Besançon 2018

May 13-18, 2018: Interdisciplinary excursion "The potential of regional places of remembrance: towards a European identity" - Besançon (France)

© Maxi Bräuer

May 13-18, 2018: Interdisciplinary excursion to Besançon (France) on the topic "The potential of regional places of memory: towards a
European identity", framed by a seminar (excursion leader:innen: Prof. Dr. Roswitha Böhm, Kristian Raum, Florence Walter)

Excursion report

Besançon - The Place to Be The motto "Comtois, rends-toi!" (Franc-Comtois, surrender!) probably best describes what the Franche-Comté region has been characterized by: being a pawn of the great powers. In its long history, Spanish, French and German power interests intersected several times. In 1636, for example, the town of Dole, which was under Spanish administration at the time, was besieged by French forces. Their commander, accompanied by his impressive army, called for Dole's surrender with the above-mentioned appeal and was met with the determined response of the Franc-Comtois "Nenni, ma foi!" (Never never!) from the Franc-Comtois. The Franc-Comtois withstood the siege for three long months until it was averted with the support of Spanish forces. However, it is not only the inhabitants of Franche-Comté who are known for their determination, but also the students of TU Dresden.

Every student in the Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies at TU Dresden takes part in lectures and seminars with a cultural studies and theoretical focus during the course of their studies. In this context, students take up the challenge of carefully scrutinizing one fascinating theory after another and make an honest effort to derive meaningful meanings for the past, present and future. This process takes place almost exclusively through intensive reading of the relevant specialist literature and the presentation and discussion of cultural studies and cultural theory concepts in courses. But all theory is gray, and so we gratefully seized the opportunity to counter the seemingly monotonous theoretical burden of readings and courses with a stronger practical orientation.

We were able to exemplify, illustrate and intensify the knowledge we had acquired in the seminar The potential of regional places of remembrance: on the way to a European identity in the form of an excursion. With the kind support of the Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies and the Gesellschaft von Freunden und Förderern der TU Dresden e.V., 34 students, accompanied by their lecturers Prof. Dr. Roswitha Böhm, Kristian Raum and Florence Walter, embarked on the long journey to Besançon, the capital of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.

On our 6-day excursion from 13.05.-18.05.2018, our motivation was to learn to understand the greenest city in France as a regional place of remembrance and therefore a key building block of European identity. This was combined with the aim of taking a transnational look at Besançon in terms of cultural studies memory research as an interface of European history. On the other hand, essential excursion didactic principles for historical and intercultural learning as well as museum education were applied and implemented in the form of student city and museum tours. Our program was designed jointly by students and the supervising team of lecturers. The result was a colorful mix of events that varied from visits to the city center, the Museum of Time, the Musée Victor Hugo, the Citadel with the Museum of Resistance, the Institutes of Applied Linguistics and the Lucien Febvre Center of the Université de Franche-Comté to the Office of International Relations. At the Lycée Ledoux secondary school, we discussed regional places of remembrance with an 11th grade class and presented selected lieux de mémoire in the city of Dresden.

Of course, the obligatory excursion to the picturesque Château de Joux and Fort Saint-Antoine was not to be missed. Even though both places were originally fortifications, the latter in particular was designed to protect against (newly) greedy lovers of the Comté. On request, we had the opportunity to observe the ripening of this legendary cheese and marvel at hundreds of huge wheels of cheese - including tasting and smelling the delicious aroma from the souvenir bags on the way back. We rounded off this fascinating excursion with a picnic at the former host family of one of our students. Hosting 38 guests was no problem - everyone was able to sit in the spacious living room, taste regional specialties and chat with the two hosts. Regional places of remembrance are therefore not only connected to cultural studies, but also closely linked to international understanding.

Author: Sebastian Franz

You can also download a pdf version of the excursion report here.