French

This course provides a systematic view of French foreign policy and foreign policy debate since the end of the Second World War. French diplomacy played an extremely important role in the world right from the beginning of international politics in the 17th century. Against that backdrop, the period since 1945 is usually seen as a decline in French international power and influence, in favor first of the United States and then of Europe. Topics include France in international relations since World War II; decolonization; France’s Africa policy; the Cold War and NATO; French initiatives for European integration; and the history of the European Union, between economic cooperation and political sovereignty. The latter being central to French international policy, the course devotes a good deal of discussion to European affairs.

This fifteen-week beginning conversation and grammar course immerses students in the French language and culture through bi-weekly class sessions and occasional instructor-led site visits. The course includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing with a focus on communication. Students have the opportunity to use everything they learn in class as they go about their daily activities. Students can expect to be able to talk about daily life, food, travelling, Paris, and a wide variety of activities. While students are learning how to speak the language, they continue their introduction to the culture of the French-speaking world. To immerse students in the language, only French is spoken in class. Although students are not expected to understand every word, they should try to follow the gist by paying attention to the context. Students find their comprehension increasing as the course progresses. By the end of the course, students are able to understand, perform, and possess the following at a level appropriate to a novice-mid learner. Understand the basic structures of French grammar and use the present and use occasionally the past and near future of high-frequency regular and irregular verbs, use reflexive verbs to talk about their daily routines, use occasionally the imperative and polite conditional moods, as well as use subject and object pronouns, articles, prepositions, possessive and demonstrative adjectives, interrogative expressions, expressions of quantity, and time and weather expressions. Possess a basic working vocabulary and engage in short conversations with a sympathetic interlocutor in French, using simple sentences and basic vocabulary, with occasional use of past and near future tenses, on familiar topics (such as the academic environment, family, food, and the home environment, habitual activities and hobbies, going out, memories, travelling, etc.) and express their basic everyday needs. Understand information on French and Francophone culture on the following topics: greetings, leisure activities and sports, vacation time, family structures, schooling and values of the French Republic, cuisine, grocery shopping and eating habits, the workplace, café life, multiethnic society, youth culture, and the geography, music, and cuisine of the francophone world. Read, understand, and discuss short, highly contextualized, and predictable texts, containing cognates and borrowed words, on familiar topics. Write with some accuracy on well-practiced, familiar topics using limited, formulaic language in simple French. Understand basic French spoken by someone who is sympathetic to non-native and beginning students of French on familiar topics, using context and extra-linguistic support to determine meaning. 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, and music.

This course serves as an overview of eighteenth-century literature. The curriculum focuses on the works of major authors of the Enlightenment within their respective philosophical and literary concentrations. This includes reflections on society and manners, religious and political criticism, and texts concerning human rights and the French Revolution (Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, the encyclopedia, etc.) This course also looks at the upset of the novel genre (Diderot), epistolary writings, (Montesquieu and Rousseau).

This course focuses on directors and producers of the French New Wave. It explores the aesthetic, historical, social, and economic context of films from Africa, Germany, Hollywood, England, Italy, Spain, and Japan beginning in 1959.

This course develops critical analytic skills in the scientific process, including forming hypotheses and producing scientific writing. Assessment includes a 5-10 page scientific research paper as well as a presentation. 

This course introduces students to nineteenth- and twentieth-century French history through the lens of the Woman Question. Gender profoundly shaped the most urgent political controversies of this period, from the question of citizenship to the increasing liberalization of the way of life. Drawing upon recent scholarly debates concerning gender, this course demonstrates the continuing significance of women's participation in diverse aspects of social and economic life in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Each unit sheds light on women's place in the socio-political sphere by focusing on the actions of influential figures such as Olympe de Gouges or Louise Michel. By studying historical documents and using interactive media, the course examines the relationship between the history of France and the history of its women.

