2024-2025 French Courses

Summer 2024 courses

French 08: Elhariry @ 11.  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. 
Dist:SOC; WCult:W

Prerequisite: Completion of FR3 or exemption from FR3

FRIT 37.30 @ 12:-Elhariry:  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 first-wave feminists; from reproductive rights and women's suffrage to the explosive intersectionality of race, capitalism, post/colonialism, and feminism; readings by Louise Michel, Simone de Beauvoir, Monique Wittig, Anne Garréta, Françoise Vergès help us understand sexuality, gender, and identity as they evolve over time and across historical, political, and sociocultural formations.  World Culture-Culture Identity. Distributives:  INT, TMV.  NRO eligible. 

Fall 2024 courses

French 01: 2 sections McConnell and Zidouh @ TBD-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.

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French 02: 2 sections Novak and Zidouh @ TBD-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.

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French 03: 3 sections Larose @ 10 and Oliveira @ TBD-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.  

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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. 

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French 08: 2 Sections Méfoude-Obiono and Novak @ TBD.  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. 
Dist:SOC; WCult:W. Prerequisite: Completion of FR3 or exemption from FR3.

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.  NRO eligible.

French 21: Introduction to Francophone Literature and Culture--Souvenirs d'enfance:  Larose @ 11: "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 reminisce about their childhoodliving in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. 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, Ananda Devi, Patrick Chamoiseau, Gaël Faye among others.  Prerequisites French 8; World Culture Western Cultures; Distributives INT.

FREN 53.07 Confrontations with Death in the French Tradition: Kritzman @ 10a:  Through readings of essays, plays, philosophical texts and fiction, we will examine the relationship of death to the history of French culture and the philosophical traditions it embodies SINCE WORLD WAR TWO. Issues to be discussed include separation and loss, mourning and melancholia, terrorism, the absurd and the death of God, and the difficulty of representing death. What does non-being signify and how can one describe it? Texts will be drawn from Camus, Sartre, Beauvoir, Beckett, Derrida, Malraux, Blanchot ,KRISTEVA, CIXOUS and Perec.  Prerequisite: A course in the FREN 10 series or permission of the instructor.  Dist:TMV; WCult:W. 

 

 

 

 

Winter 2025 courses

French 1:  2 sections: Zidouh and Oliveira @ TBD:  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:  2 sections: McConnell and Novak @ TBD: 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:  3 sections:  Mefoude, Novak and Zidouh @ TBD:  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 8:  1 section: McConnell @ TBD: Exploring French Culture and Language expands on the skills acquired in the French language sequence (French 1, 2, 3) as well as offering a transition to French 10 and upper-division courses that call on strong foundations of cultural knowledge. This class introduces students to contemporary and historical French and Francophone societies by focusing on topics such as evolving political and regional identities, writing and literature in the expression of identity, gender relations, the role of the media, and the culture of daily life. Students expand their active use of French, refine communicative, reading, and writing strategies, and comprehensively review grammar. Course work includes active participation in class discussions, oral presentations, and regular reading and writing assignments in the areas of narrative and poetry, cinema, music, and journalism.   Prerequisite FREN 3, or equivalent preparation. Degree Requirement Attributes-Dist:SOC; WCult:W.

FREN 10.23: The French Atlantic: Sanders @ 3a: This course, introduction to French literature, is a survey of French literature that focuses on one topic: the Atlantic world. As we read texts from each period, we will discover different versions of the Atlantic world, one that exists between many French Atlantic spaces: Caribbean, North American, African, and European. Across these representations, the Atlantic exists as a prism through which authors investigate cross-cultural romance, cultural practices, and the relative notions of beauty. The Atlantic also emerges to prominence during France's first empire. Before the eighteenth century, the Mediterranean, as an imaginary space of empire and cross-cultural contact, eclipses the Atlantic. As the first and then the second French Empire grows, the Atlantic world takes on a stronger presence in the French imaginary.   Dist:LIT; WCult:W.

FREN 23 Introduction to French Literature II: Neoclassicism and the Eighteenth Century: Beasley @ 11: The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were a dynamic and volatile period characterized on the one hand by the rise to power of the most absolute of all monarchs, the Sun King Louis XIV, symbolized by Versailles, and on the other hand by the French Revolution. Fostered by royal patronage, literature and the arts flourished, yet many writers also used artistic expression to counter this royal power. The period saw the birth of the modern French novel and the development of a rich body of theatrical and philosophical literature. These centuries are recognized as major components of France's collective identity and their influence is still felt in France today. Authors may include Descartes, Corneille, Racine, Molière, Lafayette, Diderot, Rousseau, Voltaire, Graffigny, Beaumarchais and Laclos. Prerequisite: A course in the FREN 10 series or permission of the instructor.   Dist:LIT; WCult:W.

FREN 55.03 XL with HIST 47.02:  Novak @ TBD-Propaganda and Public Opinion from Napoleon to World War II-This course proposes to study the political tools used by Napoleon to control public opinion as he enacted his vision of the French nation after the Revolution. Posing as the incarnation of Enlightenment values and acknowledging public opinion as a source of his political legitimacy, Napoleon reinvented state propaganda. We will try to trace back some of his major philosophical influences, examine state-controlled newspapers and espionage.  Napoleon's failure to control German public opinion in Europe engendered the leitmotiv of German humiliation, which became a recurring basis of conflict in Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. 

