French

This course centers around medieval literary texts and traditions: pastoral tales, lyric dialogues, the characters of the berger and her lover, the intervening and often violent interests of the chevalier. Texts are studied as social as well as literary documents; they are treated in the original Old French as well as modern translations. Manuscripts are consulted online as primary source material. Themes covered include the role and the voice of the female characters, their sexuality, as well as the treatment of sexual violence and the implication of this cultural dialogue.

This course analyzes the overlap between literature and painting at the end of the pivotal 19th century. It studies the representations of the artist Emile Zola, the process and the system of creating at the time, the aesthetic and social circumstances at play, and the emergence of modern painting. The course considers, as a means of understanding this phenomena, the exchanges between literature and visual art, notably analyzing ekphrasis and the "tableau en texte."

The extensive independent study field research paper produced by the student is both the centerpiece of the intern's professional engagement and the culmination of the academic achievements of the semester. During the preparatory session, IFE teaches the methodological guidelines and principles to which students are expected to adhere in the development of their written research. Students work individually with a research advisor from their field. The first task is to identify a topic, following guidelines established by IFE for research topic choice. The subject must be tied in a useful and complementary way to the student-intern's responsibilities, as well as to the core concerns of the host organization. The research question should be designed to draw as much as possible on resources available to the intern via the internship (data, documents, interviews, observations, seminars and the like). Students begin to focus on this project after the first 2-3 weeks on the internship. Each internship agreement signed with an organization makes explicit mention of this program requirement, and this is the culminating element of their semester. Once the topic is identified, students meet individually, as regularly as they wish, with their IFE research advisor to generate a research question from the topic, develop an outline, identify sources and research methods, and discuss drafts submitted by the student. The research advisor also helps students prepare for the oral defense of their work which takes place a month before the end of the program and the due date of the paper. The purpose of this exercise is to help students evaluate their progress and diagnose the weak points in their outline and arguments. Rather than an extraneous burden added to the intern's other duties, the field research project grows out of the internship through a useful and rewarding synergy of internship and research. The Field Study and Internship model results in well-trained student-interns fully engaged in mission-driven internships in their field, while exploring a critical problem guided by an experienced research advisor.

This course covers the major themes of European cultural history since the end of the 18th century. It studies institutions (schools, universities), vectors (books, press), actors, and audiences. This study is also part of the political history of the continent, through the commitment and birth of the “intellectual”, as well as the debates and polemics of the time.

The extensive independent study field research paper produced by the student is both the centerpiece of the intern's professional engagement and the culmination of the academic achievements of the semester. During the preparatory session, IFE teaches the methodological guidelines and principles to which students are expected to adhere in the development of their written research. Students work individually with a research advisor from their field. The first task is to identify a topic, following guidelines established by IFE for research topic choice. The subject must be tied in a useful and complementary way to the student-intern's responsibilities, as well as to the core concerns of the host organization. The research question should be designed to draw as much as possible on resources available to the intern via the internship (data, documents, interviews, observations, seminars and the like). Students begin to focus on this project after the first 2-3 weeks on the internship. Each internship agreement signed with an organization makes explicit mention of this program requirement, and this is the culminating element of their semester. Once the topic is identified, students meet individually, as regularly as they wish, with their IFE research advisor to generate a research question from the topic, develop an outline, identify sources and research methods, and discuss drafts submitted by the student. The research advisor also helps students prepare for the oral defense of their work which takes place a month before the end of the program and the due date of the paper. The purpose of this exercise is to help students evaluate their progress and diagnose the weak points in their outline and arguments. Rather than an extraneous burden added to the intern's other duties, the field research project grows out of the internship through a useful and rewarding synergy of internship and research. The Field Study and Internship model results in well-trained student-interns fully engaged in mission-driven internships in their field, while exploring a critical problem guided by an experienced research advisor.

This course provides a better understanding of the European Union and how it operates, and reflects on how it can (or cannot) respond to the major challenges facing the world today. It considers questions such as: How will the European Union cope with these challenges? Will it be able to continue building its strategic autonomy? Will it be able to offer Ukraine the support it needs, both militarily and politically, in a landscape where voices are being raised in both the Council and Parliament against enlargement? And how will it pursue its own objectives? How can we respond to the challenge of climate change, at a time when the Green Pact is being undermined by the energy crisis and growing contestation from a section of the population and the political class? The course discusses a new political sequence opening up for the EU, with the renewal of its leadership and a new balance of power in Parliament, and the context of this new configuration taking place against a backdrop of unprecedented geopolitical tensions.

This course focuses on an analysis of French literary, philosophical, and critical texts and how they overlap, concerning notably the "woman question" in its 17th century incarnation. The central text is Molière's LES FEMMES SAVANTES (1672) play. Supplemental texts include excerpts from Descartes and Poulain de la Barre. Central philosophical and literary themes include notions of the body (socially, medically) and the spirit as well as the self-determination of women, socially and literarily.

This course explores the politics of food. Themes include supply chains in the alimentary system, including production, transformation, distribution, consumption, and waste, as well as the politics of land and farm policies and alimentary inequities.

The death of the Prophet and his succession gave rise to two different and sometimes rival conceptions of religious authority and political power in Islam. The historical perspective enables us to understand the changing relationships, reconfigurations, and contemporary dynamics in the Middle East. This course, based on a multidisciplinary approach, examines the impact of relations between Sunnis and Shiites on the geopolitics of the Middle East, and the extent to which they are also shaped by regional geopolitics. As these divisions are part of specific political and regional contexts, it is necessary to go beyond a strictly confessional reading of regional geopolitical issues. This course develops critical thinking skills, as well as the capacity for analysis and reflection, in order to shed light on the multidimensional dimension of these interactions.

The death of the Prophet and his succession gave rise to two different and sometimes rival conceptions of religious authority and political power in Islam. The historical perspective will enable us to understand the changing relationships, reconfigurations and contemporary dynamics in the Middle East. The aim of this course, based on a multidisciplinary approach, is to understand the impact of relations between Sunnis and Shiites on the geopolitics of the Middle East, but also to grasp the extent to which they are also shaped by regional geopolitics. As these divisions are part of specific political and regional contexts, it is necessary to go beyond a strictly confessional reading of regional geopolitical issues. This study will enable students to develop their critical thinking skills, as well as their capacity for analysis and reflection, in order to shed light on the multidimensional dimension of these interactions.

This course offers a study of basic linguistic elements to address everyday situations with predictable content. It focuses on linguistic skills in oral comprehension and expression, as well as in reading and writing texts with a simple syntactic structure. In this course, students use simple structures to communicate information on the most common everyday topics. At the end of this course, students will have reached level A1.1 or A1.2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Note that the ¨II¨ in the Spanish title of the course (Francés II) refers to the semester in which students can take it, not the level.