UGRD > french
French Courses
french 100 Intensive Elementary French +
Description:
Intensive elementary work in the four language skills, with concentration on an audio-lingual approach, for students with no previous training in French. More Info
Offered in:french 101 Elementary French I +
french 102 Elementary French II +
Description:
A continuation of FRENCH 101. Concentrated practice in the four language skills, with an audio-lingual approach, for students who have completed FRENCH 101 or its equivalent. Continued attention to French and francophone culture. More Info
Offered in:french 122G A Long History of the Comic Book +
Description:
The birth of comics is traditionally dated to the 19th century. But pictorial storytelling has a much longer history. In this course, we read word and image together, across centuries, exploring texts from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the modern era. Along the way, we will ask questions about literacy and media, adaptation and translation, and how the imagination works. Special attention will be paid to the rich French-language tradition, from medieval illustrated bibles to Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel Persepolis. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 201 Intermediate French I +
Description:
This course seeks to help students attain the level of intermediate competence in speaking, listening, reading, and writing, through imaginative and personalized activities that are relevant to student interests. These activities include an introduction to the culture and literature of the French-speaking world. More Info
Offered in:french 202 Intermediate French II +
Description:
This course seeks to build on the level of achievement reached in FRENCH 201. Participants study a variety of literary and cultural texts as models of written expression. More Info
Offered in:french 285L French Cinema +
Description:
This course will acquaint students with films and filmmakers that have made an impact on French cinema and society from the early 20th century to today. It provides a broad survey of cinematic practices in France and explores the major social issues political debates, and historical memories that have preoccupied French society. The course focuses on how French film interrogates social and national identity in France, but also in Africa and Europe more broadly. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 301 Composition et stylistique +
Description:
A course in written expression beyond the intermediate level. Emphasis is on composition as well as on grammatical and stylistic analysis of contemporary texts. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 303 Intro Lit & Cult II +
Description:
French literature and culture of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Selected readings from Diderot, Marivaux, Voltaire, Rousseau, Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Hugo, Vigny, Musset, Balzac, Baudelaire, and Zola, with lectures on the cultural background of the periods studied. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 306L Introduction to French Cinema (in French) +
Description:
An introduction to the major works, filmmakers, and movements of French cinema. We will develop a basic knowledge of French film through the analysis of different genres. Through cinema we will also study social, historical and political issues. The course will be taught in French. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 307 French and Francophone Popular Culture +
Description:
This course explores trends in popular culture in the French-speaking world from the early twentieth century to the present day. We will study digital media, popular music, and films from the French-speaking world for language learning and cultural awareness. These materials will be analyzed for their textual, historical, and cultural values. The course will be taught in French. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 308L Feminist Histories: Renaissance France, Italy and Beyond +
Description:
Students will study one important branch of the history of global feminism: women's writing in medieval and Renaissance France and Italy. In addition to literature, we will also consider the social history of these women. We will also trace the impact of their feminist thinking on the rest of Europe and beyond, through to our contemporary world. Course taught in English; readings available in the original French or Italian, as well as in English. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 310 French for Heritage Speakers +
Description:
French 310 is an intermediate-level grammar course for students who are heritage speakers of French and for those who have had significant exposure to oral/spoken French and little contact with written French. The course will focus on developing written proficiency of French in a wide variety of real-life situations, explore the cultures of France and the French-speaking world, and practice French grammatical structures and idiomatic expressions. Emphasis will also be placed on all four basic language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing), and students will concentrate on developing formal skills in order to articulate more abstract ideas in a coherent and cohesive way. The class is organized thematically and conducted entirely in French. More Info
Offered in:french 312 French in the Professional and Business World +
Description:
This course is designed for students who wish to acquire a general understanding and practice of professional communication in French. The course enables students to become familiar with the French professional world from a wide variety of areas: administration, banking, personnel, marketing, management and advertising. ti is designed to help strengthen oral and written communication skills, in French from a practical perspective. The focus of this course will be to write clear and concise professional documents (reports, letters, employment communication, memos and emails) as well as to simulate real life situations pertaining to business and the professional world. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 337L Disney's European Fairy Tales +
Description:
It is difficult to think of any American who has had greater influence on narrative and visual culture around the world than Walt Disney. Yet the quality of Disney's creations has given rise to much debate, famously leading one critic to ask: ''It's Disney, but is it art?'' This course traces the first 65 years of the Walt Disney Animation Studios in an attempt to answer that question. A major focus will be the company's heavy reliance in these years on 'high art' from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. From illuminated manuscripts to palatial architecture, European art ''especially French, Italian, and German'' is pervasive in Walt Disney Studios storytelling. Beyond questions of adaptation, class discussion will also center issues of social commentary, analyzing how gender, sexuality, race, class, and ability were presented onscreen, and how they were treated in Studio culture. Through formalist, narrative, and sociohistorical analysis, students will achieve a better understanding of how European art shaped Disney, and how that art has engaged (or failed to engage) with societal change.Assignments are built around Disney's feature films, to be supplemented by the premodern texts and visual arts that inspired them, as well as relevant critical studies. Course taught in English; readings available in English and in original languages, where relevant. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 340L Moving Across Borders: Migration and Diversity +
Description:
