French (FREN)
FREN 1001. Introduction to French I. (5 Credits)
An introductory course that focuses on the four skills: speaking, reading, writing and listening providing students with a basic knowledge of French linguistic structures, vocabulary and culture, which studied interdependently, comprise the French Language.
Mutually Exclusive: FREN 1002.
FREN 1002. Introduction to French II. (3 Credits)
This course will enhance the reading, writing, speaking and listening skills acquired by students in Introduction to French I or from prior study. It will further promote a deeper understanding of French and Francophone cultures.
Mutually Exclusive: FREN 1001.
FREN 1501. Intermediate French I. (3 Credits)
Intermediate French I will continue introducing students to the fundamentals of the French language, emphasizing the five main components of language acquisition (reading, writing, listening, speaking, and cultural competence) using a task- and content-based French learning program. Conducted in French.
Attribute: IPE.
FREN 1502. Intermediate French II. (3 Credits)
Intermediate French II will continue introducing students to the fundamentals of the French language, emphasizing the five main components of language acquisition (reading, writing, listening, speaking, and cultural competence) using a task- and content-based French learning program. Conducted in French.
Attribute: IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 1501.
FREN 1999. Tutorial. (1 Credit)
Study of a particular aspect of French literature or thought. Independent research and readings. Weekly or biweekly meetings with a faculty adviser. Designed for majors with permission of instructor.
Attribute: IPE.
FREN 2001. French Language and Literature. (3 Credits)
A critical analysis of selected cultural and literary texts; composition, conversation, and review of pertinent grammatical structures.
Attribute: IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 1502.
FREN 2100. Grammar and Phonetics. (4 Credits)
A comprehensive review of French grammar and phonetics with attention to their use in literary and cultural contexts. Intensive practice of the spoken and written language. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attribute: IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2001.
FREN 2300. French Translation & Grammar Review. (4 Credits)
This course is a comprehensive review of French grammar and vocabulary with attention to challenges in translation. It is open to anyone who has completed FREN 2001 or higher and who wishes to perfectionner son français. The class will involve extensive practice in reading French texts from diverse disciplines: literature; history; politics; science; art; cultural studies; etc. Attention will also be paid to how pronunciation and grammar interact. Students will be encouraged to develop a final translation project related to their major or minor outside of French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Prerequisite: FREN 2001.
FREN 2600. France: Literature, History, and Civilization. (4 Credits)
Using the modern notions of “civilization,” “culture,” and “literature” as organizing principles, this course explores political, social, and cultural changes in France since the 18th century. Critical readings of texts deploying the idea of “civilization” will help us learn about immigrant populations in France, French attitudes toward the formerly colonized, and how French identity itself was constructed. We will then analyze sociological and historical texts and films to understand how various writers and artists claimed certain ideas, tastes, and lifestyles to be representative of a unique and coherent French “culture.” The third part of the course will be devoted to several literary masterpieces and to the ways the French have politicized this patrimony. This course provides a solid foundation in French history and literature and a critical perspective on the complexities of contemporary France. (4 credits, taught in French) Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, INST, IPE, ISEU.
Prerequisite: FREN 2001.
FREN 2601. French Conversation and Composition. (4 Credits)
Intensive practice of the spoken and written language with emphasis on proper use of idioms and building of vocabulary based on topics in interest and relevance. A basic course for prospective majors and minors. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attribute: IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2001.
FREN 2999. Tutorial. (2 Credits)
Study of a particular aspect of French literature or thought. Independent research and readings. Weekly or biweekly meetings with a faculty adviser. Designed for majors with permission of instructor.
Attribute: IPE.
FREN 3005. French Business Culture. (4 Credits)
The course examines the codes of French business culture and explores ways for students to prepare themselves for the French marketplace by mastery of these codes. In particular, we will focus on improving your business eloquentia perfecta – oral and speaking skills and appropriate forms of presentation through personalized training, role playing, mock interviews, and business pitches. Beyond incorporating the essentials of business vocabulary, we will explore every aspect of public speaking from grammatical accuracy, phonetics, clarity, and concision, to the effectiveness and communicating your message, your use of body language and physical space. Students will prepare CVs, cover letters, perform interviews, practice networking, and work in groups to develop sample start-up pitches. Students will build up experience and self-confidence with handling real life situations. Invited guests from the French and bi-cultural business and entrepreneurial community in New York City will share their experiences with students and provide opportunities for students to practice their new skills and learn more about bilingual business opportunities. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3006. French International Affairs. (4 Credits)
The course examines the codes of international relations and diplomacy and explores ways for students to prepare themselves for work in international organizations by mastery of these codes. In particular, we will focus on improving your eloquentia perfecta—oral and speaking skills and appropriate forms of presentation through personalized training, role playing, mock presentations, and pitches on such major international themes as diplomacy, education, health, culture, and security. Beyond incorporating the essentials of international relations, we will explore every aspect of public speaking from grammatical accuracy, phonetics, clarity, and concision to the effectiveness and communicating your message, your use of body language, and physical space. Students will build up experience and self-confidence with handling real life situations. Students will have the opportunity at the end of the semester to take the test for the professional diploma in international relations offered by the French Chamber of Commerce. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: INST, IPE, ISIN.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3030. What Is Writing? The Inscription of Culture From Page to Screen. (4 Credits)
This course examines the foundation of all literature: writing. What is the role of writing in the relation between language and thought? How has writing shaped culture? How has it been shaped by culture? And what is its future in this digital age. We will approach the cultural phenomenon of writing historically as well as philosophically. Topics will include: the transition from manuscript to printed book; the differences between orality and literacy; theories about the origin of writing; the future of reading in an age of SMS and beyond. Readings from: Marot; Rousseau; Desnos; Foucault; Derrida; Cassin; Dehaene. Class in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FFPM, FRMI, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3040. Changing Climate, Changing Culture. (4 Credits)
With the 2016 Paris Agreement on climate change (French: Accord de Paris), France became forever linked to environmental activism. But this activism has a long cultural history in France and francophone communities. Changing Climate, Changing Culture is a seminar that explores this culture of activism through a survey of francophone texts that have asked: "How does climate shape culture?" and "How has culture shaped climate?" We will explore the recent turn toward the environment in literary criticism known as ecocriticism (French: écocritique) and its relation to previous theories of catastrophe, such as nuclear criticism. The corpus of texts studied will come from far away in time and space: 12th-century lyrics and romances that reflect the Medieval warming period; 14th-century texts that respond to the return of the cold and the arrival of the Black Death; and 12th- and 21st-century Pacific Island literature that writes back to environmental change brought about through tourism, nuclear tests, and global warming. Because climate and the nuclear tests have affected the francophone Pacific islands in particular, this course will serve to introduce students to a lesser known area of French and Francophone studies. Readings will include Troubadour and trouvère lyric, Bruno Latour (Face à Gaïa), and Chantal Spitz (L'île des rêves écrasés). Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FFPM, MVST.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3050. Data Humanities: Reading in the Digital Age. (4 Credits)
