French

This course consists of weekly lectures accompanied by readings and film viewings outside the classroom. Each week, it studies and explores a different writer, literary genre, or event pertaining to the French Revolution through a rhetorical and literary lens. Authors include Victor Hugo, the Chenier brothers, Michelet, and Chateaubriand.

This course takes a close look at contemporary French society and its social policies beginning with a brief, historical-critical look at the emergence of the welfare state and the safety-net state. Next, four fundamental areas of society are explored: social action and the critical role of the not-for-profit sector; the educational system and its effects on social standing; the problem of the ring of disadvantaged zones around French cities as emblematic of the French malaise; and the values held by French and European youth. Finally, a comparative look at the American model will provide an opportunity to analyze the prospects and issues facing French society. The course highlights the effects of pressures such as global economic liberalism on the specific institutionalized relations that exist between French citizens and culture, work, education, immigration, and other facets of life and society.

This course engages with the architectural and pictorial inheritance of France. It focuses on the architecture of Bordeaux and the region of Aquitaine during the 18th century. The course studies urban and countryside architecture, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts.

This course offers an in-depth study of methods of French essay, dissertation, and synthesis. The course analyzes methods of argumentation and organization and explores issues of rhetoric, technique, organization, and documentation. It also examines language and presentation format to assist students with the preparation of final assignments for upper-division courses. Students have weekly written assignments and oral presentations. The course uses various documents on French contemporary society and literature.