FREN 50.05 Montaigne and Proust:  Kritzman @ 2a:  Montaigne and Proust, two of the greatest prose writers in the French literary tradition, represent distinct historical periods (the Renaissance and early twentieth century France) in which the idea of subjectivity is a major intellectual concern.  Using Montaigne and Proust's first person narratives as emblematic of their times, the course will examine how self-portraiture is manifested in time and space  and reflects upon broader notions of character, sensation, gender and sexuality, history and memory. Particular attention will be payed to how writing can be viewed as a way to suspend time, delay death and prolong life and sensation.  Paradoxically we shall discover  in each writer the failure of "autobiographical" narrative to establish identity.  Selectons will include representative Essais of Montaigne, Proust's Du coté de chez Swann and Le temps retrouvé, and short essays by Bergson, Bersani, Deleuze, de Man, Derrida, Genette, Kristeva and Lacan.  Prerequisite; A course in the FREN 10 series or permission of the instructor.  Dist:LIT; WCult:W. 

French 78Senior Major Workshop: Methods in Reading, Writing and Cultural Analysis:  Sanders at 12: 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:  Elhariry-please reach out to Professor Elhariry with any questions-yasser.elhariry@dartmouth.edu

FSP Paris:  Tarnowski-please reach out to Professor Tarnowski with any questions-andrea.tarnowski@dartmouth.edu

Spring 2025 Courses

French 1:  1 section: Novak @ TBD: 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:  2 sections: Oliveira and Zidouh @ TBD: 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:  3 sections:  Novak, McConnell and Zidouh @ TBD:  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:  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:  Mefoude @ TBD and Sanders @ 10:  Exploring French Culture and Language expands on the skills acquired in the French language sequence (French 1, 2, 3) as well as offering a transition to French 10 and upper-division courses that call on strong foundations of cultural knowledge. This class introduces students to contemporary and historical French and Francophone societies by focusing on topics such as evolving political and regional identities, writing and literature in the expression of identity, gender relations, the role of the media, and the culture of daily life. Students expand their active use of French, refine communicative, reading, and writing strategies, and comprehensively review grammar. Course work includes active participation in class discussions, oral presentations, and regular reading and writing assignments in the areas of narrative and poetry, cinema, music, and journalism.  Prerequisite FREN 3, or equivalent preparation. -Dist:SOC; WCult:W.

Fren 10: Tolerance @ 12-Sanders:  This course, introduction to French literature, is a survey of French literature that focuses on one topic: tolerance. As we read texts from each period, we will discover different versions of intolerance, often in the form of prejudice against an individual based on their religion, sexuality or geographical origin. Across these representations of (in)tolerance, we will investigate cross-cultural romance, cultural practices, and the uneasy position of religious belief within a secular society. Tolerance, as a concept, emerges during the sixteenth century as a consequence of the religious wars. During a brief period of religious tolerance, after Henry IV signed the Edict of Nantes (1598), the late seventeenth century witnesses the re-emergence of intolerance when Louis XIV signs the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685). While the Revolutionary era separates Republican France from Catholic dogma, the nineteenth century returns to France's catholic roots until Jules Ferry establishes free, secular education. The twentieth and twenty-first centuries witness a shift to French secularism, which banishes religious practice from the public sphere. In addition to studying tolerance, we will also study literary genres (plays, novels, poems and essays) as well as learn how to read a text closely. By identifying rhetorical figures and word associations, you will learn to appreciate the beauty and meaning of literary works.

 

French 22Introduction to French Literature I: the Middle Ages and the Renaissance-LaGuardia @ 12: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

FREN 50.07 Baudelaire/Flaubert: Reading Modernity for Filth: St. Clair @ 10a: It is by a fortuitous, if strange, twist of literary fortune that two publications from the winter of 1857—both of which would later come to be regarded as uncontested masterworks of high modernism in the French literary canon—saw their authors hauled before Second Empire courts and put on trial for obscenity: Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary and Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal. This course will pursue a perhaps inadvertent insight made during the trials against these two core figures in French – and world – literature: namely, that the so-called crimes (of shocking moral corruption, of prurience and obscenity, etc.) of which Baudelaire and Flaubert were accused have much to do with the formal complexity and aporias that one finds in their works. What one finds there, in other words, is less "filthy" material per se than a stylistics that opens up space for dangerously unruly sociocritical readings; that brings into visibility and legibility desires and subjectivities typically confined in the nineteenth century to the grisaille silencieuse of "History's" margins; and that seeks to bring out into representation repressed historical and political traumas occasioned by the "shocks" of modernity (Benjamin). One finds, in other words, in Baudelaire's poetry and in Flaubert's novels a distinct literary politics; a critical use of literature against the abuses of the present order of things.  Dist:LIT; WCult:W. 

FREN 70-TBD-Elhariry @ 2:  Francophone Literature-This course will involve the study of Francophone literature outside Europe. This may include the literature of Africa, the Caribbean, Québec and Southeast Asia.  Recent topics have included Fantômes de la violence (Spring 2023), with readings and class visits by Françoise Vergès, David Diop, Kaoutar Harchi, Abdellah Taïa, Evelynne Trouillot, and Joyce Mansour, as well as a collective book arts/letterpress project; and Du surréalisme nord-africain (Fall 2021), with readings and class visits by Abdellah Taïa, Mary Ann Caws, André Breton, Georges Henein, Isidore Isou, Joyce Mansour, Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi, Farid al-Din 'Attar, Charles Baudelaire, Abdelwahab Meddeb, the Qur'an, Arthur Rimbaud, Mostafa Nissabouri, Hocine Tandjaoui, Lautréamont, and Habib Tengour, as well as hip-hop records by PNL.

FSP Paris:  Beasley-please reach out to Professor Beasley @ Faith.E.Beasley@dartmouth.edu with any questions.