French
Catherine Le Gouis, Chair (Fall 2024)
Samba Gadjigo, Chair (Spring 2025)
Stacey Pare, Academic Department Coordinator
115 Ciruti Language Center
413-538-2074
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/academics/find-your-program/french
Overview and Contact Information
The French curriculum is intended to develop skills in the language and provide a broad and varied acquaintance with French and Francophone cultures and literatures. Taking as its premise that language gives access to new and different cultures, the program makes available to students the textual, oral, and visual products of the French-speaking world. It also offers familiarity with the interdisciplinary exchanges -- art, literature, history, politics, music, philosophy -- that inform French studies today.
The department offers courses in language, culture, and literature at all levels. All courses are conducted in French with the exception of the department’s first-year seminars and the Romance Languages and Literature seminar (FREN-321). The Romance Language seminar is taught in English but all reading and writing are done in French.
In language courses students have the opportunity to work with language assistants in small supplementary conversation groups. Many culture and literature courses are either speaking-intensive or writing-intensive, and in some, writing mentors are provided. Students have access to weekly drop-in tutoring sessions as well as one-on-one tutoring. Pedagogical and technological resources and events enable French students to communicate and share ideas with the global community. A comprehensive library of classic French books and movies is maintained in the department office.
Graduates of Mount Holyoke who have majored in French have used the analytical skills and means of expression acquired during their studies to pursue a wide range of career options: education, government service, law, international banking, publishing, and marketing, among others. Each spring, the department sponsors a Major Tea and Career Panel inviting to campus three or four alumnae with diverse occupations who speak about the benefits and opportunities that their French major has brought to their careers.
Study Abroad
Mount Holyoke College has six French study abroad programs: APA Paris, CIEE Paris Liberal Arts, CUPA Paris, IES Abroad in Nantes, Middlebury in France and UMN Montpellier. Students spending one or two semesters in France or a Francophone country on a program approved by the department will be able to earn credits toward the requirements of their major through study abroad. The programs are open to both majors and non-majors.
To qualify for study abroad, students need to have taken at least two courses in French (not counting Independent Study) and completed at least FREN-201.
Students may be able to accelerate from FREN-101 to FREN-201 or from FREN-102 to FREN-203 upon recommendation of their instructor.
Bringing Back Credit from Study in France or Other Francophone Country
- French majors who spend one semester abroad are allowed to bring back a maximum of 16 credits including 4 credits worth of advanced language course work, for a total of 16 credits maximum toward the major.
- French majors who spend two semesters abroad are allowed to bring back a maximum of 24 credits, including 4 credits of advanced language course work, for a total of 24 credits maximum toward the major.
- Students with a double major may choose to pursue courses in their other major. They are urged to obtain approval from the adviser of their other major before departure to make sure it will count towards their other major.
- The major program should provide continuity in the study of French. To this end, at least one 4-credit course taught in French must be elected each semester of the junior and senior years.
- French minors who spend either one semester or a full year abroad are allowed to bring back a maximum of 8 credits toward the minor.
- All courses taught in the French language may be counted toward the major or minor.
Please consult the French department and the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives for details about these and other programs. Mount Holyoke offers need-based Laurel Fellowships to support students whose own resources are not sufficient to cover the cost of study abroad. Laurel Fellowships are the only form of financial aid given by Mount Holyoke for study abroad. Information about financing study abroad may be obtained from the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives as well as Student Financial Services.
Honors Work
The French department is pleased to support senior independent study projects during their penultimate semester undertaken by students with a proven track record of exceptionally high performance in course work in French. Continuation of these projects toward completion of a thesis to be considered for possible honors is contingent upon approval of the department.
French Department Prizes
In order to be eligible to receive a French Department prize, students must take a minimum of two French courses over the academic year.
Students may qualify for the Global Competence Award, which is given to seniors with demonstrated achievement in language learning, cultural immersion, global perspective-taking, and cross-cultural learning.
Learning Goals
Learning a foreign language is an essential component of a Liberal Arts education, offering broad perspectives on other cultures and enhancing abilities in one's own.
