Catalog of Courses for French
Development of basic oral expression, listening and reading comprehension, and writing. Prerequisite: No previous formal instruction of French or Creole is required.
Development of basic oral expression, listening and reading comprehension, and writing. Prerequisite: CREO 1010.
Develops the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Creole. Prerequisite: Three previous semesters of Creole required (1010, 1020, 2010)
Reading
Development of basic oral expression, listening and reading comprehension, and writing. Language laboratory work is required. Followed by FREN 1020. Prerequisite: Limited or no previous formal instruction in French.
This intensive course begins with instruction in basic oral expression, listening comprehension, elementary reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills at the intermediate level. Part of the Summer Language Institute.
Designed for students with an elementary knowledge of French. Further develops the skills of speaking, listening, comprehension, reading, and writing. Language laboratory work is required. Followed by FREN 2010. Prerequisite: FREN 1010 or one or two years of previous formal instruction in French and appropriate SAT score.
This intensive course begins with instruction in basic oral expression, listening comprehension, elementary reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills at the intermediate level. Part of the Summer Language Institute. Prerequisites: Fren 1016 or equivalent.
Reviews basic oral expression, listening, reading comprehension, and writing. Covers the material in the FREN 1010-1020 text in one semester at an accelerated pace. Language lab required followed by FREN 2010. Prerequisite: Previous background in French (more than two years of French in secondary school) and an achievement test score below 540 or a placement score below 378, or permission of the department.
This is the non-credit option for FREN 1016.
This is the non-credit option for FREN 1026.
Special Topics in French.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of French literature and general linguistics.
Develops the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Focuses on reading skill development through readings on contemporary Francophone culture and short stories. Followed by FREN 2020. Prerequisite: FREN 1020 or one to three years of formal instruction in French and appropriate SAT score.
This intensive course begins with instruction in intermediate level oral expression, listening comprehension, reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills. Part of the Summer Language Institute. Prerequisites: FREN 1016, 1026 or equivalent.
Designed for continued development of the four skills at an advanced level. Readings emphasize contemporary Francophone culture and include a modern French play. Prerequisite: FREN 2010 or one to three years of formal instruction in French and appropriate SAT score.
This intensive course begins with instruction in intermediate level oral expression, listening comprehension, reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills. Part of the Summer Language Institute. Prerequisites: FREN 1016, 1026, 2016 or equivalent.
This is the non-credit option for FREN 2016.
This is the non-credit option for FREN 2026.
This in-depth, intermediate-level course is recommended for students whose placement scores nearly exempt them from FREN 2020, and for any students who wish to refine and expand their mastery of French grammar before taking 3000-level courses. Students who have completed FREN 2020 may take 2320 as an elective to fine-tune their language skills. Prerequisite: Appropriate placement score (into 2020/2320) or departmental permission.
Improves student's command of present-day spoken French. Includes conversation on topics of current interest, advanced vocabulary, some individualized writing practice. Limited enrollment. May not be used for major or minor credit Prerequisite: FREN 2320 or equivalent; instructor permission for those who completed only FREN 2020; students who completed FREN 3032 are excluded and must take FREN 3034.
For students residing in the French House.
Reviews pronunciation, phonetics, and phonology for undergraduates.
In this course, students explore and develop their own "voice" in written and spoken French. Through reading and viewing a variety of cultural artifacts in French, and completing a series of individual and collaborative creative projects, students will improve their skills in grammar, communication, self-expression and editing. Prerequisite: FREN 2020, 2320, or the equivalent, or appropriate AP, F-CAPE, or SAT score.
In this course, students will discover and engage critically with a broad sampling of French and Francophone cultural production representing a variety of periods, genres, approaches, and media. Students will read, view, write about and discuss a range of works that may include poetry, painting, prose, music, theater, films, graphic novels, photographs, essays, and historical documents. Prerequisite: FREN 3031.