This course introduces students to the burgeoning field of the digital humanities by reading literary texts through the lens of two different disciplines: literary studies and data science. While digital humanities comprises many subfields, we will go beyond the digital to consider text as data, comparing this data science approach to several different literary approaches to text, from formalism to feminism. Students will gain basic skills in Python programming and the use of Jupyter Notebooks. No prior programming experience is required or expected. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3055. Language and AI (Artificial Intelligence). (4 Credits)
Has generative AI put an end to language learning? To writing literature? To reading? This course looks at the intersection of language and artificial intelligence (AI) from the perspective of francophone studies. It asks questions like: What has Descartes to do with AI? Does Cixous’s écriture féminine apply to generated text? What is the difference between natural and artificial text? What can AI tell us about political discourse in francophone countries? No programming experience required. Students will learn to explore language in R. Course taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, ANLA, COLI, LING.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3060. Translation and Creative Writing in French. (4 Credits)
This course engages students in essential aspects of literary and professional translation from French to English and creative writing in French. Through critical readings of texts from a wide variety of disciplines (recent and classic Francophone literature, anthropology, postcolonial and gender studies, journalism, etc.), class discussions and workshops, and students' own sustained translating and creative writing practice, students will hone stronger writing skills by reviewing and practicing advanced French grammar and expanding their vocabulary. A strong emphasis will be placed on issues and strategies of translation and on creative writing and oral practice. By the end of the semester, students will complete a polished translation of a longer text or submit a creative writing project. No prior experience in translation or creative writing in any language is required. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attribute: ALC.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3070. France Votes!. (4 Credits)
Aux urnes, citoyens! In Spring 2022, France will hold the 12th presidential election of the Fifth Republic. This course will prepare students to engage with this event by studying the history and structure of the French government and by following the election as it unfolds in real time. The first part of the course will look at the historical development of the French government, from monarchy to republic, as well as the structure of the French government (its constitution and political system) and its relation to the European Union. We will then focus on the Fifth Republic and its system of voting, with some discussion of the French contribution to voting theory and particular attention to historical limitations on suffrage. As the election heats up, we will examine France’s various political parties, reading their platforms and analyzing their debates. Readings will come from the candidates, the French media, historians of the five French republics, and apologists for a sixth republic. Course in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, INST, ISEU, POCP.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3080. Critical Disability Studies: Perspectives in French and Francophone Literature and Film. (4 Credits)
This course begins with an overview of the field of disability studies in the context of France and the Francophone world. Critical inquiry will focus on prose, poetry, theater, and philosophical texts, as well as fictional and documentary cinematic works produced from the Age of Enlightenment to the present, to examine representations of individuals or groups with physical or developmental disabilities, regarding sight, speech, hearing, language, social behavior, or mental or physical illness. Taking an interdisciplinary approach and focusing on ethics and language, including terminology used in French equivalents for "disability" or "impairment," a central question of the course will probe into the ways in which literary figures, figurative language, and forms contribute to narratives of inclusion and anti-ableism. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, DISA, DIUL, ISEU.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3100. Medieval French Literature. (4 Credits)
A survey of medieval French literary genres of the 10th-15th centuries, ranging from lyrical and didactic poetry, prose, and drama, to contemporary cinematic adaptations of medieval texts. Set within their cultural contexts, selected works may comprise courtly and/or Arthurian literature, comedic texts, spiritual and political writings, and film. An excursion to the Morgan Library and Museum or Metropolitan Museum of Art may complement our in-class discussions. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FFPM, FRME, IPE, MVLI, MVST.
Prerequisite: FREN 2001 (may be taken concurrently).
FREN 3101. Word and Image in Medieval France. (4 Credits)
This course examines the medieval French literature that illuminates some of the great cathedrals of twelfth-and thirteenth-century France.To understand medieval cathedrals we must "read" them through the literature of the age. The texts studied will be in modern French translation and will come from a variety of genres: lyric poetry; romance; epic; devotional literature; biography and autobiographical confession. These texts will be related to the stained glass, architecture, and sculpture of several French gothic cathedrals. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FFPM, FRME, IPE.
FREN 3102. Notre Dame de Paris: The Cathedral in Art, Literature, Culture, & History. (4 Credits)
This course examines the cultural importance of Paris's great gothic cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris. We will examine the cathedral through history, with a focus on its creation and significance for the Middle Ages and on its future after the devastating fire of 2019. We will read some of the medieval French literature that illuminates its stained glass windows and sculpture. Reference will also be made to some of the other great cathedrals of 12th- and 13th-century France, especially Notre Dame de Chartres. Our study of Notre Dame de Paris will include its use through history, from the Revolution and Napoleon to its presence in contemporary film and literature. In French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FFPM, FRME.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3103. Medieval Other, Modern Ethics: Christians, Muslims, and Jews in Medieval France. (4 Credits)
Was France in the Middle Ages the birthplace of a persecuting society? How were minority religious and ethnic communities perceived by France’s dominant Catholic community? What were the political and cultural institutions that regulated the interrelations of these communities? How did the art and literature of the Middle Ages capture or distort the lived realities of these communities? Medieval Other, Modern Ethics will investigate these and other questions through the lens of contemporary French ethics. Readings from Peter Abelard; Chrétien de Troyes; Marie de France; Saints’ Lives; the Lancelot-Grail Cycle; Rutebeuf; Emmanuel Levinas; Jacques Derrida; Simone de Beauvoir; Hélène Cixous; Amin Maalouf; Marc Bloch; Souleymane Bachir Diagne. Class in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FFPM, FRME, FRMO, JWST, MVLI, MVST.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3125. Mapping the Nation. (4 Credits)
How did the term l’Hexagone come to be synonymous with continental France? This course examines the hidden ideology of maps, from the burgeoning of cartographic science during the Renaissance to the question of France’s place within the European Union and subsequent responsibility during the ongoing refugee crisis. In addition to considering maps as texts, starting with Guillaume Postel’s 1578 world map with a meridian bisecting Paris, we will also consider texts as maps, attending to questions of space, mobility, and perspective in authors ranging from Montaigne and Rabelais to Proust and Butor. Of particular interest is the process by which space becomes place, and the use of geography as a tool of political ideology. We will explore Michel de Certeau’s distinction between espace and lieu, and take lessons from Mark Monmonier’s compelling essay “How to Lie with Maps.” Benedict Anderson’s idea of “imagined communities” will be useful in discussing the role of graphic and literary representations of space in crafting a sense of French nationhood. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FRME, FRMO, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3130. Culture and Science in France. (4 Credits)
This course examines the history of the relations between science and culture in France, from the Renaissance to today. We will examine: the historicity of worldviews; religious and secular tensions; the literary expression of scientific ideas; the institutionalization of science by the French state. Fleadings from the works of Rabelais, Descartes, Pascal, Emilie du Chdtelet, Voltaire, Condorcet, Maupassant, Teilhard de Chardin, Duhem, Marie Curie, and Foucault. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, INST, IPE, ISEU.
