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2023-2024 French courses

Summer 2023 Course Listings

French 004-Afro/Black Paris Through Language: Intensive French:  Doyle/Mefoude: An intensive beginning French course, this class gives Afro/Black Paris FSP participants the linguistic tools to observe, understand and articulate multiple aspects of their time in France. The course stresses language needed by all learners for everyday communication and promotes speaking, listening, reading, and writing. During this intensive session, students will develop their knowledge of African-descended French people and diversity in mainland France while acquiring broad perspective on French, colonial and postcolonial culture.

Successful completion of French 4 will qualify you to continue to French 2. Please visit the Department of French and Italian's website for more information about French language courses.

The Department of African and African American Studies (AAAS) offers an FSP in Paris, France, entitled Afro/Black Paris: The African Diaspora in the City of Light. This FSP takes students on a journey not to an actual place per se in France, but rather through a lived experience in one of the most extraordinary destinations in the world. Nowhere to the same degree has a European city been so enriched and transformed by Africans and their descendants, including African Americans. Comprised of two courses taught in English and one French language course for beginners, this FSP offers a unique opportunity to explore "another Paris," an adventure described by former students as "life-altering!"

French 8-Mefoude @ 10.  Practice in the active use of the language combined with an introduction to major aspects of French society. Each week students will write papers and participate in discussions based on books, articles, and films emphasizing social and historical concepts.  Prerequisite FREN 3, or equivalent preparation. Degree Requirement Attributes Dist:SOC; WCult:W

French 10.10 Du mal/On Evil- St. Clair @ 10a--French 10.10 offers students a two-fold introduction into Studies in French and Francophone Literature. On the one hand, FR10 serves as a survey course in which students will read texts ranging from the earliest attested writings in French to the contemporary period, covering genres from poetry, essays, autobiography, theatre, novels, and film. At the same time, FR10 introduces students to the basic vocabulary and concepts of literary analysis in French allowing them to pursue and hit the ground running in any advanced studies in French at Dartmouth: how might we talk objectively about the rhythm of a line of verse and what does that tell us about how we might "read" it? How do we spot the endlessly weird ways in which narrative forms allow us to read everything from a sonnet to a novel to a film? How do we spot gender, race, desire, history in a text? How do we think about theatrical forms as historical-social in nature? How might we think about cinema as a text that has its own forms and logics of meaning? Readings can include: Villon, Marie de France, Montaigne, Rabelais, de La Fontaine, Molière, Voltaire, Diderot, de Duras, Balzac, Baudelaire, Hugo, Flaubert, Lamartine, Desbordes-Valmore, Sartre, Camus, Césaire, Apollinaire,   , with approaches to reading by J.L. Austin, Genette, Freud, Glissant, Mbembe, bell hooks, Monique Wittig, Etienne Balibar, and others.  NRO eligible. 

French 75.04- Cinema from the Golden Age to the Present-Hollister @ 2a--An overview of French cinema from the silent era to the contemporary. Examines films associated with major social and cultural movements in France – surrealism, modernism(s), poetic realism, Left Bank cinema, the New Wave, social cinema, postmodernism(s), feminist and queer cinema, postcolonial cinema – as well as genres like melodrama, comedy, romance, crime film.  NRO eligible. 

Fall 2023 Courses

French 1:  2 sections-McConnell @ 9L and Kane @ 11:  An introduction to French as a spoken and written language. The work includes regular practice in class and scheduled drill-sessions in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and elementary reading materials serve for vocabulary building and discussion. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements.

French 2:  3 sections Oliveira @ 10, Zidouh @ 11 and 12:  Rapid review and continued study of the fundamentals of French, with intensive work in vocabulary building. More advanced practice, in classroom and drill-sessions in the use of the spoken language. Open to students by qualifying test or to students who have passed French 1. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements.  Prerequisite FREN 1 or qualifying placement.

