Undergraduate Courses

The following lower level French courses are taught through The Center for the Study of Languages.

FREN 101 Elementary French Language and Culture I
FREN 102 Elementary French Language and Culture II
FREN 201 Intermediate French Language and Culture I
FREN 202 Intermediate French Language and Culture II
FREN 301 Advanced French for Written and Oral Communication

FREN 127 IN THE MATRIX: ON HUMAN BONDAGE AND LIBERATION
Using the film "The Matrix" as a point of reference, this course presents celebrated explorations of servitude and emancipation - from religious mysticism to Marxism and artistic modernism. Texts by Lao Tzu, Farid ud-Din Attar, Plato, Freud, Marx, Baudelaire, J.S. Mill, Proust, de Beauvoir, Malcolm X, Marcuse, Baudrillard. Course taught in English. Also offered FSEM 127. Instructor: Wood

FREN 131 NO HAPPY ENDINGS: TRAGEDY IN LITERATURE AND FILM
Tragedy stages the sufferings and fall of a hero. It excites pity and fear. Why, then, do we take pleasure in tragedy? This course explores the importance of tragedy in Western culture through a reading of plays by Sophocles, Shakespeare, Racine, and Ibsen. Films include works by Robinson and Schlondorff. Also offered FSEM 131 and CLAS 131. Instructor: Shea

FREN 133 / FSEM 133 AMERICA THROUGH FRENCH EYES
The United States has always been a source of fascination -- both attraction and repulsion -- for the French. This course aims to understand American culture and identity as revealed by transatlantic encounters with the French. We will study French intellectuals' observations from Tocqueville to Simone de Beauvoir as well as images of America in French popular culture. Instructor: Julie Fette

FREN 221 PROBLEMS IN CONTEMPORARY FRENCH SOCIETY
This course aims to give students an understanding of French Civilization through exploration of the social, cultural, and political issues that define France today. Course taught in English. Instructor: Fette

FREN 311 MAJOR LITERARY WORKS AND ARTIFACTS OF PRE-REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE
Study of French culture, literature, and artifacts form the Middle Ages until the Revolution. Course conducted entirely in French. Prerequisites: Fren 202 or placement exam or AP credit or permission of instructor. Instructor: Shea

FREN 312 MAJOR LITERARY WORKS AND ARTIFACTS OF POST-REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE
Fall Semester: Study of 19th and 20th century poetry, fiction and painting through the major literary and artisitic movements : Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism, Surrealism, and the post-war era. Prerequisties : FREN 202, or placement or permission of instuctor.Spring Semester: Study of 19th- and 20th-century fiction through the special lens of the Romantic imagination. Readings from Chateaubriand, Desbordes-Valmore, Claire de Duras, Musset Hugo, Baudelaire, Flaubert, Proust Prevert, and the new novelists. Emphasis on discussion and close textual analysis, all in French. Prerequisites: Fren 202 or placement exam or AP credit or permission of instructor. Instructors: Wood(F), Harter(S)

FREN 318 STRUCTURE OF FRENCH
The primary objective of this course is to present contemporary French as a dynamic linguistic system shaped by historical, cognitive and sociological developments. Beyond the specific consideration of French, this course is concerned with the historical, psychological, and sociological dimensions that enter into the description of any language. Prerequisites: Fren 202 or placement exam or AP credit or permission of instructor. Also offered as LING 318. Instructor: Achard

FREN 321 INTRODUCTION TO FRENCH SOCIETY AND CULTURE
This course provides grounding in social, political, cultural, and economic aspects of contemporary France. The course will focus on themes such as youth culture, Europeanization, immigration, and gender debates. Instructor: Julie Fette

FREN 332 FRENCH PHONETICS
Contrastive analysis of the French sound system, including such key areas as diction and articulation of French speech, with emphasis on class as well as laboratory practice. Prerequisites: Fren 202 or placement exam or AP credit or permission of instructor. Instructor: Achard

FREN 336 WRITING WORKSHOP
The course will focus on the practice of writing as a discursive discipline. It will also closely examine, from both a stylistic and rhetorical point of view, creative and critical prose by Barthes, Djebar, Sarraute, and others. Required of majors. Open to non-majors if space is available. Prerequisite: Fren 311 or 312 or placement exam or AP credit or permission of instructor. Instructor: Shea

FREN 340 EXOTICISM IN THE ENLIGHTENMENT
This course will focus on French representations of the Orient and the Pacific in the eighteenth century. Readings include novels, travel journals and essays by Montesquieu, Rousseau, Diderot, and Bougainville, among others. We will conclude the course by turning to the nineteenth century and the paintings of Gaugin and Delacroix. Prerequisite: Fren 311 or 312 or placement exam or AP credit or permission of instructor. Instructor: Shea