Fluency in the French language along with knowledge of a wide range of literature and life in a variety of Francophone cultures, reached through a structured and flexible sequencing of courses from entry to seminar levels, are the goals of our curriculum for majors and non-majors alike. Since full immersion is the most effective way to achieve fluency, all our courses are taught exclusively in French.
Mount Holyoke French majors are competent global citizens who go on to a wide variety of careers.
Immersion
Majors and non-majors are fully immersed in French in all our courses. Students who choose to go abroad become able to study alongside French speakers in courses within the regular academic curriculum of French and French-language universities.
Communication
Students who take courses in the French department become able to engage in substantive and active discussions with French speakers, ranging in complexity from everyday conversations to abstract intellectual discourse.
Expression
Students become able to produce written documents and oral or media presentations that are not only grammatically correct, coherent, and well-organized, but display sophistication of thought and analysis.
Civilization
Students become acquainted with a broad range of written, visual, and digital texts, as well as social and cultural artifacts from all regions of the French-speaking world.
Exploration
Mount Holyoke French majors are able to conduct independent research, articulate their results in effective spoken and written French, take advantage of internship opportunities, and collaborate in a global environment.
Faculty
This area of study is administered by the Department of French:
Samba Gadjigo, Helen Day Gould Professor of French
Catherine Le Gouis, Reverend Joseph James Hilary Paradis Professor of French, Teaching Fall Only
Carolyn Shread, Senior Lecturer in French
Anouk Alquier, Lecturer in French
Brahim Oulbeid, Visiting Assistant Professor in French
Requirements for the Major
A minimum of 32 credits:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Two of the following 4-credit intermediate courses in culture and literature: | 8 | |
| Intermediate Level Courses in Culture and Literature: Introduction to the Literature and Culture of France and the French-Speaking World | ||
| Intermediate Level Courses in Culture and Literature: Introduction to the French-Speaking World | ||
| Intermediate Level Courses in Culture and Literature: Introduction to Contemporary Culture and Media of France and the French-Speaking World | ||
| Two 4-credit electives in culture and literature at the 200 or 300 level | 8 | |
| Three additional 4-credit electives in culture and literature at the 300 level 1 | 12 | |
| Four credits of advanced language study 2 | 4 | |
| Total Credits | 32 | |
- 1
215, 219, or 225, can be used to fulfill the intermediate course requirements if not previously taken to fulfill the advanced 200-level course requirements. One of the electives may be a course in another department and taught in English provided it focuses substantially on French or Francophone content and was pre-approved by the chair of the French department.
- 2
French majors who study abroad, for a summer, semester, or year are required to complete at least 4 credits' worth of advanced language work while abroad. When possible, this should include work in both oral French (typically, a course in phonetics) and written French (a course in grammar, composition, stylistics, or translation); in some cases, a single course may cover both written and oral components. French majors who do not study abroad must complete another 300-level course in French in order to fulfill the minimum requirement of 32 credits for the major.
Additional Specifications
- Note that independent study (FREN-295 and FREN-395) will not be counted among the required courses listed above.
-
The major program should provide continuity in the study of French. To this end, at least one 4-credit course taught in French must be elected each semester of the junior and senior years.
-
See Study Abroad information in the overview for information about crediting courses taken on study abroad towards the major.
Requirements for the Minor
A minimum of 16 credits:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Two of the following intermediate courses in culture and literature: | 8 | |
| Intermediate Level Courses in Culture and Literature: Introduction to the Literature and Culture of France and the French-Speaking World | ||
| Intermediate Level Courses in Culture and Literature: Introduction to the French-Speaking World | ||
| Intermediate Level Courses in Culture and Literature: Introduction to Contemporary Culture and Media of France and the French-Speaking World | ||
| Two advanced courses in culture and literature (300 level) | 8 | |
| Total Credits | 16 | |
Additional Specifications
-
Independent study (FREN-295 or FREN-395) does not count toward the minor
-
See Study Abroad information in the overview for information about crediting courses taken on study abroad towards the minor.
