2025-2026 French Courses

French 1: Novak @10 and Mefoude @ 11: In this course, emphasis will be on speaking and dialogue with your peers. You will learn to introduce your family and friends, share what your daily life looks like, talk about what you do for leisure. Your final assignment will be to do an oral presentation in French describing your home town. Does not serve to satisfy Distributive or World Culture Requirements.

French 2: McConnell @ 9L and 10 and Oliveira @ 12:In this course, you will expand your possibilities of expression by learning how to use the past and future tenses, to say where you've been and where you're going. You will share childhood memories and exchange ideas about plans for your education and career. While building your vocabulary, you will deepen your cultural knowledge with introductions to multiple francophone countries around the world. Your final assignment will be to choose a francophone country and do an oral presentation for your peers on its history, geography, architecture, art or traditions. Does not serve to satisfy Distributive or World Culture Requirements.  Prerequisites: French 1 or qualifying placement through the French Placement Exam.

French 3: Oliveira @ 11 and 2 and Mefoude @ 12: In this course, you will explore several themes of contemporary life and learn to discuss travel, technology and its influence, wellness and healthcare, and social relationships. Your final assignment will be to seek out information on a current issue facing a francophone country—the environment, racism, poverty, freedom of speech, immigration, the colonial past, religious conflicts—and present it to your peers through a medium of your choice: film, interview, blog, skit, music or poster. Does not serve to satisfy Distributive or World Culture Requirements.  Prerequisite: French 2, French 11, or placement through the French Placement Exam.  

French 5 (formerly French 8)-Larose @ 10--Conversations and Style: A bridge course between the elementary language sequence and FREN 6, Texts and Contexts. You'll build your cultural knowledge by studying historical and contemporary French and francophone societies. Focus topics include evolving political and regional identities, literature and the expression of identity, gender relations, the role of the media, education, religion and immigration. You'll expand your active use of French, refine reading and writing strategies, and comprehensively review grammar. Course work includes active participation in class discussions, oral presentations, and regular reading/writing assignments in the areas of narrative and poetry, cinema, music, and journalism. Not open to students who have received credit for FREN 008 or FREN 09.01. Prerequisites: FREN 3, or equivalent preparation. DIST: Western Cultures and SOC. NRO eligible. 

French 6 (formerly French 10) St. Clair @ 2--French Texts and Contexts: An introduction to French literature, culture, and media across time that provides students with the tools to read and analyze texts critically. Through a selection of literary works, films, and other cultural artifacts, this course examines how ideas, genres, and narratives develop and intersect. Topics and materials vary based on the instructor's focus, allowing for an engaging and dynamic exploration of francophone literary and cultural landscapes. Not open to students who have received credit for FREN 10.01-10.99. Prerequisite: French 5 or French 8 or the permission of the individual instructor. DIST: Western Cultures and LIT. 

FREN 21 Larose @ 12: Souvenirs d'enfance: "All grown-ups were once children ... but only few of them remember it." ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince. This seminar will center on the ways in which authors living in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean reminisce about their childhood. Subjects are shaped, in part, by public policy, education, and disasters, for example, their lives sometimes impacted by war and dictatorship. We will pay particular attention to issues of language, migration, sexuality and how identities are informed by race, class, gender, and ability. This course is designed to acquaint students with literary works from authors like Georges Perec, Maryse Condé, Abdellah Taïa, Kim Thúy, Patrick Chamoiseau, Gaël Faye among others. Prerequisite: French 6 or a course in the FREN 10 series or permission of the instructor. Degree Requirement Attributes:Dist:LIT; WCult:NW. 

French 55.07 XL HIST 47.02: Propaganda and Public Opinion from Napoleon to World War II-Novak @ 3a: This course explores the political tools used by Napoleon to control public opinion (such as newspapers, caricatures, historical pamphlets and architecture) as he enacted his vision of the French nation after the Revolution and its aftermath in the long 19th century in Europe until World War II. DIST: W; SOC. NRO eligible. 