This fifteen-week beginning intermediate conversation, reading and writing course immerses students in the French language and culture through bi-weekly class sessions and occasional instructor-led site visits. The course includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing with a focus on communication. Students have the opportunity to use everything they learn in class as they go about their daily activities. Students can expect to be able to talk about daily life, food, travelling, Paris, and a wide variety of activities. While students are learning how to speak the language, they continue their introduction to the culture of the French-speaking world. To immerse students in the language, only French is spoken in class. Although students are not expected to understand every word, they should try to follow the gist by paying attention to the context. Students find their comprehension increasing as the course progresses. By the end of the course, students are able to understand, perform, and possess the following at a level appropriate to an intermediate-mid to -high learner. Understand the structures of French grammar and use the present, and all the verb tenses of high-frequency regular and irregular verbs including reflexive verbs, use the indicative, imperative, conditional and subjunctive moods, as well as use subject and object pronouns, articles, prepositions, possessive and demonstrative adjectives, negative and interrogative expressions. Apply these aspects of French grammar (such as verb tense, mode and conjugation) to written and oral communication. Possess a working vocabulary and engage in conversations with an interlocutor in French, using both simple and more complex sentences and vocabulary, with use of past and future tenses as well as conditional and subjunctive moods, on familiar topics and to express their basic everyday needs, as well as on topics relating to a variety of contemporary sociological and cultural issues that touch on questions of family and professional relationships, class, social, ethnic, multicultural, and political identities, and the role of the arts in contemporary contexts. Employ the listening strategies and skills necessary to understanding a wide variety of discourse. Understand information on French and Francophone culture on the following topics: health and illness, vacation time, family structures, schooling and values of the French Republic, the distribution of household chores, environmental protection, cuisine, grocery shopping and eating habits, the workplace, café life, multi-ethnic society, youth culture, and the geography, music, and cuisine of the francophone world. Individually and/or collectively present orally information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of sympathetic listeners on a variety of topics. 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 short (1-2½ pages) compositions. 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.

This semi-intensive language course is roughly equivalent to the first quarter or to the first semester of beginning French language instruction on students' home campuses. It introduces basic speaking, listening, reading and writing skills to the complete beginner within a French-immersion context. This course is for absolute beginners only. The textbook for this course is MOTIFS: AN INTRODUCTION TO FRENCH by K. Jansma, 6th Edition, 2014. This course helps students develop the ability to communicate in spoken and written French. By the end of the course, students have been presented with the basic structures of French grammar and obtain a basic working vocabulary organized according to certain themes. Students are presented with information on French and Francophone culture on the following topics: greetings, identifying and describing people and things, leisure activities and sports, vacation time, family structures, schooling, the workplace, the news, eating and drinking, café life, and the geography, music, and cuisine of the francophone world. Students engage in short conversations using simple sentences and basic vocabularies, with limited use of perfect and recent past tenses and occasionally use near future tense. Covered in this course are: present, perfect, recent past, and near future tenses, along with high-frequency regular and irregular verbs, high-frequency reflexive verbs, the polite conditional mood, subject and object pronouns, articles, prepositions, possessive adjectives, interrogative expressions, and time and weather expressions. Basic oral competency skills are covered. Students are required to read, understand, and discuss short, highly contextualized and predictable texts, containing cognates and borrowed words, on very familiar topics. They also are required to write with some accuracy on well-practiced, familiar topics using limited, formulaic language in simple French. Students reflect upon basic cultural differences as reflected in a variety of French and Francophone contexts. This course involves class participation in tasks such as whole class discussion, small group and pair work, role play, games, and individual and group presentations. Cultural immersion activities are included and students may choose to pursue a personal project, such as an off-site dance or art course or similar activity, or to take part in instructor-led site visits. The course uses the city of Paris as a living laboratory to provide students with real life scenarios to help develop their speaking and listening skills.

This is a beginner level French language course for students with no prior French language background. It focuses on understanding and using simple sentences concerning daily life, saluting, spelling, pronunciation, numbers and telling time, introducing oneself or someone else, directions, press headlines and simple articles, and using basic formulas of politeness. It builds skills to ask and answer simple questions, express preferences, and make plans in settings such as stores, restaurants, banks, doctors' offices, the post office, and while traveling. The course covers nouns and noun groups, nouns and determiners, and descriptive, possessive, and demonstrative adjectives. It also introduces first group verbs, irregular and auxiliary verbs, semi-auxiliary verbs, as well as verb tenses such as indicative present, near future, recent past, and past perfect.