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COURSES Courses above 312 are specialized in content and varied: conversation, literature, business, culture/civilization, advanced stylistics/writing, and film. They reflect the richness and diversity of the French and Francophone world. The crowning of French studies is the Minor thesis when the student writes an extensive research paper on a subject of his/her choosing relating to the French or Francophone world. All courses, from French 101 on, are taught in French. UNDERGRADUATE COURSE DESCRIPTION FRENCH AND EXPERIENCE ABROAD The experience of an extended stay abroad is invaluable for advanced mastery of the language and a better understanding of the country and culture under study. Eligibility
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FRENCH 313 - ADVANCED FRENCH STYLISTICS
Conversation française
This course stresses conversation and prepares students to function
linguistically and culturally in French-speaking countries. So whether
you go to France, Belgium, Québec, Sénégal or elsewhere, be it for
leisure, study or work, soon or later, this is a course which will
introduce you to genuine French for application in real life.
FRENCH 332 - STUDIES IN FRENCH LITERATURE
L'Amour en littérature et film
An introductory course to French/ Francophone literature through the
theme of love, with excerpts of representative texts to gain
familiarity in genre, authors, figures of speech, discourse analysis,
historical and cultural contexts, etc. It includes reading, and oral
and written analysis of the chosen texts, and the viewing of movies
from corresponding time-periods on the theme of love.
FRENCH 333 - ADVANCED FRENCH LITERATURE
L'exil en littérature
This course will examine, through excerpts of francophone literature,
various forms of exile, together with some of its ramifications like
new possibilities, or on the contrary, marginalization and exclusion.
It presents French/ Francophone literature through the theme of exile,
with excerpts of representative texts to gain familiarity in some
features of genre, various francophone authors (20th and 21st century
mainly), figures of speech, discourse analysis, historical and cultural
contexts, etc. It includes reading and oral and written analysis of the
chosen texts.
There will then be an emphasis on reading and analytical skills but also on writing and speaking in class.
Des mots et des mets
Words
and food from the country whose cuisine has been declared "world
intangible heritage" by UNESCO in November 2010. This course introduces
French cuisine in its context, i.e. its various aspects: historical,
social, societal, economic, together with some very current issues. It
illustrates it through excerpts from French literature, XXth but mostly
XXIst century writers, through film too, and insists above all on the
pleasure of food and texts, of eating and writing.
FREN 371 - Specialized Studies in French Civilization & Culture
Voyages en France
Voyages en France invites
you to a discovery of the variety and richness of France, the most
visited country in the world, through some of its regions, nine out of
twenty-six, metropolitan and overseas included. Based on a movie each
week, the course leads you to probe deeper into the various regions
past, politics, industry, social-economics, linguistics, architecture,
art, music, literature and gastronomy.
La France et ses médias
La France et ses médias,
is designed for students to understand how France operates, ticks and
feels on national and international issues with an insider's view,
through its written, spoken and audiovisual press, and to learn about
current events and debates in France, and French-specific features of
government, politics, society, welfare, and culture. Through the use of
the internet, various documents and a text-book, it provides very
up-to-date and immediate access to what is going on in the Hexagon.
Intense practice of the four skills at an advanced level: listening,
reading, speaking, and writing.
Paris je t'aime
A study of the biggest francophone city of which Gertrude Stein used to
say: "America is my country and Paris is my hometown". Its
characteristics and identity will be apprehended through major
historical and current events, economy, sociology, urbanism, and
through reflections in literature, film and other arts.
FRENCH 411 - SPECIAL STUDIES IN ADVANCED FRENCH STYLISTICS
La Chanson française
French songs studied as a linguistic and cultural tool.
Quotidien et Air du temps
What is our daily life made of: "bread," routine, chores, fun,
surprise, "métro, boulot, dodo" or "le bel aujourd'hui"? With daily
life as a theme, learn how various texts from varied fields (literary,
journalistic, comics, film, songs) express discourse, and by what
means. Through a close study of style and discussion in class, students
will practice the four skills, especially textual analysis and writing,
by imitation and creation.
FRENCH 431 - SPECIALIZED STUDY IN ADVANCED FRENCH /FRANCOPHONE LITERATURE
Romans contemporains
Romans contemporains
introduces you to four very successful contemporary novels that made
the top of the list. You will discover some writers and works that the
French are reading in these 21st century years, and be acquainted with
contemporary French writing and themes.
La nouvelle francophone, hier et aujourd'hui
A study of XXth and XXIst century short stories from France and the
Francophone world from contemporary writers from France, Martinique,
Algeria, Québec, Vietnam, Belgium, Switzerland, etc…
Literature, the short story in this case, as mimesis or imitation of
life, and therefore close attention will be paid to the atmosphere,
plot and climax of the various texts but also to their cultural
components and what they tell about people, mores, places, habits,
History, politics, etc… Along the course, characteristics of the short
story will be defined and what makes it a genre on its own. There will
then be an emphasis on reading and analytical skills but also on
writing and speaking in class.
