France

The city and language course introduces students to French history, culture, and language through team-taught instruction. In the “City as Public Forum” sessions, students are introduced to French history and culture through a series of lectures and site visits. Students discover some of the fascinating ways the core principles of social justice were tested in theory and practice on the streets of Paris in the past and explore how they evolved into the pillars of French society today. The course focuses on just how an ideal society should be forged, where all are free individuals and members of a cohesive community at the same time. Trying to make individuals believe—as religions do—in the primacy of the collective, and in its concomitant goal of protecting human rights, is at the core of social justice in France. From 52 B.C.E to today, France has been an exemplar of how—and how not—to construct a just society. To render these values visible, and therefore legible, to all by adding a physical dimension—whether constructive or destructive—to the usual means of establishing laws or setting policies, is what distinguishes the history of France's capital city of Paris. Those who control Paris—be they monarchs, revolutionaries, or presidents, past and present—believe that erecting all kinds of physical structures will render their values concrete and immutable. The ideal French society did not always necessarily mean a democratic or inclusive one. Since the French Revolution, however, institutionalizing the concept of “liberty, equality, and fraternity” has been France's greatest universal achievement and a source of constant upheaval, eliciting a unique form of secular activism that has led to targeting buildings and monuments that no longer reflect the collective's values. Students discuss how the diverse social actors, who constitute “the French,” continue to thrust their bodies and minds into the physical spaces of the public sphere in the pursuit of social justice. In the “Unlocking French” sessions, students learn targeted language skills through situational communication, so they have the opportunity to use everything they learn as they go about their daily activities. Advanced French students will participate in conversation courses on the program’s theme. This is the spring semester version of the course.

This course is a survey of the changes in French society from a macro-sociological perspective, focusing on the three spheres of school, work, and culture. It examines the ways in which social order changes and is maintained, incorporating the teachings of sociologists such as Pierre Bourdieu, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber.

This course analyzes the functions of European Union (EU) economic integration with a special focus on the Eurozone. It emphasizes the ways in which the European Single Market for goods, services, and capital impinges on the ability of national governments and European institutions to conduct economic policies. The implications of a monetary union for the functioning of member states' economies and domestic policies are analyzed with the help of macroeconomic tools. The various aspects of economic governance of the European monetary union are studied within the framework of a modern political economy. Structural aspects of the European integration (external economic relations and the role of the EU in globalization, banking and financial regulation, the economic implications of population aging, the transition to a low-carbon economic growth path, etc.) are also dealt with by mobilizing the most recent analyses. The course selects a number of issues that appear salient in current debates about the EU, its relationship with the rest of the world, and its future. It mobilizes the economist's analytical tool box to shed light on policy decision-making and pending issues.

This course consists of three segments. The first part of this course focuses on grammar: logical analysis, tenses, modes, style, and spelling; accompanied by regular dictation and vocabulary building. The second part focuses on writing skills to develop competence in French written expression. The third part focuses on written comprehension and understanding various kinds of texts: informative, argumentative, or authoritative.

This course focuses on fiction and imagination in Renaissance and Baroque romantic poetry. It is taught in French and focuses on French poetry; however, the course also analyzes myths from many different cultures that are referenced throughout the studied poems.

This course provides students with an overview of the shape and organization of the global economy today. It offers a survey of current global trends, supplying their historical background and tackling the interpretations put forward by economists to explain their significance. It examines the economic situation among the various players of the international economy by focusing on different countries and regions to show how they have become interdependent. Teaching and class discussions are fed by recent in-depth summaries supplied by the Economist magazine, which will be made available. Students give a short presentation during the term on the economic situation of a country of their choice, with particular relevance to the present theme (pre-arranged with the instructor).