French

This course serves as an introduction into the francophone literature of Sub-Saharan Africa. It discusses a history of francophone literature through the study of two genres: poetry and novel. The first half of the course focuses on the poetry of the négritude movement, reading works from Senghor and Césaire. The second half of the course focuses on novels such as Cheikh Hamidou Kane's L'AVENTURE AMBIGUE, Yambo Ouologuem's LE DEVOIR DE VIOLENCE, and Henri Lopes's LE CHERCHEUR D'AFRIQUES. This course discusses topics such as identity through the lens of francophone literature and explores the question of the connection between literature and socio-historical context. 

This course explores some of the main trends of French and Francophone life writing since the beginning of the 21st century, and evaluates in what ways these trends (and the authorial strategies associated with them) offer new perspectives on the traditional concerns of the literary genre of autobiography, reflecting the increasing gender and ethnic diversity apparent amongst contemporary authors of French and Francophone literature. Questions of personal identity are at the center of this course, with a particular focus on (ethnically) hybrid identities. The course centers on the role of images in contemporary French and Francophone life-writing in order to interrogate the tendency in such works to use images in diverse ways to explore the complexities of identity. Visiting students should have the equivalent of at least two years of study at University level of French.

This is a second level beginning French course that covers: oral comprehension, pronunciation, grammatical structure, reading, and writing simple texts. It also introduces some aspects of French culture.

This course is a chronological presentation of French literature from the Middle Ages to 1600.  It connects genres and literary texts with the history of ideas and mentalities.

This course explores how literature shapes our perspective on the past and identity. By studying Patrick Chamoiseau's LE DIMANCHE AU CACHOT and Josephy Boyden's DANS LE GRAND CERCLE DU MONDE, this course considers how authors can use fiction to reconquer a painful past to better reconstruct an identity and a perspective that has been hidden.

This intensive course is the second of five levels in French as a Second Language offered at the French Language Centre (FLC). Focus is on all oral and written skills with a view to improving comprehension and expression. Review and further training in basic structures. Enrichment of vocabulary and awareness of French-speaking culture through selected readings and audiovisual material. 

This French language course is level A2 of the Common European Reference Framework for Languages (CEFR), or the second semester of beginning French. It focuses on practical French through listening and writing comprehension, oral expression, and writing. The course prepares students to achieve tasks in various sectors of social life through the acquisition of communicative, linguistic, and cultural knowledge. The course uses learning strategies aligned to the contents of the CEFR: work on defined tasks, formative evaluation, self-evaluation, and overture to the plurality of languages and cultures.

This course explores the architectural and pictorial inheritance of France, including urban and countryside architecture, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts. It focuses on the architecture of Bordeaux and the region of Aquitaine during the 19th century. It presents the remarkable sites of the New Aquitaine region listed as World Heritage by UNESCO by analyzing some works to better understand them. The course discovers the region and its rich heritage through the ages, from prehistory with the parietal caves of the Dordogne to the contemporary era with the city of Fruges by Le Corbusier, passing through the Middle Age and modern times. Various arts are analyzed, including visual art, painting, sculpture, and the art of space which concerns architecture and heritage. Similarly, the course studies several styles, in particular Romanesque art, Gothic art, and classical art to acquire an artistic culture.

This course is comprised of three components: oral comprehension, oral expression, and phonetics. The comprehension part focuses on enhancing student's oral comprehension though radio, video, note-taking, and oral or written reproduction. The expression part of the course provides an opportunity to give oral presentations alone or in groups, with structured argumentation and role-playing. The phonetics part examines basic concepts of articulatory phonetics and French phonology, including perceptual phenomena, segmental and supra-segmental features, linking, neutralization, assimilation, germination, individual and dialectal variations, written and oral systems, and discourse analysis. Emphasis is placed on the acquisition of French pronunciation, as well as oral and gestural expression.

This thematic course provides an opportunity to explore Geneva's iconic sites, historical and contemporary, urban and countryside. It enriches cultural knowledge of the city of Geneva as well as the linguistic knowledge of the urban landscape and expressing impressions and feelings. The course includes six walks, each alternating with an in-class session. It provides an opportunity to photograph and create a Geneva photo album containing 30 photos, each with a small commentary, as well as an introductory text.