French courses
101 Elementary French (with Lab)
This course provides an introduction to basic structures and develops skills in speaking, reading, writing and oral comprehension. In class and in the language laboratory, current materials from France and other French- speaking countries familiarize students with aspects of language and contemporary culture. Open to students with little or no prior study of the French language.
102 Elementary French (with Lab)
French 102 continues to work on structures of the language and on developing skills in speaking, reading, writing and oral comprehension. In class and in the language laboratory, current materials from France and other French-speaking countries familiarize students with aspects of language and contemporary culture. Prerequisite: French 101 or the equivalent.
103 Intermediate French I (with Lab)
This course provides a review of basic structures and practice in the skills needed for communication in speaking and writing. The basic text and literary and cultural readings are supplemented by current material from France and other French-speaking countries in the language laboratory. Designed for students with two or more years of high school French who wish to improve their grasp of basic skills and enlarge their working vocabulary. Prerequisite: French 101, 102 or the equivalent.
104 Intermediate French II (with Lab)
This course is a continuation of French 103. It continues to provide a review of basic structures and practice in the skills needed for communication in speaking and writing. The basic text and literary and cultural readings are supplemented by current material from France and other French-speaking countries in the language laboratory. Designed for students with two or more years of high school French who wish to improve their grasp of basic skills and enlarge their working vocabulary. Prerequisite: French 102, 103 or the equivalent.
201. Advanced French.
Review and expansion of the four skills with emphasis on the oral and written expression of ideas in French topics of current interest and cultural significance in the French-speaking world. Materials studied include films, journalistic texts, songs and literary texts. For students who have completed French 104, or who have had at least four years of French at the secondary level. Also offered through European Studies.
202. Advanced French: Contemporary France.
This course has a dual focus: linguistic and cultural. Students spend only a small part of their time reviewing important grammar points, but much more on areas of language such as vocabulary-building, idiomatic usage, oral expression and writing. The thematic focus is contemporary France. Students learn about the social and political institutions in France, and about current cultural practices. Films, radio, Web sites, cartoons, popular music, newspapers and magazines expand the study of French society and language. Students completing French 201 usually enroll in French 202 in the spring semester. Also offered through European Studies.
226. Care and Languages of Disease in the Francophone World.
Students will reflect on Health Humanities as a critical humanistic perspective and will decenter the dominant narrative through which we understand health and what it means to be 'healthy' by discussing health and theories of care in the Francophone World. What are the connections between humanities, handicaps, illnesses, and epidemics? This course is designed to help student think critically about those issues by focusing on the representations of handicaps, illnesses, and epidemics through a transdisciplinary lens, from novels, songs and graphic novels to movies, documentaries, and visual art. By interacting with French and Francophone artists, the course proposes some introductory reflections on Health Humanities and the ethics of care. Indeed, many of the world's modern pandemics have had devastating effects in francophone countries, for example cholera in Haiti, Ebola across francophone Africa, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, etc. This class is offered in English (all the material is available in English translation and French). It is useful to anyone who wants to learn more about how disease and illness are constructed on a social and discursive level. Fulfills the HUM distribution (2013 curriculum). Also offered through Public Health and African Studies.
227. Current Francophone Writing and Culture.
This course provides a look at France and French-speaking countries today through works of literature and other art and media (film, music, television, etc.) created within the past seven to ten years. Open to students having completed French 202 or the equivalent. Also offered through European Studies.
229. Reading the Congo: History and Representations.
In this course, in English, we will explore the different representations of Democratic Republic of Congo, through novels, historical accounts, ethnography, movies or graphic novels. This region has been subjected to various types of cruelty and oppression, since the Belgium colonization. Works studied include Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, excerpts from Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost; Raoul Peck's film Lumumba and Mweze Ngangura's film Identity Pieces; the novel Life and a Half by Sony Labou Tansi, etc. The goals of the course are not only to explore Congo's history and culture, but also to think critically about the way it has been imagined and represented from the 19th century to the present day. Fulfills the ARTS distribution (2013 curriculum). Also offered through History and African Studies.
235. Paris.
The subject of this course is culture and history of Paris. Students examine not only how the city appears in literature and film, but also how the urban space grew and changed across more than two millennia since the first inhabitants settled on the Ile de la Cité. Maps, paintings, sketches and other historical documents are consulted. Students work on a variety of other texts as well: prose fiction (a detective novel and novellas), lyrics (poetry and popular song), films and histories. All readings, films, writing and classroom discussions are in French. Also offered through European Studies.
263. School Days.
Through memoirs, fiction, children’s literature and film, this course offers a glimpse of childhood and adolescent experience of school and an opportunity to study education in France and the French-speaking world. Open to students having completed French 202 or the equivalent. Also offered through European Studies.
3000-3999. Special Topics.
The content of each course or section of these 200-level special topics courses varies and will be announced each semester.
403. Modern Prose Fiction in France.
This course examines the themes, techniques and socio-political contexts of the 20th-century novel. Choice of authors varies from year to year, but has included Mauriac, Gide, Proust, Sartre, Camus, Malraux, Robbe-Grillet, Tournier, Mo- diano, Duras and others. Also offered through European Studies.
404. French Film.
This course combines an historical view of the French cinema, an introduction to the techniques of film analysis and an examination of the major issues in film theory. Topics include the pioneers of cinema, the “classical” films of the 1930s and ’40s, the films of the “nouvelle vague” in the ’50s and ’60s and recent trends in film production. The work of filmmakers such as Renoir, Clouzot, Truffaut, Beineix, Godard and Resnais is studied. Also offered through Film and Representation Studies and European Studies.
413. The Theater of the Classical Age.
This course studies selected plays of Corneille, Moliere, Racine, Marivaux and Beaumarchais. It examines dramatic theory and the characteristics of Classical and Baroque theatre, as well as the cultural milieu and arts in 17th- and 18th-century France. Also offered through European Studies.
425, 426. Seminar.
The topic changes and is announced prior to registration. Also offered through European Studies.
428. French Women Writers.
This course offers the opportunity to study and appreciate the contribution to literature and thought, including feminist theory, by women writers from France and French-speaking countries. Works by writers such as George Sand, Colette, Beauvoir, Weil, Djebar and Condé are considered, along with films by Varda, Denis and others. Also offered through European Studies.
489, 490. SYE: Independent Study.
For senior students specially qualified. Offered on demand.
497, 498. SYE: Honors Project.
See Honors in the introductory section on departmental curriculum.