France

The objective of this course is to approach the dynamics of vegetation and animal communities at different spatial-temporal scales, from the distribution of large terrestrial biomes to the current evolution of landscapes. Based on the analysis of the conditions determining the development of living organisms and different plant formations, the class emphasizes the factors of biome distribution, the distribution of species, floristic and ecological heritages, the dynamics of plant groupings and animal populations and the role of human societies on the modification of ecosystems and landscape dynamics. At the end of the semester, students should know the broad principles of the study of the biosphere and the principle processes active in plant environments.

This course, the fifth in our intensive summer language program sequences, with its contiguous course FR56A, is roughly equivalent to the fifth and sixth quarters of French language instruction on students’ home campuses. FR56A and FR56B provide students who have completed more than a university-level first-year French course or its equivalent the opportunity to expand and improve their speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, as well as expand their cultural knowledge of the French and Francophone world. The course is based on a presentation of intermediate-level forms of grammar, an expansion of students’ basic working vocabulary, and practice of oral and written communicative skills. Placement in this course is determined by students’ previous experience and the results of a language assessment taken prior to arrival. Course material includes: MOTIFS: AN INRODUCTION TO FRENCH, by K. Jansma, Heinle, 5th Edition, 2011, and RÉSEAU: COMMUNICATION, INTEGRATION, INTERSECTIONS, by J.M. Schultz and M.P. Tranvouez, Prentice Hall, 1st Edition, 2010. Through the FR56AB sequence course, students gain the ability to communicate in spoken and written French and develop a understanding of intermediate French grammar points and a working vocabulary of information on French and Francophone culture including family structures, the distribution of household chores, housing, health, politics, the education system, leisure activities, the arts, multicultural society, and vernacular French. Following the 56AB course sequence, students should be able to use all the verb tenses of high-frequency regular and irregular verbs including reflexive verbs, use the indicative, imperative, conditional, subjunctive and infinitive moods, as well as use subject, stressed and object pronouns, articles, expressions of quantity, prepositions, possessive and demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, negative and interrogative expressions, relative pronouns, hypothetical sentences and the passive voice at the high-intermediate level. Students apply aspects of French grammar (such as verb tense, mode and conjugation) to written and oral communication, engage in conversations in French on familiar topics and express their basic everyday needs, and discuss themes presented in contemporary French culture and society. Students are required to do individual and group presentations; read, understand, answer questions and discuss selected literary and journalistic texts as well as multimedia material; write summaries, dialogues or skits, as well as produce 2½ - 3 page compositions. Additionally students are encourage to reflect upon basic cultural differences as reflected in a variety of French and Francophone contexts, such as varying levels of familiarity/formality, etiquette, cuisine and dietary habits, family structures, commerce and the professional world, etc., as well as in cultural products such as film, performances, news, and music. Assignments include class participation, small group and pair work, role play, games, individual and group presentations, written exercises, grammar, dictation, presentations of cultural products such as songs, films, audio texts, a variety of short and simple texts on cultural perspectives, and writing activities.

This course presents the aesthetic changes and new artistic currents experienced in French painting in the 19th century. It provides an introduction to and analysis of neo-classicism with the presentation of two artists: David and Ingres; romanticism seen through the works of Géricault and Delacroix; realism in France through the study of works by Courbet; the impressionists presented first by the influence of Manet, then by the analysis of works by Monet and Renoir; and post-impressionism through the presentation of four precursor painters of the 20th century painting movements: Cézanne, Seurat, Van Gogh, and Gauguin.

The first half of the course analyzes Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN in relation to its context within the African American tradition as well as the many narrative strategies Ellison uses to write about such a subject, including but not limited to his use of oral wordplay in a written work and the methods through which a person can attempt to identify themselves. For the second half of the course, students examine LEAVES OF GRASS in the epic and lyric traditions, its major themes, its modernity of form and content, and the Whitman legacy in modern American poetry. Discussion groups emphasize oral expression, the technique of close reading and textual commentary, and essay-writing strategies.