French & Francophone Studies (FREN)

An exploration of significant questions and integrative concepts in French & Francophone Studies, their grounding in the process of scientific discovery and application, and their broader relevance to society. Designed for first-year students. Although topics vary, the courses also seek to improve students’ communication skills beyond the written word.

An introduction to the French language designed to develop basic communicative competence in speaking and writing skills, and basic listening and reading comprehension of cultural materials. Preliminary introduction to selected aspects of the Francophone world.

An introduction to the French language designed to develop basic communicative competence in speaking and writing skills, and basic listening and reading comprehension of cultural materials. Preliminary introduction to selected aspects of the Francophone world.

An exploration of a specific topic in French. A grade of C- or better fulfills the COLL 150 requirement. Although topics vary, the courses emphasize academic writing skills, reading and analysis of texts, and discussion.

A review of basic French grammar through development of writing, speaking, comprehension and reading skills, with additional emphasis on cultural and literary readings.

Continued review of basic French grammar through development of writing, speaking and comprehension skills, with additional emphasis on cultural and literary readings.

A course beyond the College’s foreign language requirement proficiency level stressing the cultural and linguistic notions of oral discourse in developing communicative ability in the language. Practice in simulated foreign cultural contexts through discussion and student presentations on themes in contemporary French life.

Continued development of all four language skills, with a special emphasis on reading and writing. This course will incorporate work with applied grammar, interactive video, film, and French and Francophone literary readings.

This course is designed to permit independent study in an area of literature, culture, or linguistics not available in current course offerings. A written petition to the instructor and approval of the section coordinator are required before registration. May be repeated for credit if topic varies.

This course provides an introduction to Francophone studies through an examination of the colonial and postcolonial francophone world. Organized thematically rather than geographically, the course will investigate how French colonization, along with the French language, impacted the former French colonies and how artists (writers, filmmakers, singers) were affected by the changes and sometimes embraced them in a complex and creative way. In the second segment of the course, we will also examine the role colonization played in the make-up of French culture and identity. Our analysis will be based on a number of short readings drawn from a variety of non-literary and literary sources; This course is also intended to prepare students for upper-level coursework in French by offering practice in reading, writing, listening and speaking skills and in critical analysis. While not primarily focused on grammar, the course will include a review of key grammatical points and introduce students to more complex sentence structures. The course is exclusively taught in French.

Each semester’s chosen topic will be indicated in the schedule of classes. Topic for Fall 2012: The French Revolution. Pacini.

THIS COURSE IS NOT OPEN TO STUDENTS WHO HAVE ALREADY COMPLETED A 300+ LEVEL FRENCH CLASS. This upper-intermediate-level multimedia course will enhance the students’ ability to use French to communicate effectively in international/cross-cultural business and work contexts and will examine the social, cultural, and ethical ramifications of contemporary trends in business, management, marketing, entrepreneurship, consumption, labor, technology, economic policy, and globalization as they apply to France and the francophone world.

This number is intended for courses completed in France or in a Francophone country.

This number is intended for courses completed in France or in a Francophone country.

A one-credit required course designed for students enrolling in the W&M Summer in Montpellier Program. Provides historical and cultural background of the program site, introduces social, cultural, and political trends that inform life in France today and sensitizes students to the media of the region and nation. Taught in French by the Director during Spring semester prior to enrollment in Summer Program.

A required two-credit supervised research project organized around three themes: 1) the ways in which cosmopolitan and pluralist France addresses issues of diversity, 2) the importance of Europe in France today, and 3) the Southern French perspective regarding themes 1 and 2. In French, under the supervision of the Resident Director of the Montpellier Program.

Each semester’s chosen topic will be indicated in the schedule of classes. Topic for Fall 2013: The French Revolution. Pacini.  

This course will explore the history and importance of the French revolution through an analysis of different eighteenth-century cultural artifacts. These materials will allow us to investigate the ways in which the revolutionaries mobilized or redefined notions of French identity, patriotism, and political authority. It will also consider the international dimensions of the French revolution (in the Caribbean in particular) and therefore discuss late eighteenth-century debates on race and slavery. Course materials include: a novel, selections from a groundbreaking philosophical treatise; poetry; political caricatures; pamphlets; revolutionary music; ceramics; paintings; and period films. French 303 is designed for students coming out of FREN 100, FREN 210, FREN 212, FREN 299, FREN 300, and for first-year students who have arrived with high school AP credit. The course is meant to develop students’ analytical and linguistic skills through intensive discussion. This course does not include any explicit grammar review.

Intensive study of concepts in articulatory phonetics and phonology in modern standard French. Readings in phonetic theory. Diagnostic evaluation of each student’s pronunciation. Corrective phonetics.

