2027-2028 French Courses
*subject to change
Summer 2027
French 37 (elhariry) @ TBD-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. Along with full book-length texts by Louise Michel, Simone de Beauvoir, Monique Wittig, Anne Garréta, and Françoise Vergès, FQZ seeks to bridge the gap not only between theory and action, but also between reading and writing, and between art and life. We will participate in a unique pleasure-taking act—the opportunity to read single, long, complex texts over an extended period of time, sometimes spanning many weeks. By valuing slowness, leisure, and depth over speed, anxiety, and breadth, will have the opportunity to dwell with thinkers and writers long enough to do begin doing honor and justice to their life and work. A progression of alternating short creative and critical assignments will provide the framework for a hybrid final project that will represent a culminating multimedia work of personal-creative criticism. 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. No prerequisites. World Culture: Culture Identity. Distributives: INT, TMV. XL w/WGSS 50.01 and COLT 67.08. NRO eligible. *Please note, that courses that receive an NRO grade may not fulfill major requirements.*
French 26 (Hollister) @ TBD-French Film: This course will focus on one of the following: an individual filmmaker, a significant movement or period, or a major theme in French cinema. Students will become familiar with aspects of French cinematic history as well as with important concepts in film analysis. Not open to students who have received credit for FREN 75 or a course in the French 75 series. The course is not repeatable for credit. Prerequisites: FREN 006, FREN 43 or a course from the FREN 10 series or permission from the instructor. World Culture:Western Cultures. Distributives: ART. NRO eligible. *Please note, that courses that receive an NRO grade may not fulfill major requirements.* Not open to students who have received credit for FREN 75 or a course in the French 75 series. The course is not repeatable for credit.
Fall 2027
French 1: 3 sections 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 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 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 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 5 Sanders @ TBD--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. *Please note, that courses that receive an NRO grade may not fulfill major requirements.*
French 6 Sanders @ TBD--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. or French 43. Prerequisite: French 5 or French 8 or the permission of the individual instructor. DIST: Western Cultures and LIT. NRO eligible. *Please note, that courses that receive an NRO grade may not fulfill major requirements.*
FREN 22-LaGuardia @TBD-- Introduction to French Literature I: the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: 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: FREN 6, FREN 10 or one FREN course numbered 10.01-10.99; FREN 43 or instructor permission. Degree Requirement Attributes: Dist:LIT; WCult:W.
FREN 17-Kritzman @ 10a- Politics and French Intellectuals: The modern intellectual was invented in France at the time of the Dreyfus affair. In the twentieth century, French intellectuals were seen as moral guides and social critics. They engaged in philosophical speculations by bridging theory with practice. During political crises, intellectuals engaged in public debate as a means of influencing society. We will examine figures such as Zola, Benda, Breton, Sartre, Camus, Beauvoir, Aron, Foucault, Ben Jelloun, Derrida and Kristeva. Not open to students who have received credit for FREN 55.06. Prerequisite: FREN 6, FREN 10 or one FREN course numbered 10.01-10.99, Fren 43 or Instructor Permission. Degree Requirement Attributes: Dist:TMV; WCult:W.
Winter 2028
French 1: 1 section 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: 3 sections 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: 4 sections 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 5 Sanders @ TBD--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. *Please note, that courses that receive an NRO grade may not fulfill major requirements.*
French 6 St. Clair @ TBD--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 or FREN 43. Prerequisite: French 5 or French 8 or the permission of the individual instructor. DIST: Western Cultures and LIT. NRO eligible. *Please note, that courses that receive an NRO grade may not fulfill major requirements.*
FYS 7-Hollister-TBD.
FREN 38 Sanders (formerly 40.05) @ TBD--Acting French: Acting French offers a practical approach to French theater. Throughout the trimester, we will read, analyze and then perform scenes from French plays. In this class, you will have an opportunity to bring Figaro to life, or to wait for Godot. By the end of the trimester, we will learn how to interpret theater as a performance, and use that knowledge to put on scenes from plays. Prerequisite FREN 6, FREN 10 or one FREN course numbered 10.01-10.99, FREN 43 or instructor permission. Degree Requirement Attributes: Dist:ART; WCult:W.
FREN 49 St. Clair ( formerly 50.07) @ TBD--Baudelaire/Flaubert: Reading Modernity for Filth: 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. A way of reading modernity for filth. Prerequisite: FREN 6, FREN 10 or one FREN course numbered 10.01-10.99, FREN 43 or instructor permission. Degree Requirement Attributes: Dist:LIT; WCult:W.
FSP--Paris-LaGuardia--please email the instructor with questions.
Spring 2028
French 1: 1 section 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: 1 section 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 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 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 5 McConnell @ TBD--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. *Please note, that courses that receive an NRO grade may not fulfill major requirements.*
French 6 St. Clair @ TBD--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. or French 43. Prerequisite: French 5 or French 8 or the permission of the individual instructor. DIST: Western Cultures and LIT. NRO eligible. *Please note, that courses that receive an NRO grade may not fulfill major requirements.*
French 13 St. Clair @ TBD--Writing Workshop-How Baudelaire Can Teach Us to Write (and Think): This course will propose a term-long engagement with one poet and two works, Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal and Spleen de Paris, that doubles as a writing workshop. The aim of this course, which includes short selections of scholarship on our main text from methodological and theoretical approaches varying from feminism, deconstruction, formalism, and socio-criticism, as well as weekly writing workshops, is to hone and perfect students’ written proficiency in academic French. From constructing a thesis statement or compiling a bibliography, to the grammatical nuances of essay-length close readings, creative writing experiments, or multimedia projects in French, FR13 proposes to take Baudelaire’s poetic oeuvre of a lost as not only a hauntingly pertinent text for the context in which we find ourselves today, but also, depending on how we read it, a texts that can teach us how to write, and think, and read the worlds in which we find ourselves.
New course by Professor Beasley-TBD: Revising Memory, Mastering Memory: Interrogating Representations of the Past
FREN 53 Kritzman @ 10a--French Thought: Philosophical Issues: This course will study texts which have shaped influential views of human nature, scientific knowledge, social and moral values. Its focus may be on the philosophers and moralists of the classical period (such as Pascal and La Rochefoucauld), the social and political thinkers of the Enlightenment (Diderot and Rousseau) or contemporary thinkers (Beauvoir, Foucault, Lévi-Strauss). Prerequisite: FREN 6, FREN 10 or one FREN course numbered 10.01-10.99, FREN 43 or instructor permission. Degree Requirement Attributes: Dist:TMV; WCult:W.
LSA+ in Toulouse-Larose-please email the instructor with questions.
FSP in Paris-Tarnowski-please email the instructor with questions.