Teacher Licensure
Students interested in pursuing licensure in the field of French can combine their course work in French with a minor in education. In some instances, course work in the major coincides with course work required for licensure; in other cases, it does not. For specific course requirements for licensure within the major of French, please consult your advisor or the chair of the French department. Further information about the minor in education and the Teacher Licensure program is available in other sections of the catalog, or consult Sarah Frenette, Teacher Licensure Coordinator in the psychology and education department.
Licensure also requires a formal application as well as passing scores on the Massachusetts Test of Educator Licensure (MTEL) in both the literacy component and the subject matter component. Copies of the test objectives for the MTEL are available in the French department and in the Department of Psychology and Education.
Additional information about the Licensure Program, including application materials, can be found on the Teacher Licensure Program website.
Course Advice
Course Selection/Foreign Language Requirement
Students who have never studied French should enroll in FREN-101, a course for beginners. Those who have previously studied French at Mount Holyoke and who wish to continue must have the prerequisites stipulated for specific courses.
All students must take a placement test online.
Advanced Courses
The department’s 300-level courses represent a variety of approaches to advanced work in French studies and thus reflect the diversity within the field of French today. Specific offerings under the general rubrics change from year to year. Prerequisites for all 300-level courses are two of the following: FREN-215, FREN-219, or FREN-225. Students who do not have the stipulated prerequisites must consult the department chair or the course instructor.
Course Offerings
FREN-101 Elementary French I
Fall and Spring. Credits: 4
Learn to speak, understand, read and write authentic French in record time. We will use a multimedia approach that accesses language via video, audio and text. The immersive environment students experience will equip them to make active use of the language and provide insight into French and Francophone cultures. Students will have the opportunity to work on language skills in sessions with a language assistant.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
B. Oulbeid
Prereq: Placement test required even if no previous study of French; FREN-101 is designed for students with no previous training in French. All students must take the online French placement test to register for the class.
Advisory: FREN-101 is designed for students with no previous training in French or a maximum of one year of French at the high school level. All students must take the online French placement test to register for the class.
Notes: Students who have done strong work in FREN-101 may accelerate to FREN-201 with the approval of their instructor.
FREN-102 Elementary French II
Spring. Credits: 4
Students will develop their speaking, understanding, reading and writing skills in French. The multimedia approach will provide students with an immersive environment where they will engage actively with the language and culture.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
B. Oulbeid
Prereq: FREN-101 or placement test and department placement.
FREN-201 Intermediate French
Fall. Credits: 4
Communication and culture in the global French-speaking world. We will explore different media and documents that will enable students to express themselves both orally and in writing in a wide variety of contexts. Students will consolidate and expand their skills and engage in creative activities in literary as well as colloquial French.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
A. Alquier, C. Shread, The department
Prereq: FREN-102 or placement test and department placement.
FREN-203 Advanced Intermediate French
Fall and Spring. Credits: 4
This course will improve students' writing and speaking skills in French and develop their ability to read and discuss texts. Course materials include authors and films representing cultures of the French-speaking world. Written and oral expression are strengthened through weekly essays, class discussion, and comprehensive grammar review.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
C. Le Gouis, C. Shread, The department
Prereq: FREN-201 or placement test and department placement.
Notes: FREN-203 provides a strong foundation for continued study of French and for study abroad (see http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/french)
FREN-215 Intermediate Level Courses in Culture and Literature: Introduction to the Literature and Culture of France and the French-Speaking World
Fall and Spring. Credits: 4
This course introduces students to literature and culture from a variety of perspectives. It will increase confidence and skill in writing and speaking; integrate historical, political, and social contexts into the study of literary texts from France and the French-speaking world; and bring understanding of the special relevance of earlier periods to contemporary French and Francophone cultural and aesthetic issues. Students explore diversified works - literature, historical documents, film, art, and music - and do formal oral and written presentations.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
Other Attribute(s): Writing-Intensive
C. Le Gouis, C. Shread
Prereq: FREN-203, or placement test and department placement.
FREN-219 Intermediate Level Courses in Culture and Literature: Introduction to the French-Speaking World
Fall and Spring. Credits: 4
This course introduces the literatures of French-speaking countries outside Europe. Readings include tales, novels, plays, and poetry from Africa, the Caribbean, Canada, and other areas. Discussions and short papers examine the texts as literary works as well as keys to the understanding of varied cultures. Students will be asked to do formal oral and written presentations.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language; Multicultural Perspectives
S. Gadjigo
Prereq: FREN-203, or placement test and department placement.
