French

This course explores cultures of the French-speaking countries of the south (Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa), in their plural identities and their universes of reference, in order to better understand them. It studies literary texts and the analysis of films and audiovisual documentaries. Writers from these French-speaking countries accompany readers in discovering the other through literary strategies that prepare for the reception of difference. The course offers readings that will be like intercultural adventures in which the literary technique of the child narrator-character is decisive.

This is an advanced level French course for students who have completed three semesters of university level French. Certain fundamentals of the language are reinforced and completed in this course. Building on good comprehension skills, the course improves the ability to communicate in speaking and writing. The following skills are acquired within listening comprehension: understanding important points when clear, standard language is used on familiar subjects related to work, school, leisure activities; understanding the main point of a range of radio or television broadcasts related to current events or subjects of personal or professional importance provided that speech is relatively slow and distinct. The following skills are acquired within reading comprehension: understanding texts written in routine, daily language and/or related to studies or work; understanding descriptions of events, expressions of sentiments, or wishes expressed in personal letters and emails. The following is accomplished within expression: communication and interaction, ability to confront most situations that can be encountered during a trip in a region in which the target language is spoken, taking part without preparation in a conversation on familiar subjects or subjects of personal interest or that are related to daily life (for example, family, leisure, work, traveling, or current events). The following is accomplished within speaking skills: articulating expressions in a simple way to relate experiences or events, dreams, hopes, and objectives; briefly describing the reasons or explanations for opinions and plans; re-telling a story or plot of a book or movie and expressing reactions to them. Finally, the following writing skills are obtained: writing clear, detailed texts about a wide range of subjects related to personal interests; writing an essay or report by transmitting information or describing reasons for or against a given opinion; composing letters that emphasize the meanings that are personally attributed to events and experiences.

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 course discovers various representations of India through the cross-study of literary and cinematographic works of the twentieth century. Students read works including A BARBARIAN IN ASIA by Henri Michaux and A CERTAIN IDEA OF ​​INDIA by Alberto Moravia; and view works including ABOARD THE DARJEELING LIMITED by Wes Anderson and the documentary by Louis Malle, GHOST INDIA.

This is a beginner level French language course for students who have previously completed one or two semesters of French. The course focuses on understanding commonly used vocabulary words and very frequent expressions concerning oneself, the family, and the concrete environment, provided that people speak slowly and distinctly. It covers common names and words as well as very simple sentences, for example those in advertisements, posters, and catalogs. The course builds skills to communicate in a simple way, ask and answer simple questions about familiar subjects or objects of immediate need, use expressions and simple sentences to describe where one lives and the people one knows; and write short, simple postcards and provide personal details on a questionnaire or hotel registration form. Topics include adjectives, possessive and demonstrative pronouns, recent past, past tense, and imperfect past; expressions of time, start, end, intervals, length, interrogative, imperative, present conditional, comparative and superlative, future, near, and simple.

This workshop is for students at the C1/C2 level of French. It improves written, oral, listening, and text skills through studies of specific themes. The course looks first at traditional notions of culture and civilization, then redefines the new societal challenges which are crucial and omnipresent, looking at social and political events to analyze their trajectories in today's world. Students learn to understand critical texts, analyze societal questions, present on varying viewpoints, and debate on diverse subjects.