A focus on speaking, listening, and pronunciation. Activities include guided conversation practice, discussion leading, and other oral activities related to authentic materials in French. Work may include quizzes, presentations, reports, interviews, exams , and projects. Prerequisite: FREN 2020 or equivalent. Not intended for students who are native speakers of French or whose secondary education was in French schools.
In this course, students will learn about the major industries, organizational structures, and the primary positions within French and francophone businesses. They will gain experience in business research, will hone their oral and written French for use in a business-setting, will have practice job interviews, and will learn the practical aspects of living and working in French. Prerequisite: FREN 2020 or equivalent.
This course will provide a practical and theoretical introduction to methods of translation from French to English and from English to French. Topics covered may include an introduction to translation studies, application of translation tools and practices, grammar review, and cross-cultural analysis of a variety of both literary and non-literary texts. Pre-requisite: FREN 2020 or equivalent placement.
Designed for students seeking to develop advanced linguistic skills in oral and written French and cultural competence in preparation for careers related to global development and humanitarian action. Discussions and assignments revolve around case studies and simulated professional situations drawn from real-life global development and humanitarian aid initiatives in the francophone world.
An introductory survey of French and Francophone cultural production representing a variety of periods, genres, approaches, and media. Students will read, view, discuss, and practice interpreting.
Survey of writing in French from the beginnings (880) to 1600. Explores various movements and trends in early French literary and cultural history; readings in modern French. Prerequisite: FREN 3032.
Survey of writing in French from 1600 to 1800. Explores various movements and trends in French literary and cultural history of the classical period and the enlightenment. Prerequisite: FREN 3032.
Survey of writing in French from 1800 to the present. Explores various movements and trends in French literary and cultural history of the modern and contemporary periods.
"This workshop, taught in French, introduces students to the basics of film as a visual and narrative medium. Students will master both theoretical and practical skills through writing, directing, shooting and editing their own film. Students will bring fresh materials and ideas, and workshop the script as in a ""writers room"" situation. A hands-on class, students will learn to use the camera, lighting, sound recording, and editing software."
The social, political, economic, philosophical, and artistic developments in France from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution. Prerequisite: FREN 3032.
Building on skills acquired in FREN 3031, this class helps students reflect on and become more confident in their oral use of French. Students will practice French skills by reading aloud and performing plays in a supportive and comfortable atmosphere.
This course will include topics such as French outside France; regional French varieties; Romance dialectology; French socio-linguistics. Prerequisite: FREN 3031 and 3030.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of French and Francophone culture.
This course addresses various aspects of Francophone African Culture including , oral traditions, literature, theatre, cinema, and contemporary music and visual arts. Prerequisites: FREN 3031 & 3032
Studies topics relating to concepts of film structure, history, and criticism in French and within the French tradition. Regular topics offered include Introduction to Cinema and Texte écrit/texte filmique.
Interdisciplinary seminar in French and Francophone culture and society. Topics vary annually and may include literature and history, cinema and society, and cultural anthropology. Prerequisite: FREN 3031.
Explores representative works of major Moroccan francophone authors in their cultural context. Prerequisite: FREN 3032.
In this course we will read poems in French from a variety of writers and time periods, taking into account their stylistic features, emotional impact, and cultural resonance. Each day will be structured around the study of one key poem.Through in-class readings of related poems, writing workshops and secondary readings, we will explore how poetry brings us closer to words, language, knowledge, sensations, emotion, ourselves, and others.
Werewolves, vampires, phantoms, and fairies inhabit French fables, legends, fairy tales, short stories, novels, and film. The course studies supernatural fictional creatures in relation to concepts of physical and moral beauty, animality, good, evil, comfort, fear, kindness, familiarity and the uncanny.
Surveys the main currents of the French language in its development from the earliest to present times. Taught in French. Prerequisite: FREN 3030 or the equivalent or instructor permission.