FREN-225 Intermediate Level Courses in Culture and Literature: Introduction to Contemporary Culture and Media of France and the French-Speaking World
Fall and Spring. Credits: 4
The primary purpose of this course is to familiarize students with contemporary issues in French culture as they are represented in French-speaking media of today. This course will introduce students to contemporary popular culture, through the study of texts, popular music, and feature films. Students will be asked to participate actively in class discussion, do oral presentations, and converse with an exchange partner.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
Other Attribute(s): Speaking-Intensive
A. Alquier, The department
Prereq: FREN-203, or placement test and department placement.
FREN-295 Independent Study
Fall and Spring. Credits: 1 - 4
The department
Instructor permission required.
Advanced Courses
FREN-321 Genre Courses
This interdisciplinary seminar will focus on a comparative study of Romance languages or literatures. Topics will vary from semester to semester. Seminar discussions will be conducted in English, but students wishing to obtain language credit are expected to read works in at least one original language. Papers will be written in either English or the Romance language of the student's choice.
FREN-321AV Genre Courses: 'About Vanguards and Revolutionary Ideas'
Spring. Credits: 4
This course addresses cultural relations between Latin America and Romance languages and cultures through the concept of vanguard: the Latin American poetic vanguardias of the early twentieth century and controversies with the Italian and Spanish vanguardias; the influence of the Négritude anti-colonial movement in Latin American decolonial thinking and the political avant-garde movements and guerrillas of the '60s and '70s; the intersections between French surrealism and Latin American magic realism; and the emergence of the Cinema Novo and New/Third Cinema (the vanguard of political cinema in Latin America) in the context of Italian neo-realism and the French nouvelle vague.
Crosslisted as: ROMLG-375AV, ITAL-361AV, SPAN-360AV
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language; Multicultural Perspectives
A. Pitetta
Prereq: 8 credits at the 200 level in language or literature.
Notes: Taught in English. Students wishing to obtain 300-level credit in French, Italian, or Spanish must read texts and write papers in the Romance language for which they wish to receive credit.
FREN-321LT Genre Courses: 'Romance Languages Translate'
Not Scheduled for This Year. Credits: 4
This seminar explores Romance languages, literatures and cultures through the prism of translation. By comparing translations from Spanish, Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian between each other and into English, we will map out the boundaries, intersections and middle grounds of this language family. Students will engage with the different traditions of translation studies in these languages and critically analyze translators' paratexts. Selecting an individual translation project in a Romance language of their choice, through a process of revision and collaboration, each student will produce both a polished translation and a commentary explaining challenges and choices.
Crosslisted as: ROMLG-375LT, ITAL-361LT, SPAN-360LT
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
C. Shread
Restrictions: This course is open to juniors and seniors
Advisory: Two courses in culture and literature at the 200-level.
Notes: Students wishing to obtain 300-level credit in French, Italian, or Spanish must read texts and write papers in the Romance language for which they wish to receive credit.
FREN-321MT Genre Courses: 'The Mind of the Traveler: Journeys, Expeditions, Tours'
Not Scheduled for This Year. Credits: 4
Travel literature has always been a precious source for the study of culture, politics, arts and, last but not least, people. From Tacitus to Marco Polo, from Stendhal to Camilo Jose Cela, we will read and discuss authors who traveled for political, personal, and recreational reasons. We will also pay special attention to tales of emigration and immigration in the third millennium.
Crosslisted as: SPAN-360MT, ITAL-361MT, ROMLG-375MT
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
O. Frau
Restrictions: This course is open to juniors and seniors
Advisory: For language majors; two courses in culture and literature at the 200-level.
Notes: Note: Students wishing to obtain 300-level credit in French, Italian, or Spanish must read texts and write papers in the Romance language for which they wish to receive credit.
FREN-331 Courses on Social and Political Issues and Critical Approaches
These courses examine a definable phenomenon--an idea, a movement, an event, a mentality, a cultural structure or system, an historical problem, a critical mode--relevant to the civilization of France or of French-speaking countries. Readings from a variety of disciplines shed light on the particular aspect of thought or culture being studied.