FREN 3140. Changing Climate, Changing Culture. (4 Credits)
With the 2016 Paris Agreement on climate change (French: Accord de Paris), France became forever linked to environmental activism. But this activism has a long cultural history in France and Francophone communities. In this seminar, students explore this culture of activism through a survey of francophone texts that have asked how climate shapes culture and how culture has shaped climate. We will explore the recent turn toward the environment in literary criticism known as ecocriticism (French: écocritique) and its relation to previous theories of catastrophe, like nuclear criticism. The corpus of texts studied will come from far away in time and space: 12th-century lyrics and romances that reflect the Medieval Warm Period; 14th-century texts that respond to the return of the cold and the arrival of the Black Death; and 20th- and 21st-century Pacific island literature on environmental change brought about through tourism, nuclear tests, and global warming. Because climate and the nuclear tests have affected the francophone Pacific islands, in particular, this course will serve to introduce students to a lesser-known area of French and Francophone studies. Readings will include troubadour and trouvère lyric; Bruno Latour (Face à Gaïa); Joséphine de Monbart (Lettres tahitiennes); Paul Gauguin (Noa Noa); Chantal Spitz (L'île des rêves écrasés). Course taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FRMO.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3175. French Renaissances. (4 Credits)
This course explores the cultural renaissances of Medieval and Early Modern France. We will compare "the" Renaissance of the 16th century to two earlier "renaissances": one at the court of Charlemagne and the other during the 12th century. We will look at the literary and artistic expressions of these re-births, why they started and what lasting impacts they had on French culture throughout history. We will read works by some of the greatest authors of French literature, including: Rabelais; Marguerite de Navarre; Louise Labé; Montaigne; Scève; Marie de France; Chrétien de Troyes; Abelard & Heloise. Course in French.
Attributes: ALC, FFPM, FRME, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3225. Hollywood's Holy Grail: Medieval French Literature on the Screen. (4 Credits)
This course examines the foundational texts about King Arthur and the Holy Grail that have made their way into American and French films. Why do these thirteenth-century stories about the fourth century continue to fascinate us today in the twenty-first century? Why do they remain so successful as sources for compelling narratives? We will explore the cultural adaptation of these stories to their times and in particular changes made to the role gender plays in them. Topics covered will include: gender; folklore; high and low art; adaptation of text to screen; translation; the political use of the past. Course in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ACUP, ALC, AMST, COLI, FFPM, FRME, IPE, MVST.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3230. Podcasts en tous genres. (4 Credits)
Ubiquitous across media platforms as stand-alone programs, companion features for TV series, and features of traditional radio programming, podcasts exist in a wide range of formats and cover countless topics, embraced by celebrities, radio professionals, academics, and audio documentarians alike as effective means of communication and entertainment. Focusing on a curated selection of popular, innovative, and thought-provoking podcasts recorded in French, this course allows students to deepen their oral and written communication skills and intensively practice them at an advanced level as they consider the structural specificities and content qualities of various podcasts’ episodes and series intended for native French speakers. By the end of the semester, students will conceive, design, write, and produce a podcast episode with peers in French. This course is taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3250. Du scandale au chef d’oeuvre: Art that Shocks, Offends, and Endures. (4 Credits)
This course examines canonical French works from the early modern period to the present that have incurred censorship and/or widespread criticism for their scandalous nature. The analysis of these works will serve as a departure point from which to discuss the historic–political contexts that give rise to their offensive nature. From the theological underpinnings of the notion of scandal in the works of Rabelais, we will continue to explore how certain enduring works were perceived as threats to social order and to the very notion of what constitutes art. Among the varieties of scandal in our corpus will be art of a sexual/scatological nature (Rabelais’ Gargantua, Jarry’s Ubu Roi), art that offends morality or religious dogma (in the work of Voltaire and Baudelaire), art that undermines political authority (the films La Grande Illusion and La Bataille d’Algers), and the very notion of what art should be (the literary quarrels of the 17th century). We will consider how recent French literary and artistic scandals inform our understanding of contemporary French politics and society, and interrogate how the notion of scandal itself is relative to a given historical moment or cultural milieu. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FRME, FRMI.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3253. Moliere: From Page to Stage. (4 Credits)
This course taught in French explores French Theatre and offers the opportunity to engage in the creative process from page to stage. Students will have the opportunity to participate in different capacities, such as performers, designers, dramaturgs, and stage managers. This course emphasizes the importance of working collaboratively. Students enrolled in the French and Theatre Programs will share their strengths and learn from each other. We will combine reading, theory, and analysis of a single play by Moliere, and put what we learn into practice in rehearsal. The semester will end with a public performance. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, IPE, THEA, THPL.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3265. Writing for Theatre. (4 Credits)
This course encourages students to become playwrights and to improve their fluency in French. This is a creative writing course for theater with an opportunity to produce and perform an original short play. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attribute: IPE.