FREN 350 CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION: PARIS
Overview of the history of Paris both as a city and a capital and as a cultural, intellectual, and exonomic center through a study of texts, music, and films. Equal emphasis will be placed on language skills and content. Prerequisites: Fren 202 or placement exam or AP credit or permission of instructor.Instructor: Nelson-Campbell

FREN 351 CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION: PROVINCES OF FRANCE
Overview of the amazing diversity in the history, languages, economic bases, traditions, and cultures of the original provinces in order to arrive at a better understanding of France as it exists today. Includes texts, music, and films. Equal emphasis will be placed on language skills and content. Prerequisites: Fren 202 or placement exam or AP credit or permission of instructor.. Instructor: Nelson-Campbell

FREN 355 MODERN SHORT STORY: TOWARDS AN ETHICS OF FICTION
Study of great works in American and European short fiction of the 19th centuries, with special attention to the ethical dimensions that this (and all) fiction articulates. Selected critical essays will complement readings from Melville, Flaubert, Mann, Maupassant, Gogol, Wilde, Chekhov, Gilman, Kafka, O'Connor, Carver, and Garcia-Marquez. Also offered as ENGL 355. Instructor: Harter

FREN 360 WOMEN, SEXUALITY, & LITERATURE
Introduction to women writers and to women as objects of representation in fiction and in poetry since the Revolution. Special attention to the body and to sexuality as these impinge both on writer and respresented. Instructor: Deborah Harter

FREN 370 19TH-CENTURY FRENCH TALES OF THE FANTASTIC
The 19th century in France was not just the era of the realist novel but also of realism's uncomfortable "other" - the fantastic tale. This will be a discussion course devoted to works by Mérimée, Maupassant, Nodier, Gautier, Balzac, and Flaubert‹stories "behind the story" of the 19th century. PREREQUISITES: French 202 or its equivalent. Instructor: Deborah Harter

FREN 373 QUEBEC, P.Q., CANADA
A group project, the class will attemp to define Quebec's unique status through student-selected topics such as immigration, plurilingualism, national sovereignty, cultural production, and the like. The course will cover literature and visual texts (fine arts, cinema) as well as historical and political ones, while simultaneously fostering advanced writing in French. Prerequisites: Fren 301 or 312 or placement exam or AP credit or permission of instructor. Instructor: Aresu

FREN 387 IMAGES OF CONTEMPORARY FRANCE
The course will deal with the sociopolitical and intellectual history of post-war France. We will cover the advent of the Fifth Republic, decolonization, May '68 and political dissent, modernization and the postmodern condition, and France and the construction of Europe. Texts by Borne, Edmiston, and Duménil. Prerequisites: FREN 301 or placement exam or AP credit or permission of instructor. Instructor: Goux

FREN 401 TRANSLATION
Exploration of the theory and practice of translation. Includes translation of modern texts from and into English. Prerequisites: Placement exam or AP credit or permission of instructor. Instructors: Achard

FREN 403 SPECIAL TOPICS
Topics may vary. Please consult with the department for additional information. Instructors: Staff

FREN 407 CINEMA IN FRENCH
Introduction to cinema in French -- in France and the French-speaking world (especially Africa): both the canon of "auteurs" of "high culture" and commercial "mere entertainment." Discussion of this distinction, and introduction to critical and theoretical discourse in film studies. Instructor: Wood

FREN 415 COURTLY LOVE IN MEDIEVAL FRANCE
Study of the Occitan and Old French poetry that served as the source of the kind of love that came to be called "Amour courtois" in the nineteenth century. Prerequisites: FREN 311 or 312 or AP credit or permission of the instructor. Also offfered as MDST 415. Instructor: Nelson-Campbell

FREN 416 LITERATURE AND CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES: KING ARTHUR
Examination of the origins of the legend of King Arthur and reasons for its popularity, particularly in literature of the French Middle Ages but also in other medieval literatures of Western Europe. Includes discussion of the legend¹s influence in diverse areas even in modern times. Prerequisites: FREN 311 or 312 or AP credit or permission of the instructor. Also offfered as MDST 436. Instructor: Nelson-Campbell

FREN 416 LITERATURE AND CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES: KING ARTHUR
Examination of the origins of the legend of King Arthur and reasons for its popularity, particularly in literature of the French Middle Ages but also in other medieval literatures of Western Europe. Includes discussion of the legend's influence in diverse areas even in modern times. Cross-listed with MDST 436. Instructor: Deborah Nelson-Campbell