FREN-331FE Courses on Social and Political Issues and Critical Approaches: 'Fabulous Feasts: French Cuisine and Food Culture'
Spring. Credits: 4
UNESCO recognized French culinary culture as "a social custom aimed at celebrating the most important moments in the lives of individuals and groups" (2010). We will explore the historical, sociological and cultural aspects of meals, étiquette and the culinary arts and the culture that embodies them through different media (recipe collections, guides, literary texts, essays, plays, films and TV shows). We will examine the development of French cuisine from medieval banquets to markets to grande cuisine and nouvelle cuisine and its influences. We will also investigate gastronomic traditions, regional and local culinary character and gastronomy in order to understand and reflect upon French food culture.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
Other Attribute(s): Speaking-Intensive
A. Alquier
Prereq: Two of the following courses: FREN-215, FREN-219, FREN-225.
FREN-331LF Courses on Social and Political Issues and Critical Approaches: 'Publishing 'la Francophonie': The Distribution and Reception of Texts from the Antilles, Africa, and Beyond'
Fall. Credits: 4
This course decolonizes French literary study by focusing on the history of Francophone publishing against the dominance of Paris as cultural capital. Reading authors such as Césaire, Chauvet, Tadjo, and Laferrière, our analyses will include the material conditions that shape stories. From the innovative publisher Présence Africaine to Littérature Monde, and from small presses like LEGS Éditions to transnational co-productions, we'll consider the aesthetic and political cultures determining literary distribution and reception. Exploring the effects of literary prizes, grants, and subsidies, we'll go beyond the text to ask how market networks that grant access and attention impact narratives.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language; Multicultural Perspectives
C. Shread
Prereq: Two of the following courses: FREN-215, FREN-219, FREN-225.
FREN-331LM Courses on Social and Political Issues and Critical Approaches: 'Reading "Le Monde"'
Not Scheduled for This Year. Credits: 4
Founded in 1944, Le Monde is the premier French newspaper, renowned for its in-depth analysis and thought-provoking opinion pieces. In this seminar we will explore the editorial line of the paper, its uncompromising independence, and its evolution from a Paris-centered evening publication to a multi-media enterprise with 24/7 global coverage. For each session, thanks to our online subscriptions, we will examine a wide variety of topics including national and international politics, social and cultural affairs, economics, science and the environment. Students will gain a distinct perspective on current affairs, advance their language skills and develop their communicative competence.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
Other Attribute(s): Speaking-Intensive
C. Le Gouis
Prereq: Two of the following courses: FREN-215, FREN-219, FREN-225.
FREN-331NW Courses on Social and Political Issues and Critical Approaches: 'The French New Wave'
Not Scheduled for This Year. Credits: 4
The New Wave was a series of films made in the late 1950s and in the 1960s by a group of Cinémathèque-loving pioneers who had seen almost every movie ever produced and particularly admired American and Russian cinema. This creative explosion won an aesthetic and political victory against an increasingly affluent, self-satisfied society, bringing about a revolution in the film industry that still echoes today.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
Other Attribute(s): Writing-Intensive
C. Le Gouis
Prereq: FREN-215, FREN-219, or FREN-225.
FREN-331RE Courses on Social and Political Issues and Critical Approaches: 'Revolutions'
Not Scheduled for This Year. Credits: 4
We will examine a wide variety of documents, ranging from key historical texts to insurgents' posters, in order to explore the concept of revolution and to analyze how France was dramatically changed by overarching societal, historical, and artistic developments. We will focus on France's relations with racial minorities in times of upheaval at the local, national, and global levels.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language; Multicultural Perspectives
Other Attribute(s): Speaking-Intensive
A. Alquier
Prereq: Two of the following courses: FREN-215, FREN-219, FREN-225
FREN-341 Courses in Francophone Studies
These courses study nonmetropolitan French-speaking cultures and literary works written in French outside Europe. Areas of focus are one or more of the following regions: Africa, the Caribbean, or Canada.