In this grammar review course, students will learn how best to structure the French language and how to express themselves with concision and clarity. They will work to improve their writing in French by analyzing model texts and through frequent composition and revision. Aspects of grammar will be studied systematically -- tense use, the subjunctive, participles, etc. -- and in response to topics that emerge through the writing process.
Written and oral translation exercises to and from the target language. Prerequisite: B+ average in FREN 3031, 3032, 4031.
Francophone philosophers from the Caribbean adopted a critical perspective and questioned aporias and blind spots of our history. We will read texts by Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Edouard Glissant (1928-2011), Patrick Chamoiseau to see how they reflected on issues such as colonialism.
One of the most popular forms of entertainment, combining exciting themes (transvestism, marvelous journeys, spectacular sins, helpful animals) with edgy commentaries on hot topics (virginity vs. marriage, parent-child conflicts), saints' Lives offer a view of their culture's theological concerns, secular interests, and the quest of both ecclesiastical and lay people to fulfill their spiritual and terrestrial responsibilities.
Love fascinated people in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as it still does today. This course will examine understandings and uses of love in religious and secular literature, music and art. What is the relationship, for medieval writers, between the love of God and the love of human beings? What is the role of poetry in promoting and producing love? What medieval ideas about love continue to shape our modern understandings and assumption.
The Enlightenment laid the foundations for our current conceptions of democratic government, religious toleration, freedom of speech, and the scientific method. The readings for this course may include works by Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau.
Topics of specific interest to faculty and advanced undergraduate students. Prerequisite: FREN 3030, 3031, and one 4000-level course in French.
Topics may vary and include individual identity, love, war, humor, and their expression through literary techniques. Texts are read in modern French translation. May be repeated for credit with different topics. Prerequisite: FREN 3032 and at least one FREN course numbered 3041 to 3043 (or instructor permission).
Topics vary; may be repeated for credit. Recent topics have included classical theatre; poetics of the lyric; moralists; and fiction. May be repeated for credit with different topics. Prerequisite: FREN 3032 and at least one FREN course numbered 3041 to 3043 (or instructor permission).
Topics in eighteenth-century French literature. Works of authors such as Beaumarchais, de Charrière, du Deffand, Diderot, Marivaux, Montesquieu, Rousseau, de Staël, Voltaire. May be repeated for credit with different topics. Prerequisite: FREN 3032 and at least one FREN course numbered 3041 to 3043 (or instructor permission).
Study of the various aspects of the nineteenth-century French literature. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with different topics. Prerequisite: FREN 3032 and at least one FREN course numbered 3041 to 3043 (or instructor permission).
Advanced study of transhistorical topics such as literary ideas, the novel, theater, travel literature. Prerequisite: At least one 3000-level literature course.
Aspects of French poetry. Topics vary and may range from general survey to studies of specific periods or authors; may be repeated for credit for different topics. Prerequisite: At least one literature or culture course beyond FREN 3032.
Close study of a specific topic in French literature. Topics vary. Prerequisite: Completion of a 4000-level literature course with a grade of B- or better.
Advanced seminar in French and Francophone cinema. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit for different topics. Prerequisites: FREN 3032 and 3584, or instructor permission.
Advanced seminar in French and Francophone literature and culture. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit for different topics. Prerequisite: FREN 3031 and at least one literature or culture course beyond FREN 3040.
Studies the relation between three or four French films and their sources in French literature and culture. Prerequisite: FREN 3032 and FREN 3584, or instructor permission.
An exploration of a selection of poetry and prose works by Baudelaire to gain an in-depth understanding of one of the most celebrated poets in Western literature. Through close readings, we will examine poetry¿s relation to beauty and suffering, the structuring and de-structuring of poetic form, and the ethics of poetic modernity in Baudelaire in order to reflect more generally on what poetry affords us in life.