French 3:  3 sections Oliveira @ 9L and Novak @ 10 and 11:  Given on-campus as the final course in the required sequence and off-campus as part of the L.S.A. curriculum, this course is designed to develop reading, writing, and speaking skills, with emphasis on expansion of vocabulary and reinforcement of grammatical structures. Some discussion of texts and films of literary or cultural interest. Frequent oral and written assignments and tests, both on-campus and off, plus daily drills when taken on-campus. Open to students by qualifying test or to students who have passed French 2 or French 11. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements.  Prerequisite FREN 2, French 11, or qualifying placement.

French 11: Intensive French (McConnell) at 9L: This 1-credit course is designed for students with little or no knowledge of the French language, but who have a strong background in another Romance language (i.e. Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Portuguese, Catalan, Latin).  It might also be suitable for students who have been exposed to French through family ties or have spent some time in a francophone environment. French 11 is an accelerated course that combines French 1 and 2 in one term, offering an exciting and fast-paced atmosphere in which to learn French. 

French 8:  2 sections Mefoude @ 10 and 12: Exploring French Culture and Language-Practice in the active use of the language combined with an introduction to major aspects of French society. Each week students will write papers and participate in discussions based on books, articles, and films emphasizing social and historical concepts.  Prerequisite FREN 3, or equivalent preparation. Degree Requirement Attributes-Dist:SOC; WCult:W.

French 10.08: "Living in Paris/Habiter Paris." LaGuardia @ 12  Living in Paris has generated an enormous amount of writing since the middle ages. This course will examine diverse narrative, poetic, propagandistic, memorial, historical, and anthropological texts that describe the difficulties and the joys of living in the French capital. Works by Perec, L'Estoile, Prévost, Baudelaire, Mercier, Sue, Balzac, Augé, Modiano, Colette, Barthes, Gary, Duras, and others. Prerequisite:  French 8 or permission of instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.

French 10.19:  "À la recherche du bonheur" Beasley @ 10a: What is happiness?  How has this concept changed over the centuries?  How has its conception and treatment been influenced by social events, gender, and class?  Is there a form of happiness that is particularly French?  In this course we will explore such questions using texts from the Middle Ages to the 21st century and study the role that the quest for happiness has played in French culture. Prerequisite:  French 8 or permission of instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.

FRIT 37.10:  Culture et Cuisine:French Gastronomy: Beasley @ 2a:  For over 300 years the world has associated France with the gastronomic arts.  In 2010 the "gastronomic meal of the French"was inscribed by UNESCO on its list of the "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity."  In this interdisciplinary course, we will examine the culture of French gastronomy from its origins to the present.  We will use the case of France to illustrate how a country's culinary culture illuminates its history, politics, economics, and "mentalités," thought patterns.

French 53.06: "Human Rights in France": Kritzman @ 10a A wide-ranging survey of the historical and conceptual issues in human rights from the Enlightenment to the present. An examination of philosophical origins and contemporary theoretical debate on citizenship and hospitality, republicanism and universalism; death penalty, women's and gay rights, Charlie Hebdo and freedom of the press. Essays, historical documents and literature. Authors drawn from: Voltaire, Rousseau, Gouges, Renan, Drumont, Hugo, Camus, Sartre Beauvoir, Ben Jelloun, Badinter, Derrida, Kristeva, Agacinski, Lefort, Balibar, Debray.  NRO eligible. 

Winter 2024 Courses

French 1:  2 sections: Zidouh @ 10 and Oliveira @ 11:  An introduction to French as a spoken and written language. The work includes regular practice in class and scheduled drill-sessions in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and elementary reading materials serve for vocabulary building and discussion. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements.

French 2:  2 sections: Novak @ 10 and 11: Rapid review and continued study of the fundamentals of French, with intensive work in vocabulary building. More advanced practice, in classroom and drill-sessions in the use of the spoken language. Open to students by qualifying test or to students who have passed French 1. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements.  Prerequisite FREN 1 or qualifying placement.

French 3:  3 sections:  McConnell @ TBD, Mefoude @ TBD and Zidouh @ 11: Given on-campus as the final course in the required sequence and off-campus as part of the L.S.A. curriculum, this course is designed to develop reading, writing, and speaking skills, with emphasis on expansion of vocabulary and reinforcement of grammatical structures. Some discussion of texts and films of literary or cultural interest. Frequent oral and written assignments and tests, both on-campus and off, plus daily drills when taken on-campus. Open to students by qualifying test or to students who have passed French 2 or French 11. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements.  Prerequisite FREN 2, French 11, or qualifying placement.

