scottish independence, but while the United Kingdom still exists, they present candidates in Scotland to be elected to the House of Commons in Westminster.



GE2015 Party Election Broadcast: SNP (03Apr15) - YouTube

Conservative Party Political Broadcast, 30 March 2015. - YouTube

And here is a recent (three-minute) video by the Conservative party.



Conservative Party Political Broadcast, 30 March 2015. - YouTube

Labour Party political broadcast; 31 March 2015. - YouTube

The tradition in Britain, when there is a general election campaign, is that each party should make short videos to persuade people to vote for them. Every second of these broadcasts is carefully produced and reflected upon: no element of tone, decor or script is left to chance. Watch this broadcast on behalf of the Labour Party. Notice that the man who speaks at the end has a Scottish accent: why do you think this is the case?


Labour Party political broadcast; 31 March 2015. - YouTube

British election campaign : Les Verts anglais se moquent de leurs adversaires, en les décrivant comme un boys band - vidéo dailymotion

Les Verts anglais se moquent de leurs adversaires, en les décrivant comme un boys band - vidéo dailymotion

L1 Panorama : Britain since the Romans : the exam

Information importante : faites circuler!
Attention. Cette information a été mise à jour le 28 avril. Cette information remplace celle qui était affichée le 22 avril.

L'épreuve  de L1 Panorma civilisation/littérature aura lieu  jeudi 7 mai de 11h à 13h dans l'amphi A1 de la faculté de droit, 83 Avenue général de Gaulle à Créteil (métro Créteil l’Echat).

L’examen durera 2 heures. Les étudiants seront interrogés sur deux des quatre cours – un de littérature (soit le cours de Mme Fabre, soit le cours de Mme Chevrier-Bosseau) et un de civilisation (soit britannique -- cours de M. Mullen --, soit américaine -- cours de M. Marche). 

Les étudiants ne pourront pas choisir : l’un ou l’autre sujet leur sera imposé de façon arbitraire. La moyenne des notes obtenues comptera pour l’ensemble de l'ECUE Panorama de la littérature et de la civilisation.

L1 Panorama: Britain since the Romans: the reformation and the civil war.

You will find hear a recording of the fourth class, where I talked about the social political and theological reasons for the founding of the Church of England, and of the processes and reasons which led to parliament being, from then on, more powerful than the monarch, in the new English (unwritten) constitution.

Click here for the Mp3 file .

Keywords: podcast, British history, reformation, Cromwell, civil war, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Church of England ... 

L3 Britain since 1945: the context of the 2015 general elections in Britain

You will find here the lecture on the context of the British general elections, which will take place in a few weeks' time. In particular I spoke about the election system, the Scottish National Party, the coalition government and the main points of conflict as the election campaign heats up.

Follow this link

L2 Thème groupe de M Mullen : examen de fin de semestre

Votre contrôle final aura lieu le 6 mai, à l'heure habituelle du cours.
Si jamais vous êtes absent, même pour maladie, vous n'aurez d'autre choix que de repasser la matière en deuxième session en juin.

L3 The General Election in Britain

I spoke a lot about the general election in Britain at our last class. I will be posting here some useful articles to help you understand what is happening.

The following article is about women political leaders. As you know, the smaller parties are becoming more important in British politics. Three of them have women leaders, and this article looks at what this shows abut changes in politics in the twenty first century .

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/04/17/women-bbc-debate_n_7084844.html?1429264981

And this article is about the latest debate between party leaders, which Prime Minister David Cameron declined to attend

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/16/miliband-sturgeon-final-tv-debate-anti-tory-coalition

This article presents an original initiative by activists who think immigration is a positive thing:

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/welcome-mats-added-to-ukip-35260/

L3 civilisation britannique date de l'examen

Les dates des examens se trouvent désormais sur le site de l'université, ici :

http://lettres-sh.u-pec.fr/jsp/saisie/liste_fichiergw.jsp?OBJET=DOCUMENT&CODE=1341239735313&LANGUE=0


Selon ce fichier, votre examen de civilisation britannique:

4h amphi 2- i2 jeudi 21 mai 9h30-13h30

Amusing aspects of English grammar

Look here for fun with grammar!

http://distractify.com/avericlements/the-19-most-mind-blowing-sentences-in-the-english-language/?ts_pid=2

Crimes That Shook Britain S04E01 Stephen Lawrence 720p HDTV x264 DD2 0 NTb - YouTube

Britain since 1945



The murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 eventually changed Britain. His mother was invited to lead the Olympic ceremony procession in 2012. What happened and what did this show about Britain: watch this documentary.



Crimes That Shook Britain S04E01 Stephen Lawrence 720p HDTV x264 DD2 0 NTb - YouTube

L1 Britain since the Romans: The High and Late Middle Ages

You will find here the recording (in Mp3 format) of the third class in the series, which deals with the High and Late Middle Ages, that is to say, with the period 1066-1485.