Focusing on questions of identity and migratory experiences across the globe, this comparative class introduces students to key works of world media and culture. It examines the discursive construction of diversity in today's de-centered, globalized world and discusses the analytic benefits of `transculturality' for literary and cultural studies. Taught in English. More Info
Offered in:french 345L Dreams and Visions +
Description:
This comparative literature course focuses on dreams and visions as a cultural phenomenon and introduces students to key authors, genres, and movements in world media history. Adopting a comparative approach, students are led to explore exemplary works from French, German, Italian, and other European literature as cultural practices that shape our understanding of society, history, and culture. Students will investigate the concept of dreams from antiquity to modern psychoanalysis, discuss prophetic dreams and nightmares, and reflect on the connection between dreams and society, exploring French, Italian, German, and other global media cultures. More Info
Offered in:french 355L European Crime Fiction +
Description:
This course examines suspects, felons, and detectives in European crime fiction between the 18th century and today (in England, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia). It introduces students to the historical development of crime literature focusing on key authors, genres and movements. Beginning with the popularization of crime narratives in the era of Enlightenment, the course examines the development of genre conventions in subsequent centuries until the post-modern disintegration of narrative patterns. Particular emphasis is placed on the construction of gender roles, social class, national and regional identity through literature as a cultural practice. Taught in English; readings in the original language are available upon request. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 360 Maps, Monsters, and Monarchs +
Description:
In this course, students will learn to think critically about representations of the world. We will ask: What political purposes do maps serve? How can we tease out a map's agenda from its details? Students will reflect on the idea that maps are not objective, but rather products of the culture and people who made them. The course will progress thematically and chronologically, with a focus on the French colonial period and representations of the ''other.'' Students will also hone their critical thinking skills by analyzing maps and other documents. In the process, they will explore the history of the Francophone world. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 374L Love Stories: A Historical Handbook to Happily Ever After +
Description:
What is love? Or rather, what do we think love is? From the Beatles' ''all you need is love'' to Shakespeare's ''whoever loved that loved not at first sight?'' we are bombarded in our culture with preconceived notions about the nature of amorous affection. This course takes a transhistorical view of Western civilization, from the Middle Ages to the present, in order to trace and interrogate societal constructs about love. Our goal is to figure out how love stories work, so that we understand better how they work on us. As part of this work, we will explore how people have historically disrupted heteronormative and patriarchal narratives of love, forming alternative models of domestic bliss. We will consider society and history through literature, so texts like sonnets, love letters, and excerpts from novels will make up the bulk of our reading. However, assignments will be drawn from multiple disciplines, as well as popular culture, including song lyrics, reality television, and film.FRENCH 374L and ITAL 374L and GERMAN 374L and MLLC 374L are the same course. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 377L Rebellion! On Being Young in European Fiction +
Description:
This comparative literature course examines youth cultures, intergenerational relationships and conflicts, coming-of-age stories, narratives of filial rebellion, and the quest for one's own identity in French, German, and Italian fiction. Through this thematic lens, the class introduces students to key authors, genres, and movements in European literary history between the 18th century and today, while also focusing on the interconnectedness between literature and culture. Taught in English. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 378 Independent Study +
french 379 Independent Study +
Description:
For those students wishing to pursue the study of French language, literature or culture beyond the intermediate level. A course of study is jointly designed by supervising instructor and student. More Info
Offered in:french 411 Theme et version +
Description:
Translation from English into French, and from French into English, with analysis of the grammatical and stylistic problems presented by the texts. More Info
Offered in:french 440 Cartography and Empire +
Description:
In this course, students will learn to think critically about representations of the world. We will ask: What political purposes do maps serve? How can we tease out a map's agenda from its details? Through an in-depth analysis of cartographic artifacts, students will gain a nuanced understanding of how maps were not only used as tools for navigation and territorial expansion but also as instruments of cultural representation, power, and identity. The course will progress thematically and chronologically, with a focus on the French colonial period and representations of the peoples and cultures that constituted the French colonial empire. Students will also hone their critical thinking skills by analyzing maps and other documents. In the process, they will explore the history of the Francophone world. Students will have the opportunity to write a paper suitable for the Writing Proficiency Requirement Portfolio. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 464 Roman Du 20e Siecle +
french 465 20th Century French Theater +
Description:
This course examines societal trends in 20th century France and the Francophone world through theater. In order to highlight the diversity of French theater throughout the century this course is organized thematically around questions such as war, cruelty, existentialism, art and love. Playwrights include Giraudoux, Sartre, Genet, C?saire, and Reza among others. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
french 478 Readings & Research +
Description:
Primarily for seniors with a GPA of at least 3.0 in their major who wish to pursue a research topic in depth, one ordinarily not available in standard course offerings. A written prospectus detailing the plan of study must be submitted to supervising instructor and department. More Info
Offered in:french 479 Readings & Research +
Description:
Primarily for seniors with a GPA of at least 3.0 in their major who wish to pursue a research topic in depth, one ordinarily not available in standard course offerings. A written prospectus detailing the plan of study must be submitted to supervising instructor and department. More Info
Offered in:french 480 Images of Otherness in French and Francophone Literature +
Description:
Through a thorough examination of novels, plays, film and poetry in French this class will focus on images of the 'foreigner', the 'stranger', the 'other' as well as on the representation of gender and national differences. Historical and sociological contextual frameworks will help situate the different representations. Course will be taught in French. More Info
Offered in:french 490 Special Topics +
french 498 Honors Research Project +
Description:
Independent and original investigation of a specific aspect of French studies of interest to the student, under the supervision of a departmental advisor. Student will read primary and secondary texts and determine a critical methodology in preparation for the writing of the thesis. More Info
Offered in:french 499 Senior Honors Thesis +