Study of the representation of Africa in American, Western European and African films. Ideological Constructions of the African as 'other'. Exoticism in cinema. History of African cinema. Economic issues in African cinema: production, distribution, and the role of African film festivals. The socio-political context. Women in African cinema. Aesthetic problems: themes and narrative styles. Prerequisite: FREN 3032 and FREN 3584 or another 3000-level literature course in French.
After an initial examination of the political and social conditions in France under the Nazi regime during World War II, this seminar explores the enduring legacy of those "Dark Years" by investigating how the complex and traumatic history of the Occupation has impacted French culture during the last half of the twentieth century and into the twenty first.
We will explore the international dissemination, through filmic adaptations, of a single literary work written at the end of the 18th century: Laclos' famous novel "Les Liaisons dangereuses". After examining the novel itself and its significance in the context of pre-revolutionary France, we will study several movies shot between 1960 and 2012 by directors from China, Korea, Czechoslovakia, France, Great-Britain and the USA.
Surveys the literary tradition in French, emphasizing post-World War II poets, novelists, and playwrights. Examines the role of cultural reviews in the development of this literary tradition. Prerequisite: FREN 3032 and at least one FREN course numbered 3041 to 3043 (or instructor permission).
Discusses political institutions and social problems based upon readings in recent publications and an analysis of current events.
What is the good life, and what is a good life? Saints seem to live perfectly good lives, but stories about them often grapple with this question, encouraging audiences to think deeply about their own lives in ways that go beyond any one ethical system. Looking at old and new stories of parent-child struggles, spectacular sinning and redemption, gender transformation, and daily moral predicaments, we will explore what it means to live well.
This course is about imagining life and sensory experiences of colonized subjects witnessing a changing urban environment. For some cities, imagining its past is naturally inscribed in a continuation meticulously informed. For cities that have been victim of a colonial experience, this haunted past needs to be revived to recreate a perception of historical continuity in the space and a sense of spatial belonging.
A global city, Paris is more than the capital of France; it holds meaning the world over. How did Paris achieve such iconic status? To answer that question, this course explores a variety of cultural and geographic forms (maps, paintings, architecture, cinema, literature, and music) that illustrate key features of the "city of light" and invite students to "read" the city, unlock its codes, and discover its many nuances.
Normally, only French majors may enroll in this course and only by written permission from the department chair prior to the end of the first week of classes.
Composition and defense of thesis. Prerequisite: FREN 4998 and good standing in the Distinguished Majors Program. Note: The prerequisite to all 5000-level literature courses is two 4000-level literature courses with an average grade of B, or the instructor's permission.
Basic introduction to reading Old French, with consideration of its main dialects (Île-de-France, Picard, Anglo-Norman) and paleographical issues. May be taken in conjunction with FREN 5100 or independently. Taught in English. Prerequisite: Reading knowledge of modern French.
Based on topics and works of both current and enduring interest to scholars, this course will allow participants to gain general knowledge of literature composed in French from 880 until about 1250 as well as to explore the most recent developments in the field.
Introduces literary forms, habits of style and thought, and conditions of composition from the late thirteenth century to the late fifteenth.
Religious, moral, and political thinking as reflected in the works of Bayle, Fontenelle, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, Helvetius, and others.
Topics may include genres (romance, poetry, hagiography, chanson de geste, allegory), themes (love, war, nature), single authors (Chrétien de Troyes, Machaut) and cultural and literary issues (gender, religion, authorship, rewritings).
Topics may include Montaigne, the European novella, poetic recreations of the ancients, literary Lyon, and Rabelais and his world.
Topics may include genres such as tragedy, comedy, novel, and non-fiction prose, themes such as civility, religious conversion, the "human condition," colonial expansion, and love, and theoretical issues such as institutional control of literature, gender and writing, and discourse analysis.
Topics may include exoticism, reason and folly, libertinage, theater, Voltaire vs. Rousseau.
Study of various aspects of nineteenth-century French/ Francophone literature. Genre, theme, specific chronological concentration, and approach will vary. May be repeated for credit with different topics.