FREN 32 (formerly 53.09) Literary Theory in French (Semiotics and Reading)-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. Prerequisites: FREN 006 or a course from the FREN 10 series or permission from the instructor. Degree Requirement Attributes: Dist:LIT; Lang:LRP; WCult:CI.  NRO eligible. 

LSA+ in Toulouse w/Professor Hollister-please reach out to Professor Hollister with any questions. 

FSP in Paris w/Professor elhariry-please reach out to Professor elhariry with any questions.

1 section of French 1

2 sections of French 2

3 sections of French 3

1 section of French 11

French 5 (formerly French 8) @ 10-Novak--Conversations and Style: A bridge course between the elementary language sequence and FREN 6, Texts and Contexts. You'll build your cultural knowledge by studying historical and contemporary French and francophone societies. Focus topics include evolving political and regional identities, literature and the expression of identity, gender relations, the role of the media, education, religion and immigration. You'll expand your active use of French, refine reading and writing strategies, and comprehensively review grammar. Course work includes active participation in class discussions, oral presentations, and regular reading/writing assignments in the areas of narrative and poetry, cinema, music, and journalism. Not open to students who have received credit for FREN 008 or FREN 09.01. Prerequisites: FREN 3, or equivalent preparation. DIST: Western Cultures and SOC. 

French FYS Seminar-Sanders:TBD

French 6 (formerly French 10) Beasley @ 12-French Texts and Contexts: An introduction to French literature, culture, and media across time that provides students with the tools to read and analyze texts critically. Through a selection of literary works, films, and other cultural artifacts, this course examines how ideas, genres, and narratives develop and intersect. Topics and materials vary based on the instructor's focus, allowing for an engaging and dynamic exploration of francophone literary and cultural landscapes. Not open to students who have received credit for FREN 10.01-10.99. Prerequisite: French 5 or French 8 or the permission of the individual instructor. DIST: Western Cultures and LIT. 

French 13 (formerly French 45.05): The Politics of Literature- Professor St. Clair @2. This course seeks to explore the hypothesis that nineteenth-century French literature and other modes of cultural and aesthetic production are situated against the backdrop of the massive political upheavals of the century, and grapple especially with the problems of contested memories and narratives of a revolutionary past that refuses to pass. In this course, then, we will link and think 19thC literature to politics and history, interpreting a variety of nineteenth-century texts, from poems to short stories, novels, paintings and revolutionary caricatures, with/against their cultural, political, historical, and esthetic contexts. Not open to students who have received credit for FREN 45.05. Prerequisites: FREN 006 or a course in the FREN 10 series or permission of the instructor. Degree Requirement Attributes:Dist:LIT; WCult:W.

French 14 (formerly 45.01)-Dartmouth Meets the French Enlightenment (English xhour in French)-Sanders @ 12: Can we trace Tri-Kap's origin to the secret societies, masonic lodges, salons and cafés that arose prior to the French Revolution? This course will trace the migration of texts from France to Dartmouth where 18th-century literary societies - Social Friends (1783), United Fraternity (1786), Phi Beta Kappa (1787), and later Tri-Kap (1842) – read French Enlightenment texts on human rights as well as on the forms of sociability recently developed in France and at Dartmouth. Not open to students who have received credit for FREN 045 or FREN 45.01. French 6 or a course in the French 10 series or permission of the instructor. Prerequisites: A course in the French 10 series or permission of the instructor. Degree Requirement Attributes: Dist:TMV; WCult:W.

French 40.09-Classical French Comedy Made Modern; Molière Past and Present-@3a Beasley: Molière is France's best known and most universally loved playwright.  Over three hundred years after his death, his plays continue to dominate the French stage and stages across the world.  In this course, we will explore Molière's creative genius to understand his profound and lasting influence.  The last third of the course will be devoted to an in-depth study of "Molière in the Park," a theatre company in Brooklyn founded in 2019. Not open to students who have received credit for FREN 40.04. Students that have completed the French LSA+, or placed out of the language requirement are eligible for this course. Prerequisites: Fren 3 or equivalent preparation. Degree Requirement Attributes: Dist:INT or ART; WCult:W.