Key words: podcast, British history, the Nomran Invasion, the Black death, the Peasants' revolt, Geoffrey Chaucer,

150 ans de musique populaire britannique

Vous trouverez ici l'enregistrement du cours qui traite d'un côté du rap, et de l'autre des musiques et hybridités inventées ou apportées par les populations immigrées et leurs enfants (notamment le Banghra, le Soca etc etc).

mots clé: podcast, histoire britannique, rap, soca, banghra, hybridité, études culturelles

L3 Britain since 1945: Tony Blair

Here is a recording of the lecture on Tony Blair's governments, ideas and policies.


Key words: podcast, Tony Blair, British history, 1990s, Iraq, New Labour
conférence, histoire britannique.

Enregistrements des cours

Souvent, j'enregistre mes cours de civilisation et je les rends disponible sur ce blog, pour les étudiants qui veulent réviser, ou pour d'autres personnes curieuses. Cette mise à disposition n'est ni garantie, ni systématique, alors il est normal que certains cours ne s'y trouvent pas... et les étudiants n'ont pas à m'envoyer des mails pour se plaindre.
JM

L1 panorama:Britain since the Romans

I hope everyone knew I was away last week.

Thursday 10h30 next class, in the usual room.

Listen to Stephen Hawking cover Monty Python’s Galaxy Song | Music | The Guardian

Listen to Stephen Hawking cover Monty Python’s Galaxy Song | Music | The Guardian

Devoir maison :

Choisissez un album produit depuis 1965 par un artiste ou un groupe britannique. Rédigez  en français votre analyse personnelle de son role (important ou modeste) dans l’histoire de la musique populaire britannique, en tenant compte notamment des éléments suivants:

- son insertion (ou pas) dans un genre musical

- l’utilisation de la voix dans les différentes chansons de l’album

- l’utilisation de la technologie dans les différentes chansons de l’album

- originalité de la démarche au moment où l’album est sorti.

- les thèmes traités dans chacune des chansons de l’album

- les valeurs ou le message transmis

- L’importance, ou pas, du jeu de scène

- Les activités associées (de la musique pour danser? Pour se reposer? Pour chanter avec ?)

- La réception de l’album par son public

Etc.

Le travail doit témoigner d’une réflexion personnelle sur les chansons. Ne résumez pas l’article de Wikipedia: je l’ai déjà lu!

La moitié au moins du travail doit être consacrée à un traitement chanson par chanson de l’album.

Le travail doit être rédigé, et ne contenir aucune liste à puces. N’oubliez pas d’utiliser un correcteur automatique d’orthographe.

Longueur: 1 000 mots. Ne jamais utiliser, évidemment, une phrase tirée d’’une autre source sans référence.

Devoir à rendre lors de la dernière séance, ou par mail à l’adresse ci-dessous en format word, odt ou rtf seulement.

Chaque étudiant( e ) doit choisir un album différent, choix donc à valider auprès de l’enseignant en envoyant un mail à john.mullen      @      wanadoo.fr

150 ans de musique populaire britannique

examen donc le 15 avril à 16h30. Durée 90 minutes.
Devoir maison à rendre par mail ( john-point-mullen arobase wanadoo-point-fr )
Format doc ou odt ou rtf

Ou sur papier le 15.

General Election TV debates: A battleground for David Cameron and Ed Miliband but poll declares SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon the winner - General Election 2015 - UK Politics - The Independent

General Election TV debates: A battleground for David Cameron and Ed Miliband but poll declares SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon the winner - General Election 2015 - UK Politics - The Independent

Common Life in the Middle Ages : Documentary on Famine, Disease, and Short LIfe(Full Documentary) - YouTube

Common Life in the Middle Ages : Documentary on Famine, Disease, and Short LIfe(Full Documentary) - YouTube

Britain: election debate

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/general-election-2015-miliband-gets-his-only-chance-to-cross-swords-with-cameron-on-tv-at-the-leaders-debate-10150263.html

L3 Text commentary

There are many different ways of writing a text commentary well. But in every case, the aim is to show

• that your English is good

- that  you have a good knowledge of important events and trends in British history, in particular of the events before and after the appearance of this document which help us to understand its effects and its scope.

- that you understand the aims and methods of the document you are presenting: what the document is doing

In every case, your commentary should begin and end with the document.

The following is not really a “corrigé”, just a series of ideas which it would have been good to weave in there.

Let us face the future

This is an extract from the Labour party manifesto from the 1945 elections. Its aim is to persuade people to vote Labour, despite the fact that the war has been won under the leadership of the Conservative, Winston Churchill.

The election campaign which includes this document will be successful in the view of those who wrote it.: Labour will win a major victory and introduce some of the most important welfare reforms, in health, education, housing  and elsewhere, in the entire history of Britain. The reforms will leave a lasting legacy, and will not be reversed when the Conservatives are again in government in the 1950s. After the disappointments of 1924 and 1931, the 1945 victory will soon be seen as the Golden Age for Labour party activists, in particular the more Left wing ones.