Impressions d'Orient et d'Occident : parcours de femmes
From Nasser's Egypt to France in the 90's to contemporary Japan, four
novels of the last decade by Paula Jacques, Emmanuèle Bernheim, Minna
Sif, Amélie Nothomb which describe women under different times and
climes. How do these women work, love, laugh and cry, in a word cope
with life ? What are their places and roles in the family and society ?
What are their opportunities and/or constraints ? Such are some of the
questions that will be examined in this class with textual analysis, or
a feminist or cultural studies approach.
Regards croisés Europe/Amérique du Nord
A study through several literary works and/or excerpts of essays and
news-articles from Québec, Belgium and France, of the United States as
seen by "alien" eyes and minds. How do the country, its inhabitants,
the American way of life appear to French, Québécois and Belgian
writers in general? How does what is often called "America" in both
languages also appear in French-speaking literature after September 11?
How is also France seen through American or Québécois eyes? What is the
value of an approach from beyond the USA borders or the Hexagon of
these respective countries? Does it carry sharp and interestingly new,
fresh insights, or clichés and prejudices? Does it reflect the foreign
writer's gaze or reveal more than native, self-reflecting writing
would? Such will be some of the issues raised in this study.
Souvenirs d'enfance : souvenirs d'en France et d'ailleurs
20th century childhood memories from France and elsewhere (colonial
Algeria, Egypt, Japan) considered in their cultural context (time,
place, social class, family structure, schooling...) and their literary
dimension (self-narrative characteristics, role of memory, choice of
genre: “memories”, novel, autobiography).
Notre présent, notre monde
From the private, to the public, to the international sphere, how do
French novelists see our times and our world? How are the family,
globalization, postcolonialism, immigration, Islam and islamism,
September 11 perceived through the prism of very recent fiction? Weekend de chasse à la mère (Geneviève Brisac, 1996), Histoire du monde en neuf guitares (Erik Orsenna, 1996), Le Ventre de l'Atlantique (Fatou Diome, 2003), Allah superstar (Y. B., 2003), and 11 septembre mon amour (Luc Lang, 2003) will provide some answers.
FRENCH 451
L'Union européenne et la France
A study of the European Union from its beginnings to nowadays through
its treaties, institutions, transformations, evolution, successes and
failures, and of France in relationship to this evolving body,
throughout the last six decades.
What is or is not this ever-enlarging EU with 10 new member countries
in 2004 and Bulgaria and Rumania joining in 2007, other countries
applying too? What is this new 27 countries configuration like in
political, social, economic, foreign policy terms since its
constitution was voted down by France and the Netherlands? How does the
EU function in its own realm and in its interaction with the rest of
the world? How can it evolve? These are some questions to debate.
FRENCH 471 - SPECIALIZED STUDY IN FRENCH/FRANCOPHONE CIVILISATION
Aspects de la France contemporaine et multiculturelle
La France et la société française telles qu'elles peuvent s'appréhender
en ce début de 21e siècle et donc présentation de certains de leurs
aspects politiques, sociaux, multiculturels, dans le cadre de
l'Hexagone et de l'Europe. L'accent sera particulièrement mis sur
certaines questions telles que l'identité nationale face au
multiculturalisme et à l'Europe, la gestion du gouvernement, les
problèmes de l'économie, l'évolution de la société, les jeunes et leur
diversité, "Blacks, Blancs, Beurs", la production culturelle sous
diverses formes.
Pour cerner ces diverses facettes, interviendront l'actualité (sous
forme d'articles de journaux ou d'hebdomadaires, de bulletins télévisés
en ligne) et une réflexion plus approfondie, moins immédiate, par le
biais de la sociologie, la littérature, le cinéma, la bande dessinée,
etc.
La France et le XXe en film
In 1914, France was the second world power. In 2011, it is the fifth.
What happened in between? In nearly a hundred years, events reshaped
the country politically, economically, socially and culturally inside
and out.
This course will focus on the study of XXth century French history
through film, major events and periods, as they are represented and
interpreted in major French films, which will be shown in class. Films
will include La Grande Illusion (World War I), Indochine (colonization), Au revoir, les enfants (World War II), Les Roseaux sauvages (the end of colonialism), and Code Inconnu (France at the threshold of the 21st century).
Film will be used as a media to teach history and after an introduction
to the events or periods, or particular features to be witnessed,
attention will be paid to the interpretation of the film-maker, his
approach and/or biases. Along the course, main features of French
history in France itself but also abroad will be defined.