FREN 3270. Écocritique: Francophone environments and cultures. (4 Credits)
This course engages students in essential aspects of ecocriticism (écocritique), the study of Francophone literature, film, and art from the perspective of environmental issues expressed through a variety of disciplines and genres—from Francophone philosophy, anthropology/sociology, and critical animal studies to science fiction, poetry, and the visual arts. We will examine how rapidly changing environmental conditions bear not only on artistic expression and on our way of understanding the world but also on how past and present environmental crises inform expressive practices in French. We will concentrate on the human, animal, and environmental effects of French colonialism and its aftermath in postcolonial countries as well as on key environmental anticolonial practices in modern-day Francophone countries. This course is taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, ENST, ESEL, ESHC, FREN.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3275. Documentary and Storytelling in the Francophone World. (4 Credits)
Focusing on Francophone works, this course engages in reflection on the documentary genre, its many forms, and its relationship to truth, objectivity and subjectivity, fiction and factuality, as well as narrative and storytelling. Nudged by filmmakers' endless efforts to reclaim the fictional and subjective dimension of documentary cinema, creative engagements with documentary pursuits are also found in other media, from print (graphic novels) to sound (podcast and audio documentaries) and interactive works (webdocs, virtual reality). This course thus aims at questioning common assumptions about "documentary" as a category or genre, all the while considering how "documentary forms" have effectively been mobilized to produce certain types of knowledge, experiences, relations, and critical scrutiny of, and resistance to, such intervention. Taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FRMO, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3280. French Documentary in Action. (4 Credits)
In this course, students work together to develop English subtitles for a recent French documentary, screened at Fordham at the end of the semester. To this end, students will conduct background research to understand the film's subject and any sociocultural, political, and historical references informing the film. Screenings and discussions of French documentaries from different periods will help students situate the film within a long and rich national tradition and to reflect on the specific structure and tone used by the filmmakers. Finally, students will become familiar with the contemporary economy of documentary filmmaking in France. Multiple opportunities to engage with the filmmakers/producers (via skype, email, or potentially in person) will allow students to discuss the progression of their ongoing collaborative research project and to produce a booklet of materials distributed at the screening. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FRAN, FRMO.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3290. Early Authors Modern Theory. (4 Credits)
This course explores French writers from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance through the lens of 20th- and 21st-century French thinkers. We will read both original texts and later commentaries to interrogate how our modern theories have shaped our understanding of early French literature and culture, and consequently of the French canon. This juxtaposition will allow us to ask: How have the ideas of the author and of the text changed over time? Do modern theories help reveal aspects of early writers? Or are we merely reworking them in our own image? The early authors we will study may include, from the Middle Ages: Marie de France, Chrétien de Troyes, Christine de Pisan, François Villon; from the Renaissance: Rabelais, Marguerite de Navarre, Montaigne, Rabelais, Ronsard, Du Bellay, Labé. Among the modern theorists: Bon, Barthes, Foucault, Butor, Deguy, and Cerquiglini. Conducted in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FFPM, FRME, FRMO, IPE.
FREN 3292. French Revolutions (1789-present). (4 Credits)
This course endeavors to engage students in major episodes of French political and social history, literature, and art through the plural notion of French Revolutions. These major episodes integrate the following historical moments, some actual revolutions, some that ask us to question the very notion of “revolution”: (1) 1789, (2) 1830, (3) 1848, (4) 1870-71, (5) 1940, (6) 1962, (7) 1968, (8) 2015, and more. All of these revolutionary moments entailed major changes in popular relationships to institutions of power; some meant reenvisioning power as such; all of them involved changes in rhetorical and artistic practices that created differences in popular perspectives on what it means to be a leader, part of a “nation,” a people, a peasantry, or an immigrant in France. In all cases, the popular imagination has been drawn upon to account for the revolutions—whether major or minor—that their leaders, and the people behind them, intended to carry out. In this course, we will draw on a wide variety of documents (novels, rap/song, films, art, etc.) and examine those voices that have called for revolution but whose revolutions have remained unheard. Course taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, HIST, INST, ISEU.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3300. The Enlightenment. (4 Credits)
The main currents of the French 18th-century Enlightenment: works by Montesquieu, Marivaux, Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau and Laclos. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FRMI, IPE.
FREN 3301. France and Global Enlightenment. (4 Credits)
In this course, we will study the Enlightenment in France and beyond. As philosophes and others in France began radically to question the basic epistemologies that grounded notions of reason, faith, physical bodies, and one’s relation to another, data poured in from all over the world to confirm, contest, or undermine long-held truths. But these transactions with Asia, the New World, Africa, and other parts of Europe were not just unidirectional; they involved far more than the mere cataloguing and discussion of artifacts in the Royal Academies or the elegant exchanges and commentaries in the Republic of Letters and other emerging public spheres. Moreover, these transactions were far from innocent. They were imbricated in questions of empire, national conflicts, racial and ethnic superiority, commerce, and patriarchy, among other things. To address this global Enlightenment and its complexities, we will be reading literary, historic, scientific, philosophic, and travel writings written both in France and around the globe. As such, students should gain a much more expansive and transnational understanding of that famous question posed by Kant, “What is an Enlightenment?” Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FFPM, FRMI, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3333. Tableaux: Art and Theater: 1700s. (4 Credits)
This course examines the changing articulation of the 'tableau' and how it informed important aesthetic developments in 18th century theater and painting. Students will read theoretical texts on the theater, such as Diderot's De la poesie dramatique and Mercier's De theatre, theoretical works by Marivaux, Voltaire, Diderot and Beaumarchais, in addition to critical texts on the French salons. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FFPM, FRMI, IPE.
FREN 3340. Amazones, Salonnières, and Révolutionnaires: Women writers in Ancien Régime France. (4 Credits)
This course examines women writers in Ancien Régime France (17th and 18th centuries) and the various movements, events, literary genres, groups, and institutions their writing incited, such as the Amazones (the military women of the Fronde), the Précieuses, the Salonnières, the Republic of letters, epistolary novelists, and Revolutionnaries, etc. The women studied in this course include: Madame d’Aulnoy, Madame de Scudéry, Madame de Lafayette, Madame Riccoboni, Madame du Deffand, La Comtesse de Genlis, Madame d’Epinay, Madame de Charriere, Olympe de Gouges, Madame de Roland, and Madame de Staël. This course is taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FFPM, FRME, FRMI, IPE, WGSS.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3350. Thinkers and Moralists. (4 Credits)
The class reads work by great French thinkers, among them the essayist Montaigne, the theologian Pascal, the humorist Moliere, the satirist LaBruyere and the salon star La Rochefoucauld, the social commentator Alexis de Toqueville, the food writer Brillat-Savarin. We will elucidate the nature and influence of French thinking about many aspects of culture thoughout the early modern period and its effects to the present day. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FRME, FRMI, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2001 (may be taken concurrently).
FREN 3360. French Autobiography. (4 Credits)
How the French recount their lives, form themselves and interact with others. Three male and three female-authored texts: Montaigne, Rousseau, Grde de Beauvoir, Yourcenar, Kaplan. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FRMI, FRMO, IPE.