The first part of the document is aimed at reducing the risk that respect for Winston Churchill as “the man who won the war” will lead people to vote Conservative. The Conservative party for these elections did not issue a traditional manifesto, but a personal declaration by Winston Churchill, because they wanted to benefit from Churchill’s reputation as a national hero who was able, through very dark times (for example the bombing of the cities in the blitz, severe rationing, evacuation, and the risk of invasion) to remain determined and to direct the war in a way which made victory possible.

A number of tactics are used to do this, without directly attacking Mr Churchill (which would be politically risky). First it is stated that the people in general, and not “any one man or set of men” (that is, Winston Churchill and his fellow Conservatives) were responsible for the victory. Secondly, readers are reminded that the government which won the war, although it was led by a Conservative, was in fact a national government which included both Labour and Conservative ministers. What is more, it states that the formation in 1940 of the national government, and the fall of Chamberlain’s government, was at the initiative of Labour MPs. The message is clear : Labour ministers and  MPs  were part of the leadership of the nation, not simply working for Churchill. Because of this, readers are meant to conclude, Labour can be trusted to lead the nation in peacetime.

The second section deals with Labour proposals on health - both the health service itself (free hospitals, doctors  and dentists will be instituted in 1948, an extremely radical reform carried out against opposition from Conservatives and from doctors), and the “good food and good homes” which can help stop people becoming ill in the first place. Britain is still a place where chronic bad health is common: tuberculosis, bad teeth, indeed all the illnesses of poverty. In the context of an almost bankrupt country, these proposals are very ambitious.

In the last section, the claim is made that, not only is social insurance (against unemployment, sckness or old age) tremendously important and to be extended to all citizens (before the war only some had such insurance), but it is Labour who can be trusted to do this. Firstly, they say, because Labour has always pushed for such reforms whereas the Conservatives have always opposed them, and secondly because Conservatives would be likely to cut back on social spending as soon as the economy is in trouble. In fact, the reforms will be so popular that, for the most part, the Conservative government of 1951 will not reverse them. Indeed, in some areas such as housing, the Conservatives will do at least as much as Labour. It is not until the end of the long boom and the arrival of Thatcherism at the head of the Conservative party that determined attempts will be made to reduce social spending significantly.

If we look at the language used in this document, we see both solemn vocabulary and informal vocabulary. The solemn vocabulary “Victory is assured”, “sacred trust”, “high resolve” “fateful day” shows ther writers share in the national pride at victory, and the solemnity is supposed to be appropriate after a war which was victorious but also tragic form any who lost loved ones.  The informal vocabulary “mean and shabby”, “ a rainy day”, “proper conditions” “costly things” “runnning true to form” helps give the impression that the people who are writing the manifesto are ordinary people, using the same everyday conversational words that masses of voters would use.  To talk of “proper social security” is to present social security as a common-sense policy, one that could only be opposed by the unreasonable. The tone of the document is inclusive: “we” all agree on the need for government to do more to help people in difficulty.

PS: some favourite mistakes, generally to avoid in all text commentaries

“The government’s policy was efficient”. If you say this, you suggest that everybody agrees on the same objective, and the actions of this government successfully moved towards this objective. This may occasionally be a reasonable thing to say, but in almost all cases, politics is a realm where different forces and organizations *do not agree* on what is an appropriate objective (that’s why we have different political parties). You need instead to define precisely the objective. “The government’s policy was successful in raising more money from taxes and spending it on free health care, and this policy was so popular that the following, Conservative, government kept the system essentially as it was.”

“The government failed”. We see the same problem here : failed to do what, and in whose opinion? You need to be specific: “The Wilson and Heath governments failed in their attempt to significantly reduce the power of trade unions”. Similarly several people wrote “the Labour government of 1945-51 was a successful one”. This is a matter of opinion, so you must not write this. Margaret Thatcher and her supporters would not agree: they considered that Labour government, which nationalized many industries and increased income tax for the better off, as a very bad example. You need to write specific evaluations: “Attlee’s government was successful in instituting a free health service and launching the building of large numbers of council houses, both of which initiatives were very popular and were not reversed by the Conservative government of 1951”.

PPS: I have sometimes used a code when marking your scripts. G= grammar problem, V= vocabulary, S= style (too formal or too informal), Sp= spelling mistake  etc.

Information. Most people were not at all clear on the nature of the wartime government, even though this is clearly dealt with in all history books on the period. See background information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_war_ministry

Creating networks, creating in-groups: Choice of vocabulary in The Economist editorials

Creating networks, creating in-groups: Choice of vocabulary in The Economist editorials

L3 civilisation britannique: Britain since 1945: Thatcherism in practice

You will find here an MP3 recording of the class on Thatcherism in practice. What were the policies of Margarte Thatcher on trade unions, on housing, on health, on education, and why?

Key words: Thatcher, podcast, British history

150 ans de musique populaire britannique : les années 1990

Vous trouverez ici un enregistrement du cours sur la musique populaire des années 1990, où on parle un peu du two tone, du reggae, du britpop, des girl groups et boy bands et ainsi de suite.

cliquez ici

mots clé: podcast, royaume uni, musique populaire, britpop, années 1990