Femmes et films en France
This course deals with contemporary women's lives, places and issues in
French society through film (family, jobs, sexuality, ethnicity, etc.),
depicted mainly (but not exclusively) by women film-makers.
La Société française en film
This course deals with contemporary French society through film from
the 1990's on: social classes, men, women, youth, multiculturalism,
French specificity, related issues.
Cinéma francophone
A study of some countries through their cinema, reflecting through this
means, issues or aspects of those countries or provinces such as
Quebec, Belgium, Switzerland, Rumania, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Mali,
Lebanon.
INTERNATIONAL AREA STUDES COURSES (IAS COURSES)
IAS 360 - Special Topics in World Civilization
Some Countries of the Mediterranean Rim
The study of some countries of the Mediterranean rim, where French
influence has been felt at one point in time under colonial rule and is
still felt, though to a much lesser degree, namely Algeria, Tunisia,
Morocco, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. These countries' past will be
examined, but also their evolution through the centuries and their
political, social, economic contemporary configurations.
The Middle East between Tradition and Modernity
The Middle East, cradle of mankind, birth-place of the three
monotheistic religions, center of ancient and brilliant civilizations,
has been an area of variety and contrast in its mosaic of countries. It
has also been and still is - to the very present- both a literal battle
ground and a figurative one, where tradition and modernity coexist or
clash. This coexistence of or clash between tradition and modernity
will be examined in various countries and illustrated in areas such as
government, economy, society, mass media, culture and religion.
Iran Then and Now
Some of Iran’s past (19th century), but mainly the 20th and 21st
centuries will be studied in this course: politics, religion, culture,
literature and film, through Iranian eyes.
IAS 390 - Special Topics in International Area Studies
Evil Isms
From antisemitism to totalitarianism in the name of religion or
politics (communism, nazism) to terrorism, this course will focus on
prejudices and ideologies, how they variously expressed themselves
negatively throughout time and space to the present, how they have been
counteracted or still, always do need counteracting.
Women and Human Rights Worldwide
The concept of women's human rights emerged as a distinct aspect of
human rights during the international women's movements of the 1980's
to ensure a more sustained focus on women's rights throughout the
world. Women’s human rights will be considered on ALL continents and in
various areas like health, society, exile, war, censorship, childhood,
etc, through pertinent essays but also literature and film.
WMST 240 - Women/Society Global Context
Women and Religion in the Middle East and South Asia (Team-taught. My part: The Middle East)
The course is a comparative examination of the role of religion and culture in the lives of Hindu women in South Asia and Muslim women in the Middle East. Does religion shape women's daily lives, politics, law concerning them, their role in society in Middle Eastern countries (with an emphasis on Egypt and Iran)? We will examine these issues along our readings and question Nawal el Saadawi’s statement in The Hidden Face of Eve: “Religion, in particular, is a weapon often used in traditionalist societies to cut short, and even cut down, the efforts of researchers, and seekers of truth. I have come to see more and more clearly that religion is most often used in our day as an instrument in the hands of economic and political forces, as an institution utilized by those who rule to keep down those who are ruled. In this it serves the same purpose as juridical, educational, police and even psychiatric systems used to perpetuate the patriarchal family, historically born, reinforced and maintained by the oppression of women, children and slaves. Thus in any society it is not possible to separate religion from the political system, nor to keep sex separate from politics" (3-4).
WMST 280 - Special Topics inWomen's Studies
Francophone African Women Writers: Displacement. From One Continent To Another
An
introduction to the writing of Francophone women writers from
Sub-Saharan Africa: Calixthe Belaya (Cameroon), Véronique Tadjo (the
Ivory Coast), Mariama Bâ and Fatou Diome (Senegal). With each writer
and book will be examined the status, roles and challenges of women in
their respective societies. What is the role of women in nation
formation and since? How do these women writers use writing to (re)
define themselves and clear a discursive space for the discussion of
the female condition? How do they challenge male domination and the
Eurocentric nature of feminists' appraisal of the female condition in
their societies when this applies? Also, how do they handle
"displacement", whether it be literal or figurative? These questions
will be addressed through close textual analysis.
Writing on the Body
A study of the female body, since "our bodies ourselves" to the
present, dealing with such themes as the body as sexual object or
reproductive womb, the body as social construct and the tyranny of the
look, and related issues in politics, violence, sexism, fashion,
peer-pressure, illness, age, etc.
Arab Women Writers
From Maghrebian Algeria and Morocco to Middle Eastern Egypt, Iraq and
Lebanon, five Arab women writers depict life in their countries or an
unnamed desert state, from the 1940s to the ongoing Iraq War, raising
critical questions about society, politics, economics and woman's place
in so doing.
FRENCH 480: The MINOR
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