FREN 3450. Writers and Lawbreakers. (4 Credits)
This course focuses on the complex relationship that existed between literature and the law in 19th- and 20th-century France. We use prison literature, adventure novels, memoirs, poetry, and plays to discuss societal perceptions of criminals, views of normative behaviors, literal and figurative crimes, and the aesthetic decisions made by artists caught between unacceptable narratives and respect for the literary canon. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, EP3, INST, IPE, ISEU.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3453. The Flaneur in Paris. (4 Credits)
Why does the figure of the flâneur appear in literature and art in the first decades of the 19th century? What changes (political, economic, social, urban, technical, aesthetic, and poetic) occur that facilitate this new type of urban wanderer? What’s the difference between the 17th- and 18th- century promeneur and the flâneur? Why is the concept of the flâneur impossible until the 19th century? And why does the flâneur disappear as Walter Benjamin argues toward the end of the 19th century? Why is the flâneur predominantly a male category? And is there a descent of the flâneur in the 20th and 21st centuries? In this course we examine the figure of the urban wanderer and flâneur from the last years of the 18th century to the first decade of the 21st century. We examine this figure in the literary and aesthetic works of Mercier, Retif de la Bretonne, Balzac, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Zola, Colette, Apollinaire, Debord, Roubaud, Calle as well as in the philosophical works of Benjamin and other critical texts and films. While we will not be able to walk in Paris, we will explore some of these questions by using New York as our ambulatory laboratory. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FFPM, FRMO, INST, IPE, ISEU.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3456. 20th-Century France: A Blast from the Past. (4 Credits)
The France of today is a product of yesterday. It’s a blast from the past: a nuclear bomb, the separation of church and state, the railroads, an occupation, high fashion, dance, opera, the first glance of internet, two world wars, the many faces of immigration, race and racism, jazz, gentrification, existentialism, rap, and AIDS. Colonialism, anticolonialisms. In this course, we will study the history of the 20th century in France, review its politics and cultural scenes, and discuss its preeminence, for better or worse, on the world stage. We will read two-plus Francophone novels, watch two-plus Francophone films, read poetry, watch videos, and listen to music. In addition to refining their vocabulary and grammar in French, students will be asked to write a lengthy final project, present it, and contribute regularly to class discussion in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, HIEH, HIST, HIUL, INST, ISEU.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3460. Postcolonial Representations. (4 Credits)
This course examines the impact of colonization on Francophone cultural and artistic productions from the 1830s to the present. It begins with a discussion of the ways in which colonialism fostered modes of perception of the self and the “other” that went far beyond the artistic sphere. Newspaper articles, postcards, documentary films, as well as exhibitions and even culinary trends produced during the colonial era have each in their own way justified colonization. The ideologies and behaviors they spread all over the world survived decolonization and the great waves of immigration to France. The second part of the course examines how North African artists have dealt with this burden. While the inherently violent system of representation they inherited, be they born during colonial times or after independence, has shaped their work, it did not stifle their creativity. The third part of the course is a case in point: It focuses on young francophone Algerian women writers to show how and why the daughters of immigrants have found a particularly powerful voice to memorialize their silenced fathers. Taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, EP3, FRAN, FRMO, IPE, MEST.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3464. French Films d'Auteur. (4 Credits)
In this course, you will study French cinema history by focusing particularly on the "Auteur theory" and the work of world-renowned French filmmakers. Taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FRMO, IPE, WGSS.
FREN 3465. Women on the Margins. (4 Credits)
The course explores the roles and identities available to women in nineteenth-century France and the ways in which women expanded the boundaries of those constraints. Through readings of literary and non-literary texts as well as films, paintings, drawings, and fashion plates, we consider such institutions and conditions as female education and conduct, marriage, motherhood, prostitution, sainthood, rebellion, and creativity. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, EP3, FRMO, IPE, WGSS.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3466. Discovering French Cinema. (4 Credits)
With over 2000 movie theaters, an average of 200 feature films produced annually and over 50 international co-production agreements, France’s film culture and industry remain strong. Every year, major international film festivals feature French films and filmmakers. But what is French cinema? What defines its “Frenchness”? This course examines how and why French cinema successfully positioned itself as a lasting international reference, looking at the work of a few iconic and revolutionary filmmakers. It also aims at questioning the conscious (re)construction of “Frenchness” in and through cinema over time. To that end, we will consider the role various social, cultural, political, and industrial forces have played in defining, establishing, and promoting a certain idea of French cinema. We will also discuss filmmakers who have used cinema to question such reifications, by continuously re-imagining its contours, reclaiming narratives, and challenging expectations. You will have opportunities to enjoy NYC’s francophile and cinephile culture since high-profile annual French film festivals take place in the city every Spring, including Animation First at FIAF/Alliance Française and Rendez-vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FITV, FRMO, INST, IPE, ISEU.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3470. Francophone North Africa. (4 Credits)
If the colonial past has imposed a number of artistic chanllenges on the contemporary North African artists, it has also obliged many of them to be linguistically innovative. In this class, we will explore how North African francophone writers have experimented with French literacy genres, as well as with bilingualism, in their struggles to fashion suitable creative spaces within the colonizer's language. We will use short stories, novels, poetry, memoirs, and films to analyse this relatively new (and often subversive)literary voice, and to see how it interprets and rephrases central contemporary narratives, including those of war, exile, and immigration. Readings many include Bouraoui, Chraibi, Dib, Djebar, Feraoun, Haddad, Mokeddem and Sebbar. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, IPE, MEST.
FREN 3471. Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa. (4 Credits)
This course will examine historical and contemporary migration and identities in sub-Saharan francophone Africa. Drawing on anthropology, film, literature, and theatre, we will explore migration from African perspectives. Topics covered include child trafficking, child labor, gender, religion, development and social change, and political consciousness. Readings/films will include: Le ventre de l’atlantique (Fatou Diome), Allah n'est pas obligé (Ahmadou Kourouma) Jaguar, les Maîtres fous (Jean Rouch), Femmes, greniers et capitaux (Claude Meillassoux). Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: AFAM, ALC, FRAN, FRMO, INST, IPE, ISAF.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3475. Narratives of the Sahel. (4 Credits)
This course examines Sahelian cultures and narratives as expressed through a variety of forms, including oral tradition, song, poetry, short story, the picaresque novel, detective fiction, graphic novel, and documentary and fictional film produced between the 1970s and the early 2020s. The Sahel is a vast geographical transitional expanse of land with the Sahara Desert to its north and the Savannah to its south. A transborder, transient, and fluid space spanning parts of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Sudan to name a few countries, the Sahel is where cultures, languages, and identities collide and unite. It is at once a space of disorder and contradiction, idleness and stillness, sound and silence. By consuming works by Oumar Ba, Marième Mint Derwich, Boubacar Boris Diop, Amadou Hampaté Bâ, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Aïcha Macky, Monique Ilboudo, Moussa Konaté, and Abderrahmane Sissako, among others, we will engage critically with various aspects of Sahelian culture by analyzing the roles and styles of the griot and griotte, the figure of the trickster and the interpreter; narratives of conquest and resistance; and examining religion, patriarchy, women’s agency, and ways in which the youth are increasingly changing the narrative. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction. Course taught in French.