French 8:  1 section: McConnell @ 12: Exploring French Culture and Language-Practice in the active use of the language combined with an introduction to major aspects of French society. Each week students will write papers and participate in discussions based on books, articles, and films emphasizing social and historical concepts.  Prerequisite FREN 3, or equivalent preparation. Degree Requirement Attributes-Dist:SOC; WCult:W.

French 10.03 - Invitation au voyage: Beasley at 12:   In this course we will examine travel narratives as well as literary works that inspire us to travel physically and metaphorically.  How do words express as well as transform the traveler's experience?  How do we engage with other worlds through literature?  How do texts create other worlds?  We will examine texts and their contexts from the Middle Ages to the present.  Prerequisite French 8 or permission of the individual instructor.  Degree Requirement Attributes:Dist:LIT; WCult:W.

French 21: Souvenirs d'enfance:  Larose at 10a: 

French 78: Senior Major Workshop: Methods in Reading, Writing and Cultural Analysis:  Beasley at 3a: As part of this culminating experience, each major will work on an independent project, either a senior thesis or expanding upon work begun in a previous course. The independent project will be developed within the framework of this course using a selection of critical texts that can be viewed as models of literary, cultural, and historical analysis. Lectures by a variety of faculty members will supplement the readings. Students will gain mastery in literary and cultural analysis, close analytical reading skills and composition in French. The course is open only to French and Italian Department senior majors or by petition, which is due by the fifth day of classes of Fall term.

Students are awarded one course credit for successful completion of this course. At the discretion of the instructor, a student may opt to do additional work over two terms. In this arrangement, students register for FREN-078 and receive a grade of "ON" (ongoing) at the end of the first term.  Students do not register for the subsequent term. A final grade will replace the "ON" at the end of the subsequent term at which time the coursework must be completed.  Dist:LIT; WCult:W

LSA+ Toulouse:  Tarnowski

FSP Paris:  St. Clair

 

Spring 2024 Courses

French 1:  1 section: Oliveira @ TBD: An introduction to French as a spoken and written language. The work includes regular practice in class and scheduled drill-sessions in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and elementary reading materials serve for vocabulary building and discussion. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements.

French 2:  2 sections: Mefoude @ 10 and McConnell @ 11: Rapid review and continued study of the fundamentals of French, with intensive work in vocabulary building. More advanced practice, in classroom and drill-sessions in the use of the spoken language. Open to students by qualifying test or to students who have passed French 1. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements.  Prerequisite FREN 1 or qualifying placement.

French 3:  3 sections:  Novak@ 9L and Zidouh @ 10 and 11:  Given on-campus as the final course in the required sequence and off-campus as part of the L.S.A. curriculum, this course is designed to develop reading, writing, and speaking skills, with emphasis on expansion of vocabulary and reinforcement of grammatical structures. Some discussion of texts and films of literary or cultural interest. Frequent oral and written assignments and tests, both on-campus and off, plus daily drills when taken on-campus. Open to students by qualifying test or to students who have passed French 2 or French 11. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements.  Prerequisite FREN 2, French 11, or qualifying placement.

French 11:  1 section:  McConnell @ TBD:  This 1-credit course is designed for students who have studied French for one to three years in high school, or those who have been exposed to French through family ties or have spent some time in a Francophone environment. It is also suitable for students with little or no knowledge of the French language, but who have a strong background in another Romance language (i.e. Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Portuguese, Catalan, and also Latin).  French 11 is an accelerated course that combines French 1 and 2 in one term, offering an exciting and fast-paced atmosphere in which to learn French. The course will have a web-based component, which, through cultural, grammar and multimedia learning activities, will complement face-to-face work and prepare students for in-class work. Students will learn to talk about familiar events in the present and the past, as well as formulate plans for the future. Weekly cultural videos will situate in context the grammatical content of the course, making it relevant and meaningful. Students will be actively engaged in a variety of creative written and oral activities that will help them develop their language skills. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to sign up for French 3 or apply for our French LSAs in Lyon or Toulouse. With the goal of facilitating the acquisition of the target language, this course will be conducted entirely in French.  Prerequisite-One year or equivalent of university level instruction in a Romance Language or Latin; or three high school years of instruction in a Romance Language or Latin; or native speaking proficiency in a Romance Language; or permission of instructor.