LSA+ in Paris with Professor LaGuardia-please reach out to Professor LaGuardia with any questions

French 1 McConnell @9L, Mefoude @10 and Larose @ 11: In this course, emphasis will be on speaking and dialogue with your peers. You will learn to introduce your family and friends, share what your daily life looks like, talk about what you do for leisure. Your final assignment will be to do an oral presentation in French describing your home town. Does not serve to satisfy Distributive or World Culture Requirements.

French 2 Sanders @ 10 and Larose @ 9L and 2:In this course, you will expand your possibilities of expression by learning how to use the past and future tenses, to say where you've been and where you're going. You will share childhood memories and exchange ideas about plans for your education and career. While building your vocabulary, you will deepen your cultural knowledge with introductions to multiple francophone countries around the world. Your final assignment will be to choose a francophone country and do an oral presentation for your peers on its history, geography, architecture, art or traditions. Does not serve to satisfy Distributive or World Culture Requirements.  Prerequisites: French 1 or qualifying placement through the French Placement Exam.

French 3 Novak @ 10 & 11 and Mefoude @ 9L: In this course, you will explore several themes of contemporary life and learn to discuss travel, technology and its influence, wellness and healthcare, and social relationships. Your final assignment will be to seek out information on a current issue facing a francophone country—the environment, racism, poverty, freedom of speech, immigration, the colonial past, religious conflicts—and present it to your peers through a medium of your choice: film, interview, blog, skit, music or poster. Does not serve to satisfy Distributive or World Culture Requirements.  Prerequisite: French 2, French 11, or placement through the French Placement Exam.  

French 11 McConnell @ 10: 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 5 (formerly French 8)-Tarnowski @ 9L--Conversations and Style: A bridge course between the elementary language sequence and FREN 6, Texts and Contexts. You'll build your cultural knowledge by studying historical and contemporary French and francophone societies. Focus topics include evolving political and regional identities, literature and the expression of identity, gender relations, the role of the media, education, religion and immigration. You'll expand your active use of French, refine reading and writing strategies, and comprehensively review grammar. Course work includes active participation in class discussions, oral presentations, and regular reading/writing assignments in the areas of narrative and poetry, cinema, music, and journalism. Not open to students who have received credit for FREN 008 or FREN 09.01. Prerequisites: FREN 3, or equivalent preparation. DIST: Western Cultures and SOC. NRO eligible. 

French 6 (formerly French 10), @ 9L-a new course from Professor Hollister--French Texts and Contexts: An introduction to French literature, culture, and media across time that provides students with the tools to read and analyze texts critically. Through a selection of literary works, films, and other cultural artifacts, this course examines how ideas, genres, and narratives develop and intersect. Topics and materials vary based on the instructor's focus, allowing for an engaging and dynamic exploration of francophone literary and cultural landscapes. Not open to students who have received credit for FREN 10.01-10.99. Prerequisite: French 5 or French 8 or the permission of the individual instructor. DIST: Western Cultures and LIT. NRO eligible. 

French 53.08-Paris, philosophies de l'espace-LaGuardia @ 12: Paris has been described in numerous disciplines and media:  literature, philosophy, cinema, photography, painting, sociology, geography, etc.  What usage schemes characterize the city?  How are often conflicting identities generated when individuals seek to inhabit and negotiate the hierarchies of its neighborhoods? How do diverse thinkers, filmmakers, and photographers describe and represent the class, ethnic, and gender clashes that play out in urban space?  In what ways do affective "investments" saturate Parisian streets, buildings, and businesses? Prerequisite: French 6 or French 10 or permission of the instructor. Degree Requirement Attributes: Dist:LIT; WCult:CI. NRO eligible. 