Attributes: ALC, INST, ISAF.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3476. Conflict and Violence in Francophone African Cinemas. (4 Credits)
The development of film industries across Africa has been inextricably tied with colonial history. We will focus here on the cinematic production of former French colonies, from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia in North Africa to sub-Saharan countries, including Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Tchad. Often trained in Western film schools, African and North African filmmakers started making films in the 1950s and 1960s, a time also marked by repeated struggles for independence from colonial domination. There is no single way to look at such a diverse and extraordinarily rich corpus. We will look more specifically at how different filmmakers have addressed, performed and questioned the notions of conflict and violence, both physical and psychological, literal and symbolic, at different time periods and in different regional contexts. Ousmane Sembène, Abderrahmane Sissako, Mahamat Saleh Haroun, Nabil Ayouch, Sarah Maldorore will be among the filmmakers included in our discussions. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FRAN, FRMO, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3478. The Essay Film. (4 Credits)
Recently called "the most vibrant and significant kind of filmmaking in the world today" by Timothy Corrigan (2011), the essay film has been embraced by filmmakers worldwide. In this course, however, we will consider primarily the works of four key Francophone filmmakers and essayists, Agnès Varda, Jean-Luc Godard, Chantal Akerman, and Chris Marker. Non-exhaustive, this selective corpus allows for greater exploration of a genre that questions the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, the declarative and the meditative, the visual and the verbal, the personal and the political. Critical interventions by Alexandre Astruc, Raymond Bellour, Phillip Lopate, Jean-Luc Godard, Timothy Corrigan and others, will help us understand and reflect on the formal integrity of a multifaceted genre, and the specific use of cinematic forms and techniques by filmmakers to convey clear political and aesthetic positions. The last month of the semester will be spent on students’ individual and collective creative experimentations with the essay video, with a special focus on pre-production and production planning and ongoing peer review critiques of each other’s works. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FRMO, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3479. The New Wave Arrives. (4 Credits)
This interdisciplinary course examines the “New Wave” as a broad sociocultural phenomenon that not only refers to the cinematic revolution brought about by François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda and other filmmakers in the early 1960s but one that encompasses a wide range of transformations that made 1960s Paris the epicenter of pivotal artistic trends, social transformations and political activity. In addition to the French New Wave, topics include the role of youth popular culture, urban architecture and planning, the impact of the Algerian War and decolonization wars, mass consumerism, the convergence of several social and intellectual movements (women, workers, students, immigrants) in 'May 68'. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, COMM, EP3, FITV, FRMO, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3480. Francophone Caribbean Literature. (4 Credits)
This course examines a variety of literary, historical, cultural and linguistic aspects of the francophone Caribbean between 1791 (the beginning of the Haitian Revolution) and today. Topics include articulations of political sovereignty in colonial and post-colonial contexts, francophone Caribbean literary movements, alternative narratives provided by Afro-diasporic voices, and Caribbean feminisms. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ACUP, ALC, AMST, ASLT, COLI, FRAN, FRMO, GLBL, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3490. Africa: Society and Culture Through Film. (4 Credits)
Africa has been the object of representations in film since the development of film technology, and Francophone African films and filmmakers have occupied a key place in African filmmaking since the 1960s. This course examines how African modernity and tradition, culture, gender, migration, and conflict are represented in films. The course will examine a wide range of Francophone African films and filmmakers, using the films as insights into understanding African topics and for reflecting on how Africa is represented in films. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: AFAM, ALC, FITV, FRAN, HCWL, HUST, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3492. Climate Change and Sustainable Development in the Francophone World. (4 Credits)
This course will examine how climate change is affecting societies, cultures, and economies in the Francophone world, with a focus on Africa. Through case studies, we will explore the challenges of environmental transformations and the solutions proposed, both by the international community and by local populations. We will examine debates surrounding solutions to climate change, as well as related issues including water scarcity, food insecurity, migration, conflict, and urbanization. Course taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: AFAM, ANTH, ENST, ESEJ, ESEL, ESHC, GLBL, HPSE, HUST, PJEN, PJST.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
Mutually Exclusive: LACU 3492, MLAL 3492.
FREN 3494. Africa: Education, Youth, and Society. (4 Credits)
Education is seen as the main motor of development and democracy in postcolonial Africa, yet many young people cannot access the education they seek. What are the reasons and the colonial legacies of education systems? How have youth and educators responded to this situation? Drawing on literature, documentary film, anthropology, and sociology, this class will analyze the relations between education and society in francophone Africa, focusing on how African nations have confronted the immense problems that education and youth face, including schooling, family, socialization, traditional education, and employment. This course is taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: FRAN, INST, ISAF.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3496. Francophone Communities in New York City. (4 Credits)
This course will examine contemporary cultural, educational, social, and human rights issues among Francophone immigrant communities from Africa and the Caribbean in New York City. Topics such as migrant trajectories, employment, gender roles, diasporic connection, relations with country of origin, youth education, solidarity, and hybrid identities will be explored. Primary source research and community engagement with migrant organizations will be emphasized. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attribute: FRAN.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3498. Harlem Renaissance and Africa: Struggle for Freedom. (4 Credits)
From the 1920s to the 1950s, Harlem was the global center of Black politics and culture, drawing the brightest minds of the time to tackle the most difficult issues facing Blacks in the U.S., Caribbean, and Africa: subjugation, segregation, and identity. The Harlem Renaissance and the Negritude movement founded in Paris contributed immensely to describing and portraying Black identity and the political and socio-economic emancipation of Blacks. While African Americans were fighting systemic racial discrimination in the United States, in Africa, independence movements were starting to demolish the worst forms of colonial exploitation. Pan-Africanism—an ideological and political movement aimed at unifying people of African descent beyond cultural differences or geographical location was active and compelling both in Africa and Harlem. Drawing on novels, popular media, poems, historical texts, ethnography, and documentary films, this course will examine the past and present of the struggle for political freedom and civic rights in the space linking Harlem to Africa. How did the two movements inspire each other? How did they shape the relationship between African-Americans and African immigrants? Course taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: AFAM, ANTH, ISAF.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3500. French Literary Theory. (4 Credits)
French Theory became intellectual trend in the United-States thanks to the translation of works by philosophers such as Michel Foucault, Giles Deleuze and Jacques Derrida. This course focuses on that particular theoretical movement and the way it increased significantly the academic relationships between France and the United-States. It also gives students the opportunity to discover today’s main “French theories” , not only understood as coming from France, but also from Québec, Switzerland, and Belgium. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FRMO, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600 (may be taken concurrently).