French 8:  2 sections:  LaGuardia @ 12 and Novak @ 10:  Exploring French Culture and Language-Practice in the active use of the language combined with an introduction to major aspects of French society. Each week students will write papers and participate in discussions based on books, articles, and films emphasizing social and historical concepts.  Prerequisite FREN 3, or equivalent preparation. Degree Requirement Attributes-Dist:SOC; WCult:W.

FYS 7:  Kane-TBD:

French 10.10: Du mal/On Evil:  St. Clair @ 10a:  Offers students a two-fold introduction into Studies in French and Francophone Literature. On the one hand, FR10 serves as a survey course in which students will read texts ranging from the earliest attested writings in French to the contemporary period, covering genres from poetry, essays, autobiography, theatre, novels, and film. At the same time, FR10 introduces students to the basic vocabulary and concepts of literary analysis in French allowing them to pursue and hit the ground running in any advanced studies in French at Dartmouth: how might we talk objectively about the rhythm of a line of verse and what does that tell us about how we might "read" it? How do we spot the endlessly weird ways in which narrative forms allow us to read everything from a sonnet to a novel to a film? How do we spot gender, race, desire, history in a text? How do we think about theatrical forms as historical-social in nature? How might we think about cinema as a text that has its own forms and logics of meaning? Readings can include: Villon, Marie de France, Rutebeuf, Montaigne, Rabelais, du Bellay, Louise Labbé, de La Fontaine, Molière, Voltaire, Diderot, Duras, Balzac, Baudelaire, Hugo, Flaubert, Lamartine, Desbordes-Valmore, Sartre, Camus, Césaire, Apollinaire, Despentes; with approaches to reading by J.L. Austin, Genette, Freud, Glissant, Mbembe, Cixous, bell hooks, Monique Wittig, Etienne Balibar, and others.  NRO eligible. 

French 22: Introduction to French Literature I: the Middle Ages and the Renaissance-LaGuardia @ 2:Medieval France - its art, architecture, technology, philosophy and literature - exerted an unparalleled influence throughout Europe. Studying the first texts written in French, as well as the manuscripts in which they circulated, will shed light on the nature of French culture. We will examine defining issues of the period: the transition from oral to written expression, the invention of printing, debates concerning the status of women, Renaissance humanism, scientific inquiry, religious reform and conflict. Texts may include La Chanson de Roland, selected poetry, and works by Chrétien de Troyes, Christine de Pizan, Marguerite de Navarre, François Rabelais, and Michel de Montaigne.  Prerequisite: A course in the FREN 10 series or permission of the instructor.  Dist:LIT; WCult:W

French 53.09: Literary Theory in French:  St. Clair @ 2a:  How can we describe the nature of the relation binding a word to a thing, languages to worlds? How do we know that a word "stands for" (or, represents) an idea, an emotion, a thing, a place, or a person? How do we know what a thing like a stoplight is telling us, that it is standing in for not merely an idea but a system? In what way are the apparently most unassuming things—our clothing, our vacation plans, our hometowns or the food we eat—"saying" things about us and the world, and how might the different answers to such questions change the ways in which we think about ourselves, others, our world(s)? Such questions are the domain of what we call semiotics (or: the general science of signs, as Ferdinand de Saussure famously put it) and in this course, we will study some of the core theoretical formations from the twentieth century which allow us not only to ask "what do signs do and how?," but to grapple with what "the stake of signs" (what they are, how they function) may entail for us linguistically, aesthetically, philosophically, and politically. Along with texts ranging from de Saussure to Derrida, we will also seek to bridge the gap not merely between text (i.e., signs) and context (the social-historical situations in which they get produced and produce meaning), but between theory and literature as well.

FSP Paris:  Hollister