France

Since the Scientific Revolution of the early 17th century, France has been the site of many of the most important scientific innovations of the modern age. More than this, science has played a crucial role in the construction of French national identity. From the 1635 foundation of the Jardin des Plantes by Louis XIII as a center of botanical and medical research, to the construction of the Eiffel Tower as a monument to the scientific accomplishments and to the engineering might of France, discoveries, innovations, and scientific feats have long been at the heart of France’s understanding of its own place in the world. In this course, students investigate the history of science in modern France, with a particular focus on the figures and institutions that contributed to this history within the walls of Paris. The course develops a critical approach to these figures, borrowing methods and insights from the scholarly discipline known as “history and philosophy of science”, or “HPS”.

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 presents and discusses the key institutions that govern market economies, seen as political and legal constructs. It focuses on core institutions like private property rights and its alternatives, all sorts of debts, wage labor and its variants, and the architecture of individual markets (like those for global commodities or microcredit). The course focuses particularly on State institutions, including the courts and the law, the non-State actors that play a great role in the regulation and maintenance of markets, and their mutual relations. Each lecture is based on examples drawn from either developed or developing countries, today or in the more or less distant past, accompanied by readings of an article or book chapter.

This course teaches listening comprehension, oral expression, spoken production, and written expression in Portuguese. Students learn familiar words and common expressions, ask and answer simple questions, understand familiar words and simple sentences such as those in notices and posters, and write simple correspondence.

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.

This course examines concepts of contemporary Spanish literature and the process for translating the works from Spanish to French.