FREN 3510. Translation: Theory and Practice. (4 Credits)
This course considers the question of translation theory and practice from a variety of perspectives: literary, philosophical, and historical. Students will become familiar with the problems most commonly encountered in translation, as well as solutions that have worked or failed. We will examine how these practices of translating into and from French have shaped French cultural and literary history, and since rare is the theorist of translation who is not also a practitioner, we will not only critique existing translations, but also create our own translations. Readings will include literary, philosophical, historical, and cultural texts, by authors like: Christine de Pisan, Du Bellay, de Meziriac, Flaubert, Baudelaire, Beckett, Kristeva, Derrida. Taught in French. (Groups ll, lV) Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attribute: IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3550. In Search of Lost Time: Modernity, Temporality, and the Self in 20th Century French Literature. (4 Credits)
A fundamental construct of Modernity is that it posits a particular relation to time, where the present is defined through a break with the past. This class examines how, for modern writers, a sense of self is indissociable from a broader reflection on the ways in which time structures who we are, and how we perceive the world. Themes include: memory and childhood, the invention of the everyday, day and night, timelessness and the unconscious, measuring time in science. Authors and firms include: Proust, Beckett, Sarraute, Ducharme, Godard (taught in French).
Attributes: ALC, INST, IPE, ISEU.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3555. Man: Beast or Machine. (4 Credits)
This course explores what it means to be human, from the early modern period to the present, through a survey of francophone texts dealing with humankind's relationship to animals and machines. We will look at Renaissance humanist texts that argue for man's superiority to animals, which we will compare to their classical atecedents. We will investigate Enlightenment perspectives on the distinction between men, beasts and machines from Descartes, Diderot, and La Mettrie. Theoretical approaches from animal studies and postmodern anti-humanism will be applied to consider how modern society defends and critiques anthropocentrism through art, and how writing reflects our apprehension that machines are a threat to humanity. Course in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FRMI, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3564. French Theatre and Performance (Taught in French). (4 Credits)
This course explores French theatre and offers students the opportunity to engage in the creative process from script to rehearsal to a full public performance at the end of the semester. It teaches students how to express themselves more effectively in French, and it helps them develop the ability to communicate thoughts and feelings to others. We will combine acting, history, reading, theory, and analysis of major modern playwrights. Invited guests from the French and bicultural theatre community in New York City will share their experiences and provide opportunities for students to practice their new skills. Taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3565. French Contemporary Novel. (4 Credits)
This course examines some formal and narrative experiments that have been central to the renewal of the French novel since the 1980's, in particular the popularity of fragmented stories and micro-fictions. This fragmentation can take various forms beyond textual productions, including the turn for many writers to graphic novels, radio narratives, and other types of cross media explorations. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FRMO, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3566. French Contemporary Theater. (4 Credits)
This course examines French theater focusing on the performative theatrical art of confession and, in particular, "la déclaration d'amour." Special attention will be granted to the relationship between text and performance or to how the word becomes action on stage and how staging affects our perception of the word. Readings include classical and contemporary plays as well as workshops and invited guests. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attribute: IPE.
FREN 3600. France Today. (4 Credits)
This course will explore the various “crises” affecting current French society. Questions of immigration, race, gender, economic inequality, and security, among others, have marked social discourse for the past 20 years. These microphenomena reveal trends and realities of a society facing various challenges. For each particular debate, we will bring in historical and sociological perspectives in order to better understand the implications. This course will concentrate primarily on a study of the press but also works of literature and film. We will learn to read the press with a critical lens in order to understand it not only as a fourth power but also as a shaper of dominant discourse. Taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: INST, IPE, ISEU.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3605. Cultural and Literary History of Journalism. (4 Credits)
This course examines not only the history of the practice of journalism in France from the rise of mass media in 1830 to the present day, but also the cultural and literary representations of journalism and journalists. Particular attention will be paid to the figure of the grand reporter and the practice of reportage from 1890-1950. Students will read primary sources from the period in question and will be introduced to various theoretical approaches to the study of media. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3612. Cinemas of Quebec. (4 Credits)
This course examines the cinematic production made both in Quebec and abroad, by Quebec-based and Quebec-born filmmakers, hence the title “Cinemas of Quebec” rather than “Québécois cinema.” This broader perspective allows for a more complex interrogation of cinema’s contributions to the refashioning of Quebec’s social and political history over time, from the affirmation of Québécois identity to First Nations’ demands for recognition and reparations. It also invites considerations of Quebec’s lasting contributions to (world) cinema. The list of films and filmmakers discussed will evolve with each iteration of the course to accommodate thematic inquiries, specific critical questions, and emerging trends. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, FITV, FRAN, FRMO, INST, ISIN.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3630. Francophone Voices From North Africa. (4 Credits)
Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FRAN, IPE, MEST.
FREN 3631. North African France. (4 Credits)
This course focuses on young twenty-first century writers of North African descent whose recent literary debuts shocked the French media and literary establishment. An analysis of their public personae as well as a close reading of their works help us understand how French society negotiates volatile political issues such as religion, patriarchy, racism, violence, and sexuality. It also brings a thorough understanidng of the socio-cultural taboos that emerged after decolonization, notably those connected to the French acceptation of the public sphere. Last but not least, it provides a forum to discover and discuss some of the most powerful new voices of contemporary literature. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, FRAN, IPE, MEST.