French 40.06- Selfies: autobiographie, autoportrair, autofiction-@10a-Kritzman: A study of three forms of writing about the self and their generic distinctions. Autobiography, a practice of self-understanding deals with the construction of one's life story across time; self-portraiture does not attempt to rejoin the past by the construction of a self that is temporally constructed. The autoportraitist presents a self apprehended in the present of writing through a montage of disparate images. Autofiction, on the other hand,  deals with a form of fictionalized autobiography that uses fiction in the service of the search for self.  Subjects to be examined include: rhetoric, politics, history, and gender.  Texts: Rousseau, Chateaubriand, Sartre, Beauvoir (autobiographies,); Montaigne, Sevigne, Barthes (autoportraits);  Colette, Modiano, Ernaux (autofictions). Prerequisite: French 6 or French 10 or permission of the instructor. Degree Requirement Attributes: Dist:LIT; WCult:W. NRO eligible. 

French 37-Elhariry @ 12:FQZ Feminist Queer Zones provides in-depth study of the exceptional richness of feminist and queer traditions in global francophone cultures. From nineteenth-century revolutionaries to the mid-twentieth century's first-wave feminists; from reproductive rights and women's suffrage to the explosive intersectionality of race, capitalism, post/colonialism, and feminism; the books read in this class help us understand sexuality, gender, and identity as they evolve over time and across historical, political, and sociocultural formations. The texts open up POROUS ZONES—open fields and fluid sites of change, exchange, and interchange—that allow for various other forms of alternative thinking. All readings and discussions are conducted in English. No prior knowledge or pre-requisites necessary. Readings, written assignments, and x-hours are offered in French for students seeking credit for the major or minor in French. Cross Listed Courses WGSS 50.01. Degree Requirement Attributes: Dist:INT or TMV; WCult:CI. NRO eligible. Not open to students who have received credit for FRIT 37.30.

French 19-Elhariry @ 11: Baaaaaaad French! A Creative Writing Workshop-As the speaker of a foreign language in the United States, you are in a unique position to innovate, improve, and corrupt French. Baaaaaaad French! enables you in this endeavor. It introduces you to historical precedents of bad French, and provides you with the opportunity to conceive, theorize, historicize, and execute projects in bad French. You will think and you will write with the awareness that you are in the presence of all the bad Frenches that have ever preceded you. You will read and you will write your own logics of emancipation, liberation, and disorientation out of the prison house of language. Baaaaaaad French! ultimately resists all forms of standardization. It empowers you to harness your innate capacities to sound different, to write wrong and ungoodly, and to take pride in the innovative impulse to resist the standardizing imprint of globalizations on your accent and pronunciation.  Baaaaaaad French! lies at the intersection of cultural history and the creative writing workshop. It is an invitation to read and write creatively, historically, and across genres and media. The course adopts a long historical view of the dynamic history of French as it plays out in a wide array of media. You will learn this history nonchronologically, which places different strains and genealogies of bad French into stronger relief. The material provides us with the opportunity to slowly develop together a broad collective definition of badness over the course of the term, with a particular emphasis on the distinctly sonic dimensions of our linguistic identities. You will engage in a series of class discussions, creative writing assignments, and workshops, and you will have the freedom to pursue and create a final project in any medium, produced in a bad French language of your own invention. A contest and awards ceremony for the baddest project caps the course. The course stars readings by Monique Wittig, Rupi Kaur, Amandine André, Rim Battal, Claire Star Finch, Alpheratz, Stéphane Bouquet, Katalin Molnár (aka Kité Moi), Luc Bénazet, Loïc Demey, Ghérasim Luca, Isidore Isou, Mallarmé, Lautréamont, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Lamartine; music by Rahim Redcar, Aya Nakamura, PNL, Dita Von Tease and Sébastien Tellier, Jeanne Added, Camille, Françoise Hardy, Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, Claude François; films by Catherine Breillat, Mathieu Kassovitz, Stephen Spielberg, Melvin Van Peebles, François Truffaut; media by Joyce Mansour, Les Coquettes, clips from French radio and television (Apostrophes, Les Marseillais).  Distributives: W and LIT. Prerequisites: FREN 6 or FREN 10 or instructor permission. NRO eligible.