Advanced French Courses
French 254: French Women Writers in Translation
We will read and discuss texts by the scandalous George Sand, the incomparable Colette, the controversial Monique Wittig, and more. All texts and discussions are in English, with the exception that students counting this course towards a French major or minor will read works in French. September 2008. Diane Crowder syllabus
French 301: Composition and Conversation
In this course you will further perfect your French, particularly reading, writing, and speaking. Pre-requisite: French 205 or placement into 301. Diane Crowder syllabus
French 302: Advanced Conversation in Montréal
The course includes daily class and assignments, tours, trips, museums, plays, and one weekend in historic Québec City, as well as informal activities designed to acquaint students with the unique culture of Québec. Students stay with a French-speaking family in Montréal. French 302 is open to anyone who has completed French 205 or equivalent, and counts towards the French major and minor. Costs are estimated at $1300 or less, including transportation, housing, cultural activities, and tours. For further information see Devan Baty.
French 303: Cultures of France and the Francophone World
Substantially revised course. 20th century French and Francophone culture from the perspectives of media, politics, intellectual life, and popular culture, particularly food. Preparation (and consuming!) of an elegant French dinner is part of the course. Students follow the francophone world throughout the term by reading newspapers, news magazines and listening to radio and television news, all via the Web. A consideration of language planning policy in francophone Africa provides a further opportunity to explore the connection between culture and language. Prerequisite: FRE 205. Devan Baty
French 311: Introduction à la littérature en français: L'Amour!
This course develops those skills most directly useful for literature courses. You will learn how to read literary texts, how to organize library research relevant to French topics, and how to think critically, speak clearly, and write well about complex French texts. The theme is love! Pre-requisite: French 301 or permission of instructor. Devan Baty
French 315: Medieval French Literature
Medieval allegories (such as the spicy Romance of the Rose), epics (for example, the Chanson de Roland chronicling the exploits of a medieval hero), the enigmatic tales of Marie de France, and poems--some delicate, some racy--from France's first poets. This course will include, if at all possible, a relevant day-long field trip. Pre-requisite: French 311. Devan Baty.
French 321: The French Renaissance: Sixteenth Century Literature
Authors we consider include Rabelais (naughty, smart), Montaigne (the inventer of the essay), and (those experts at love) poets Pierre de Ronsard and Louise Labé. Prerequisite: French 311. Devan Baty syllabus.
French 331: Enlightenment: Eighteenth Century French Literature
The intellectual quest of the philosophes and the Encyclopédistes, with selected readings from Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, and Montesquieu. Development of the drama, the novel, and pre-Romanticism. Pre-requisite: French 311. Diane Crowder syllabus. Visit the 331 links.
French 341: Nineteenth Century: 1800-1850
Virilized women and feminized men: the Romantics and the Realists fight it out. Pre-requisite: French 311.
French 342: Nineteenth Century: 1850-1900
Find out why officials tried to ban Les Fleurs du Mal and Madame Bovary. We'll read the symbolists, the Dickensian Zola, the outrageous Ubu roi, and more. Pre-requisite: French 311. Diane Crowder
French 9-351: Contemporary Literature I: Writing as Political Action
Revolt and revolution--French writers take on society. From the Surrealists to the turbulent 70's, from the African diaspora to uppity women, we look at how writers try to change their worlds. Includes Surrealism, the Négritude Movement, Existentialism and World War II, and the aftermath of Mai '68 as seen in movements of social liberation. Diane Crowder's specialty.
French 352: Contemporary Literature II: la littérature psychologique et autoréférentielle
From the high society of Paris to the barren isolation of the Canadian winter, we look at the psychological analysis of life and love in Proust, the obsessive characters in Theatre of the Absurd and Robbe-Grillet's "nouveau roman"; and two Québécois writers who transform the often tragic results of sexual desire into dark comedy. Pre-requisite: French 311. Diane Crowder's specialty.
French 411: Junior-Senior Seminar
Studies in depth in a literary movement, area, or author. Required of all French majors; minors are also welcome. Prerequisite: 311 and junior status, or permission of instructor. Syllabus
French 390: Individual Project
French 988: School for International Training Programs
There are currently eight programs in France or Francophone countries run by the School for International Training. There are language and culture semesters in Cameroon, France, Madagascar, and Morocco. There is a language immersion semester in France, a semester with an emphasis on the environment in Madagascar, and semester with an emphasis on international studies in Switzerland, and a semester in international business in France. Deadline for applying is February 1 for the following year.