FREN 3637. Francophone Middle East. (4 Credits)
This course explores the historical and cultural ties between France and the Middle East between 1798 and today. Topics include: Napoleon's campaign in Egypt; Egyptian intellectual diasporas in Paris (1880-1930); francophone poetry in 1920s Syria; francophone writings of the Lebanese civil war; identity politics in contemporary francophone Lebanese theater and cinema. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, EP3, FRAN, FRMO, GLBL, INST, IPE, ISEU, ISIN, ISME, MEST.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3640. Postcolonial Representation. (4 Credits)
Novels and essays written in French and published in the 1980's that reflect cultural identities. Authors viewed as interpreters of the postcolonial condition whose works have been redefining traditional conceptions of history and culture, literature and identity. Authors may include Sebbar, Conde, Glissant, Chamoiseau, Confiant. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, GLBL, IPE, MEST.
FREN 3666. The Francophone Graphic Novel. (4 Credits)
Graphic novels constitute an important part of French literary production. Their artistic value is widely recognized, and they represent a significant portion of the book market. Robustly subsidized by the government, the French comics and graphic novel market grows by about 9% every year. This course shows why the genre is so celebrated today by exploring how graphic novel artists have carved out a unique space to discuss complex social questions. In the past 15 years in particular, graphic novelists have not shied away from difficult topics such as French Islam, radical Islam, colonial crimes and postcolonial silences, immigration, racism and discrimination, gender inequality, unsustainable working conditions, climate change, and COVID-19. Because of its unique ways of representing social justice issues, the genre can provide fresh ideas to imagine a collective future, and more than occasionally offer forward-thinking political options. Not only that, but the graphic novel also empowers numerous minority artists to share their experience––be they Korean adoptees struggling to remain in Belgium, practicing French Muslim creators for whom drawing living beings is not an option, or the children of trauma-ridden Lebanese parents. While the course explores how the genre’s multimodal nature allows for nuanced explorations of urgent issues, it also focuses on its reception: today, two graphic novels out of three are geared toward readers who are under 30 years old, young men and women who want to be entertained as well as learn about new ways to live in a brutal world. Taught in French. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, EP3.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3675. America! French and Francophone Perspectives. (4 Credits)
Drawing from a wide-ranging selection of literary texts, films, critical essays published or released at different time periods, this interdisciplinary course will examine Francophone constructions of "America." We will thus question the extent to which "America" is a neutral term. Does it refer to a geographical territory or to a site of cultural and political projections, aspirations or criticism? This course will examine how Francophone explorers, artists, intellectuals and politicians have contributed to the production and re-signification of this trope over time. Taught in French. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ACUP, ALC, AMST, FRAN, FRMO, IPE.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3676. Fashioning the Empire. (4 Credits)
Western fashion, at its core, is a colonial enterprise. In spite of the emergence of what is now called “ethical fashion” and of a relative awareness in the industry of the importance of selling responsibly manufactured products, most of what we wear is made in the Global South and replicates the oppressive structures imposed by European powers for centuries. Familiar to scholars of colonialism, the dire working conditions imposed on factory workers, the offloading of used garments to the developing world (15 million used garments are shipped to Ghana per week, for instance, 40% of which are unusable), the lack of diverse representation in fashion magazines, and the generalized appropriation of culturally-specific styles must be unpacked. This course—taught in French—examines the extent to which today’s fashion production, structures, and systems are economically and symbolically linked with Western colonial history. Taking France as an example, it traces how fashion has not only followed colonial principles but also inspired and reinforced them. It begins with an in-depth analysis of the first fashion magazines to establish that their fashion plates and chronicles used race to signal superiority and linked beauty and whiteness with luxury and privilege. The next parts of the course focus on material culture, as we examine cotton, silk, wool, and finally indigo not just as material objects but as political tools of oppression. TAUGHT IN FRENCH. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
Attributes: ALC, COLI, EP3, FASH, INST, IPE, ISEU, ISIN.
Prerequisite: FREN 2600.
FREN 3999. Tutorial. (3 Credits)
Study of a particular aspect of French literature or thought. Independent research and readings. Weekly or biweekly meetings with a faculty adviser. Designed for majors with permission of instructor.
Attribute: IPE.
FREN 4001. Reading French Theory. (4 Credits)
This course introduces students to the reading of French theory across domains (e.g., philosophy, history, feminism, theology, gender studies) in the French language. No prior knowledge of French is required. This course provides a comprehensive introduction to French grammar and vocabulary to enable research in French. This course does not fulfill the undergraduate language requirement.
FREN 4111. French and Francophone Studies Capstone Seminar. (4 Credits)
The French and Francophone Studies Capstone Seminar focuses on research methodologies and thesis writing/presentation. Students are required to formulate a research question, develop an original argument, and collect, organize, and analyze sources, both primary and secondary. The course involves theory and archival research, planning, and presenting findings. Key components of the seminar include weekly writing workshops and peer editing sessions. Students will complete an individualized research project on a specific topic, geographic area, or time period. Assignments will cover creating a bibliography, articulating a thesis statement, and outlining the research. The seminar is a collaborative effort where students contribute to shaping and editing each other's work, fostering a deep understanding of various topics related to the francophone world. By the end of the semester, students will be experts on their chosen topics and will have played a significant role in their classmates’ projects. The course is designed to be rigorous and student-centered, culminating in a senior thesis, final exhibition, or portfolio. Taught entirely in French, this required course is exclusively for senior French and Francophone Studies majors. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
FREN 4998. Senior Thesis Tutorial. (4 Credits)
Independent research, supervised by a faculty in the language, leading to the completion of a senior thesis.
Attribute: IPE.
FREN 4999. Tutorial. (4 Credits)
Study of a particular aspect of French literature or thought. Independent research and readings. Weekly or biweekly meetings with a faculty adviser. Designed for majors with permission of instructor.
Attribute: IPE.
FREN 5001. Reading French Theory. (0 Credits)
This course introduces students to the reading of French theory across domains (e.g., philosophy, history, feminism, theology, gender studies) in the French language. No prior knowledge of French is required. This course provides a comprehensive introduction to French grammar and vocabulary to enable research in French. This course does not fulfill the undergraduate language requirement.
FREN 5090. French for Reading. (0 Credits)
FREN 8999. French for Research. (1 to 3 Credits)
A comprehensive introduction to French grammar and vocabulary to enable graduate-level research in French.
FREN 9000. GSAS Language Audit. (0 Credits)
GSAS Language Audit.
FREN 9101. Introduction to French I. (0 Credits)
FREN 9102. Introduction to French II. (0 Credits)
FREN 9151. Intermediate French I. (0 Credits)
FREN 9152. Intermediate French II. (0 Credits)
FREN 9201. French Language and Literature. (0 Credits)
FREN 9260. France: Lit., Hist., Civ.. (0 Credits)
FREN 9347. Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa. (0 Credits)