FRE1120 - Elementary French I – Multiple Sessions

Oral comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing are stressed. May not be taken by native speakers. May not be taken concurrently with FRE 1121 and/or 2200.

 

FRE1121 Elementary French I – Multiple Sessions

Oral comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing are stressed. May not be taken by native speakers. May not be taken concurrently with FRE 1121 and/or 2211.

 

FRE2211 - Intermediate French – Multiple Sessions

Prerequisite: FRE 1121 or equivalent. Completes language requirement for baccalaureate degree. May not be taken by native speakers. Rapid review of basic French structures and introduction of some of the finer points of French grammar. May not be taken concurrently with FRE 1120 and/or 1121.

 

FRE2220 - Reading and Conversation – Multiple Sessions

Prerequisite: FRE2211 or equivalent. May not be taken by native speakers. Expansion of French reading skills while introducing the student to oral expression through a discussion of the readings. May not be taken concurrently with FRE 1120 and/or 1121.

 

FRE 3420 - French Grammar and Composition I – Dr. Cloonan

Prerequisite: FRE 2211 or its equivalent. An in-depth study of French grammar emphasizing some subtleties of written expression.

 

FRE 3421 - French Grammar and Composition II – Dr. Munro

Prerequisite FRE 3420 or its equivalent. Further study of the subtleties of written expression in the French language.

 

FRE 3501 - Contemporary France – Dr. Parrat

We will study contemporary France through its languages, its regions, its religions, its education system, its economy, its politics, its media and its relations to Europe and the United States. France is a complex, composite entity. We will attempt to examine as many of its constituent parts as possible so as to better come to terms with this fascinating country. This course will be taught in French.

FRE 3780 – French Phonetics – Dr. Tarpley

This class is designed to be an introduction to French Phonetics. You have already studied French for several years, and you are at the point where a reevaluation of you pronunciation of the sounds of the French language can help you to fine-tune that production. In this class we will learn the phonetic alphabet in order to carefully study standard French pronunciation. We will systematically study the principal sounds of the French language, how they are formed, and how they are linked together, in the goal of improving the pronunciation of each student in the class. Theoretical sessions will alternate with guided practical sessions in a multimedia lab, where the latest technologies will help you master the studied sounds. At the end of the semester, you will be able to transcribe the sounds of the French language using the phonetic alphabet. You will have learned to better formulate the sounds of French. Recognizing the existence of a great variety of styles of spoken French, your oral production in French will be more similar to models of standard French. Finally, you will have learned to better distinguish the elements of your production that are not yet perfectly adapted to the standard models in order to work on improving them as you continue to deepen your experience with the French language.

 

FRW 3101- Survey French Literature 18th Century to Present Day – Dr Boutin

This course will introduce you to a selection of well-known works of modern French/Francophone Literature and their cultural contexts. The readings have been chosen to exemplify the most significant literary movements of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including le siècle des Lumières, le romantisme, le réalisme, la modernité, dada et le surréalisme, l’existentialisme, and le nouveau roman. This course will be taught in French. By reading, writing and participating in French, you will increase your comprehension and oral proficiency in the language.

 

FRE 4422 - Advanced Grammar and Composition – Dr. Lori Walters

In this course students will improve their command of French grammar and stylistics by doing workbook exercises, by writing a series of short compositions and a final paper. They will also apply their newly acquired grammatical and stylistic know-how through class discussion. Discussion will center on “portraits de l‘Autre” in Ourika, a short novel about a female slave educated in early-nineteenth-century France, and the recent French bestseller, Truismes, by Marie Darrieussecq.  In this short novel a young woman is transformed into a sow, truie in French.  “Treat a woman like a pig, and she will act like one,” is only one of the truisms that the author explores in this work of stinging social criticism.

 

FRE 4930-01 – Gender, Genre, Manuscript: Chrétien de Troyes in Context. Dr. Lori Walters

The course locates the twelfth-century poet and romancer within the context of the lyric and romance traditions. It also studies the way that thirteenth-century manuscript compilers positioned Chrétien's romances within a larger, nationalistic context in which the queen assumed increasing importance. My focus in the course is on the woman-centeredness of Chrétien’s works: his emphasis on the courtly lady, the queen, and his patroness, the Countess Marie de Champagne. We will also relate his work to the short stories of Marie de France, in which tales of male prowess take second place to female-oriented tales of love. Taught in English and French, with all major readings available in English, Modern and Old French. Open to advanced undergraduates with permission of the instructor. The course may count for major or minor credit in French provided the written work is done in French.

 

FRE 4930-02 – Immigration and National Identity – Dr. Alec Hargreaves

Immigration is one of the most hotly debated issues in contemporary France. The Islamic headscarf affair, the rise of the extreme-right National Front and the urban riots of 2005 are just some of the issues which have emerged in the last twenty years. In exploring these developments, this course examines the ways in which immigration and ethnicity have been helping to reshape the contours of French society. Working within an inter-disciplinary and comparative framework, students are invited to consider how far France can be said to display a distinctive profile in the field of ethnic relations compared with other countries such as the United States and Great Britain. After a theoretical and historical introduction, the course focuses on the period between the 1980s and the present, when minorities originating in Third World, especially Islamic, countries, have been at the center of key debates in French politics, society and culture. Among the topics covered are minority ethnic settlement, multiculturalism, nationality and citizenship, racism, extreme-right politics and anti-discrimination policy. The course is taught in English and may be taken by students without a reading knowledge of French. The core reading list (in English) is complemented by a reading list in French which students with a reading knowledge of that language are encouraged to use. The course may count for major or minor credit in French provided the written work is done in French.

 

FRW 4433. 18th-Century French Literature: Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Dr. Noémi Parrat

This course will focus mainly on Jean-Jacques Rousseau, on his role in the 18th century and today. Rousseau was one of the most illustrious thinkers of the Enlightenment and a major precursor of the French revolution. Rousseau’s writings, as well as the lifestyle he patterned upon them, have always elicited fervent reactions. We will read Les Confessions, Discours sur l’origine et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les hommes and passages from Les rêveries du promeneur solitaire and Emile ou de l’Education. We will also read about Rousseau in texts by his contemporaries such as Voltaire, Diderot, Isabelle de Charrière and Mme de Staël, and in recent criticism by Jean Starobinski, Etienne Balibar, Yves Citton and Jacques Derrida. Rousseau is still a hot topic, and Fils unique, a captivating imagined autobiography of Rousseau’s brother, published in 2006 by Stéphane Audeguy, will help us understand what 18th century writings can bring to literary studies today. We will discuss the relationship between politics and literature, the evolution in education and the specifics of autobiography. This course will be taught in French.

 

 

FRW 4770 - Caribbean and African Cultures: Exile in Francophone Cultures
Dr. Martin Munro

Exile and migration are perhaps the most important elements in contemporary global society. In many previously–colonized Francophone countries, exile has long been a dominant literary theme, as authors and intellectuals have reflected on the effects of colonialism and cultural assimilation. For these authors, exile may be experienced within the country of birth, or else in the European or North American metropoles they find themselves in. This course considers key Francophone texts of exile from North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean. Engaging with broader (Western) theories of exile, the course will encourage reflection on the particular circumstances and difficulties of the black exiled subject. The theme of exile will intersect with other key issues such as: the role of education; gender and exile; writing as a form of exile; colonialism and the psychological heritage of slavery. Taught in French.