FREN 423 MODERN FRENCH PAINTERS AND THEIR WRITERS
Fascinated by painting, modern and contemporary French writers have produced significant literary commentaries that reveal affinities with painters whose artistic "questioning" they shared. In this course we will study some of the encounters between these painters and their writers. Among them: Picasso (commented by Apollinaire, Cocteau, Breton, Sollers), Braque (commented by Ponge, Paulhan, Malraux,Saint John Perse), Matisse (commented by Aragon, Pleynet), Magritte (analyzed by Foucault, and Butor), and Rébeyrolle (by Sartre, Foucault). Prerequisites: FREN 311 or 312 or AP credit or permission of the instructor. Instructor: Goux

FREN 430 17TH CENTURY
Thematic approach to examining the main political, religious, philosophical, and literary dicourses of the golden age of absolutism. Prerequisites: FREN 311 or 312 or AP credit or permission of the instructor. Instructor: Staff

FREN 434 FRENCH FEMINIST THEORY
The purpose of this course is to gain a broad understanding of the important problems of contemporary feminist theories in French. We will focus on the interrelated issues of gender, sexuality, race, ethics, language, and power by exploring in depth primary texts in feminst theory. Also offered as WGST 434. Instructor: Huffer

FREN 450 TOPICS IN 19TH CENTURY LYRIC
Study of the poetry and prose poetry of the 19th century from the Romantic period to the symbolist era, through such writers as Desbordes-Valmore, Vigny, Hugo, Nerval, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, and Mallarme. Prerequisites: Fren 301 or 304, and 311 or 312. Instructor: Harter

FREN 453 IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP IN CONTEMPORARY FRANCE
This course examines the impact of immigration on contemporary French society and analyzes debates over citizenship, integration, and multiculturalism. Prerequisites: FREN 311 or 312 or AP credit or permission of the instructor. Instructor: Fette

FREN 460 WOMEN AND WOMEN'S VOICES IN FRENCH LITERATURE
Examination of the ways in which that women have been represented in fiction, by themselves and by others, since the early modern period. Includes Mme de Lafayette, Desbordes-Valmore, Baudelaire, Sand, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, de Beauvoir, Duras, and Wittig, with emphasis on the constitution of "the feminine" in literary texts as a cultural, historical, and social artifact. Prerequisites: FREN 311 or 312 or AP credit or permission of the instructor. Also offered as WGST 412. Instructor: Harter

FREN 467 THE POSTMODERN BREAK IN FRENCH PHILOSOPHY
A study of the questioning of philosophical modernity (starting with Descartes and the Enlightenment philosophers) by structuralist and poststructuralist thinkers and theorists of the postmodern condition. Among contemporary authors studied will be Lacan, Derrida, Foucault, Lyotard, and others. Prerequisites: FREN 311 or 312 or AP credit or permission of the instructor. Instructor: Goux

FREN 474 POETICS AND POLITICS OF FRANCOPHONIE
The seminar focuses on various literary, artistic, and political expressions of « francophonie » as a both legitimated and contested concept. It encompasses a plurality of geo-cultural areas : sub-Saharan Africa, the Maghreb, and the Caribbean, and Quebec. It also examines how notions of postcolonialism and transnationalism intersect discourses of postmodernity. FREN 474 is undergrad version of FREN 574 with shorter reading list and research paper. Prerequisties : FREN 311 and FREN 312, or placement or permission of instructor. Instructor: Bernard Aresu

FREN 480 COCTEAU; FILM-MAKER, NOVELIST, POET
Poet, novelist, playwriter, essayist, painter, Jean Cocteau (1989-1963) a protean creator, was also the fist French writer to become a famous film-maker. During his career, J. Cocteau was close to most of the avant-garde movements of this time: Cubism, Dadaism, surrealism. The goal of this course is to discover the various aspects of this multi-faceted work, where cinema and poetry meet under the sign of Orpheus. Prerequisites: FREN 311 or 312 or AP credit or permission of the instructor. Instructor: Goux

FREN 490 UTOPIA AND THE FUTURE
This course will explore utopia and how historical future is anticipated in French literature and philosophy: study of the most important utopianists (from Cyrano de Bergerac to Fourier and Dejacque): the rise of new expectations and fears in a more and more technical and globalized world (from Jules Verne to the present). Includes sociological, religious and philosophical interpretation of utopia and of the anticipation of the future. Prerequisite: FREN 311 or 312 or AP credit or permission of instrutctor. Instructor: Goux

FREN 494 THE NOVEL IN FRENCH 18TH CENTURY TO POST COLONIALISM
Form and themes of the novel as problematic engagements with the evolution of art, capitalism, the family and gender, the sacred, subjectivity and imperialism. Authors include: the Marquis de Sade, Balzac, Flaubert, Proust, Colette, Sartre, Robbe-Grillet, Cheikh Hamidou Kane, and Camara Laye. Prerequisite: FREN 311 or 312 or AP credit or permission of instrutctor. Instructor: Wood