French courses

101 Elementary French (with Lab)
This course provides an introduction to basic structures and develops skills in speaking, reading, writing and oral comprehension.  In class and in the language laboratory, current materials from France and other French- speaking countries familiarize students with aspects of language and contemporary culture. Open to students with little or no prior study of the French language.

102 Elementary French (with Lab)

French 102 continues to work on structures of the language and on developing skills in speaking, reading, writing and oral comprehension. In class and in the language laboratory, current materials from France and other French-speaking countries familiarize students with aspects of language and contemporary culture. Prerequisite: French 101 or the equivalent.

103 Intermediate French I (with Lab)
This course provides a review of basic structures and practice in the skills needed for communication in speaking and writing. The basic text and literary and cultural readings are supplemented by current material from France and other French-speaking countries in the language laboratory. Designed for students with two or more years of high school French who wish to improve their grasp of basic skills and enlarge their working vocabulary. Prerequisite: French 101, 102 or the equivalent.

104 Intermediate French II (with Lab)
This course is a continuation of French 103. It continues to provide a review of basic structures and practice in the skills needed for communication in speaking and writing. The basic text and literary and cultural readings are supplemented by current material from France and other French-speaking countries in the language laboratory. Designed for students with two or more years of high school French who wish to improve their grasp of basic skills and enlarge their working vocabulary. Prerequisite: French 102, 103 or the equivalent.

201. Advanced French.
Review and expansion of the four skills with emphasis on the oral and written expression of ideas in French topics of current interest and cultural significance in the French-speaking world. Materials studied include films, journalistic texts, songs and literary texts. For students who have completed French 104, or who have had at least four years of French  at the secondary level. Also offered through European Studies.

202. Advanced French: Contemporary  France.
This course has a dual focus: linguistic and cultural. Students spend only a small part of their time reviewing important grammar points, but much more on areas of language such as vocabulary-building, idiomatic usage, oral expression and writing. The thematic focus is contemporary France. Students learn about the social and political institutions in France, and about current cultural practices. Films, radio, Web sites, cartoons, popular music, newspapers and magazines expand the study of French society and language. Students completing French 201 usually enroll in French 202 in the spring semester. Also offered through European Studies.

227. Current Francophone Writing and Culture.
This course provides a look at France and French-speaking countries today through works of literature and other art and media (film, music, television, etc.) created within the past seven to ten years. Open  to students having completed French 202 or the equivalent.  Also offered through European Studies.

235. Paris.
The subject of this course is culture and history of Paris. Students examine not only how the city appears in literature and film, but also how the urban space grew and changed across more than two millennia since the first inhabitants settled on the Ile de la Cité. Maps, paintings, sketches and other historical documents are consulted. Students work on a variety of other texts as well: prose fiction (a detective novel and novellas), lyrics (poetry and popular song), films and histories.  All readings, films, writing and classroom  discussions are in French.

263. School Days.
Through memoirs, fiction, children’s literature and film, this course offers a glimpse of childhood and adolescent experience of school and an opportunity  to study education in France and the French-speaking world. Open to students having completed French 202 or the equivalent. Also offered through European Studies.

3000-3999. Special Topics.
The content of each course or section of these 200-level special topics courses varies and will be announced  each semester.

403. Modern Prose Fiction in France.
This course examines the themes, techniques and socio-political contexts of the 20th-century novel. Choice of authors varies from year to year, but has included Mauriac, Gide, Proust, Sartre, Camus, Malraux, Robbe-Grillet, Tournier, Mo- diano,  Duras  and others.  Also offered through European Studies.

404. French Film.
This course combines an historical view of the French cinema, an introduction to the techniques of film analysis and an examination of the major issues in film theory.  Topics include the pioneers of cinema, the “classical” films of the 1930s and ’40s, the films of the “nouvelle vague” in the ’50s and ’60s and recent trends in film production.  The work of filmmakers such as Renoir, Clouzot, Truffaut, Beineix, Godard and Resnais is studied. Also offered through Film and Representation Studies and European Studies.

413. The Theater of the Classical Age.
This course studies selected plays of Corneille, Moliere, Racine, Marivaux and Beaumarchais. It examines dramatic theory and the characteristics of Classical and Baroque theatre,  as well as the cultural milieu and arts in 17th-  and 18th-century  France. Also offered through European  Studies.

425, 426. Seminar.
The topic changes and is announced prior to registration. Also offered through European Studies.

428. French Women Writers.
This course offers the opportunity to study and appreciate the contribution to literature and thought, including feminist theory, by women writers from France and French-speaking countries. Works by writers such as George Sand, Colette, Beauvoir, Weil, Djebar and Condé are considered, along with films by Varda, Denis and others.  Also offered through European  Studies.

489,  490.  SYE: Independent Study.
For senior students specially qualified. Offered on demand.

497,  498.  SYE: Honors Project.
See Honors in the introductory section on departmental curriculum.