Study of the various aspects of twentieth-century French literature. Genre, theme, and specific chronological concentration will vary. May be repeated for credit with different topics.
Topics may include: Francophone novel, colonial literature and visual culture, postcolonial literature and cinema, Francophone Theater & Poetry,
A range of analytical approaches to the study of cinema, including cinematographic language and structure, the representation of socio-cultural phenomena in film, and the experience of cinema viewing as a cultural and historical practice.
Interdisciplinary seminar in French and Francophone culture. Topics vary.
Independent Study
Composition and defense of master's thesis. Prerequisite: graduate standing and instructor permission.
Introduces the pedagogical approaches currently practiced in second-language courses at the university level. Critically examines the theories underlying various methodologies, and their relation to teaching. Assignments include development and critique of pedagogical material; peer observation and analysis; and a final teaching portfolio project.
Study of various aspects of the Western critical tradition. Theme, chronological period, and approach will vary. May be repeated for credit with different topics.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of French literature and general linguistics.
Topics may include genres (romance, poetry, hagiography, chanson de geste, allegory), themes (love, war, nature), single authors (Chrétien de Troyes, Machaut) and cultural and literary issues (gender, religion, authorship, rewritings).
(a) Rabelais. (b) Montaigne.
(a) Moliere. (b) Racine. (c) Corneille. (d) The Moralists. (e) The Lyric of the early seventeenth century. (f) La Fontaine. (g) Contes et Nouvelles.
(a) Voltaire. (b) Diderot. (c) Theater. (d) Novel. (e) Rousseau. (f) Marivaux.
Study of various aspects of nineteenth-century French/ Francophone literature. Genre, theme, specific chronological concentration, and approach will vary. May be repeated for credit with different topics.
Study of the various aspects of modern and contemporary French and Francophone literature. Genre, theme, and specific chronological concentration will vary.
Studies the Francophone literature of Africa, with special emphasis on post-World War II poets, novelists, and playwrights, and filmmakers. Examines the role of cultural and literary reviews in the historical and ideological development.
A range of analytical approaches to the study of cinema, including cinematographic language and structure, the representation of socio-cultural phenomena in film, and the experience of cinema viewing as a cultural and historical practice.
In-depth studies investigations of cultural topics and research methodologies in French civilization and Francophone studies.
Independent Study
For master's research, taken before a thesis director has been selected.
For masters and doctoral research, taken before a dissertation director has been selected.
For doctoral dissertation, taken under the supervision of a dissertation director.
An introduction to the culture of the High Middle Ages in France. Topics vary and may include love literature, family relations, war, and science and religion. May be repeated for credit for different topics.
Course will offer a transhistoric and interdisciplinary approach to French culture through the lens of a given theme (e.g., food, travel, politics, societies and institutions). Lectures, readings and exams in English.
Introduces the interdisciplinary study of culture in France or other French-speaking countries. Topics vary from year to year, and may include cuisine and national identity; literature and history; and contemporary society and cultural change. Taught by one or several professors in the French department.
Studies topics relating to concepts of film structure, history, and criticism in French and within the French tradition. Topics offered include Introduction to French Cinema and Written Text/Film Text.
A study of major French non-fiction from the Renaissance until today, including essays, discourses, sermons, autobiographies, and editorials, within the historical circumstances of production and reception and with respect to thematic and formal qualities. Class and all readings are in English. This course does not count toward the major or minor in French.
This course provides the opportunity to offer new topics in French Culture in translation.
Studies topics relating to concepts of film structure, history, and criticism in French and within the French tradition. Topics offered include Introduction to French Cinema and Written Text/Film Text.
This course will explore religious, social, scientific and legal views on gender, sexuality and identity that may extend from medieval through early modern Europe with an emphasis on the French tradition. Readings will include literary texts and cultural documents as well as current scholarship on questions of sexuality, gender, and identity politics.
This course provides the opportunity to offer new topics in the subject of French in Translation.