FREN 100 (if taught in French) or FREN 150 (if taught in French) or FREN 210 or FREN 212 or qualifying achievement or placement test score. Exploration of a specific theme or issue in French/Francophone culture with special emphasis on applied grammar and intensive written work. French 305 is a prerequisite for upper-level French courses. Each semester’s chosen topic (s) will be indicated in the schedule of classes.

Intensive oral-aural training, with class discussions and oral presentations focusing on relevant issues in contemporary French and francophone society and culture as presented in a variety of texts and media.

History of the French cinema, including an introduction to film technology and aesthetics. This course is taught in French.

This course is designed to permit an independent study in an area of literature, culture, or linguistics not available in current course offerings. A written petition to the instructor and approval of the section coordinator are required before registration. May be repeated for credit if topic varies.

This course will introduce students to interdisciplinary approaches to the study of French and Francophone cultures with a particular focus on the notion of French national identity. Specific examples will include national mythology and collective memory, the cultural production of nineteenth-century Paris, and the contemporary issues of immigration and multiculturalism as they relate to the history of colonialism.This will introduce students to interdisciplinary approaches to the study of French and Francophone cultures with a particular focus on the notion of French national identity. Specific examples will include national mythology and collective memory, the cultural production of nineteenth-century Paris, and the contemporary issues of immigration and multiculturalism as they relate to the history of colonialism.

What can literature do? This course will test the powers of fiction by studying provocative masterpieces of French & Francophone literature. In the process, we will also consider the material, social, legal, economic, and ideological forces that shaped French & Francophone literary culture over the centuries.

A study of French and Francophone Cultures. Topics will be indicated in the schedule of classes.

A study of the major writers of the French Renaissance.

A history of theater and theatricality in France from the XVIIth to the XVIIIth centuries. Readings include critically acclaimed literary masterpieces, as well as essays that theorize the effects of theater on the evolution of moral, social, and political conventions.

This course will explore the multiple links between French Romanticism and the series of revolutionary upheavals that shook France beginning in 1789. Students will also discover the impact of this movement on subsequent literary and cultural trends.

Why is the nineteenth century in France considered the Golden Age of the Novel? This course explores that question by focusing on how writers such as Balzac, Sand, Flaubert, and Zola used narrative in order to construct their own modernity.

From the post-romantic poets to the present with special emphasis on Baudelaire, the Symbolists and the Surrealists.

A study of the principal novelists up to 1950: Colette, Gide, Proust, Sartre, Camus.

A study of major post-World War II contemporary novelists and critics in relation to the political and social currents of the age from Camus, Robbe-Grillet, Butor to Duras and Modiano, Toussaint and Redonnet, with reference to critics such as Barthes, Foucault, Derrida,Cixous, and Said.

Readings selected from French women writers and filmmakers of the 20th and 21st centuries. The course will focus in particular on feminist issues.

This course studies French artistic and intellectual production in its varied social contexts from the middle ages through the postmodern period.

This course studies the key role political institutions, geography, and representations of the past play in the formation of the French idea of nation in the republican era (1789-present).

This course studies contemporary French society, the historical origins of some of its most characteristic structures (e.g., institutions, representations, lifestyles), and the forces of change that have shaped it over the past twenty years.

This course explores the sub-Saharan African and Caribbean literature written in French that emerged in the French colonial period and continues in the post-colonial period. Major topics to be examined include Négritude and the rise of political consciousness, cultural conflict with the West, women’s voices, Créolité, and postindependence literature. May be repeated if the topic varies.

A cultural studies course taught in English. Topics vary. FREN 386 course does not count for the major or minor in French & Francophone Studies. It may be repeated for credit if the topic is different.

A study of French and Francophone Cultures. Topic will be indicated in the schedule of classes.

Topic will be indicated in the schedule of classes.

Topic will be indicated in the schedule of classes.

Topic will be indicated in the schedule of classes.

Intensive training in the contemporary French idiom.

An intensive course in writing and language analysis. Basic concepts in stylistics applied to writing in French and to the problems of translation.

This course is designed to permit an in-depth study in an area of literature culture or linguistics not available in current course offerings. A written petition to the instructor and approval of the section coordinator are required before registration.

A mentored teaching internship experience for students to work closely with a faculty member in teaching either a language or content course.

A mentored field research experience in French/Francophone culture conducted abroad. Project and related 50-page thesis developed in consultation with a university professor.

12 hours of 300 and/or 400-level French courses including FREN 305, FREN 314 or FREN 315, and at least one course that has FREN 314/315 as a prerequisite, or consent of the instructor. In-depth study of a specific theme or issue in French/Francophone literature, language, society, or culture with special emphasis on mentored student research, analytical and scholarly writing, relevant critical theory, interdisciplinary approaches, and communication of ideas to diverse audiences. This course serves as the capstone experience in the French and Francophone Studies major and fulfills the Major Writing Requirement and the Major Computing Requirement. Each semester’s chosen topic will be indicated in the schedule of classes.