FREN-341AF Courses in Francophone Studies: 'Tales and Legends of French-Speaking Africa'
Not Scheduled for This Year. Credits: 4
Since the advent of fiction writing in French-speaking Africa in the 1920s, the study of African literatures has been mainly limited to poems, novels, short stories, and plays written by a French-educated elite. In this course we will explore samples of African oral literatures including tales, epic songs, and legends from different African regions. Through translations by writers such as Léopold Sédar Senghor, Birago Diop (Senegal), Djibril Tamsmir Niane (Guinea), and Bernard Dadié (Ivory Coast) we will try to view African societies from "within" and gain an understanding of the genealogy of modern African literature in European languages.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
Other Attribute(s): Speaking-Intensive
S. Gadjigo
Prereq: Two of the following courses: FREN-215, FREN-219, FREN-225.
FREN-341CM Courses in Francophone Studies: 'Through African Eyes: Intro to African Cinema'
Not Scheduled for This Year. Credits: 4
With the rest of the world, in 1995 filmmakers from the whole African continent met in Ouagadougou to celebrate the Century of world cinema. This also gave African filmmakers an opportunity to reflect on their 30 years of film practice. Today, only a year after most former French colonies in Africa have celebrated the 50th anniversary of their independence, African cinema is also entering its fifties. This course will introduce students to a half a century of African cinema with a special attention to its history and its search for survival and self identity within world cinema.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
Other Attribute(s): Writing-Intensive
S. Gadjigo
Prereq: Two of the following courses: FREN-215, FREN-219, FREN-225.
FREN-341FS Courses in Francophone Studies: 'Women and Writing in French-Speaking Africa'
Fall. Credits: 4
This course explores writings by women in French-speaking Africa from its early beginnings in the late 1970s to the present. Special attention will be given to social, political, gender, and aesthetic issues.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
S. Gadjigo
Prereq: 12 credits in French including two courses at the advanced level, or permission of department chair and instructor.
FREN-341HT Courses in Francophone Studies: 'The Haitian Literary Tradition: Revolution, Diaspora, and Writing in French Now'
Not Scheduled for This Year. Credits: 4
This course engages with the rich tradition of French writing from Haiti. Beginning with Émeric Bergeaud's Stella (1859), the first novel of the first Black republic, we explore the history of Haitian writing across literary genres and movements, including the Indigénisme that anticipated Négritude. Diasporic authors from the Duvalier dictatorship period include Marie Vieux- Chauvet, author of the cult classic, Amour, Colère, Folie, and Dany Laferrière, famous as both the first Haitian and first Quebecois to enter the Académie française. In Haiti's contemporary literary scene, we focus on writers such as Yanick Lahens and Marie-Célie Agnant.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language; Multicultural Perspectives
C. Shread
Prereq: Two of the following courses: FREN-215, FREN-219, FREN-225.
FREN-341NE Courses in Francophone Studies: 'Revisiting the Negritude Movement: Origins, Evolution, and Relevance'
Not Scheduled for This Year. Credits: 4
In the interwar period, 1920-1940, black students from Africa and the Caribbean met in Paris to pursue their education. Galvanized by the colonial situation at home and the political situation in France, Aimé Césaire (Martinique), Léopold S. Senghor (Sénégal), and Léon Damas (French Guyana) formed the cultural movement called Négritude. This course will survey the emergence, goals, evolution, achievements, and legacies of that movement. Discussions will be based on major texts by the founders. Their influence on the works of a new generation of African and Caribbean writers will also be examined.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language; Multicultural Perspectives
S. Gadjigo
Prereq: 12 credits in French including two courses at the advanced level, or permission of department chair and instructor.
FREN-341PA Courses in Francophone Studies: 'Paris dans l'Imaginaire Africain'
Spring. Credits: 4
The relation between colonizer and colonized is two-fold. On the one hand, we have a visible, concrete and immediate form of domination. It is military, economic, social and political. It constrains the body. On the other hand, we have the ideological, less visible, subtler and yet more destructive colonization: that of the mind. This course will have two components: First, we will briefly summarize how, through its educational system and its major narratives (textbooks, essays, literature, and film) the colonizer constructed and controlled both his own image and that of its "silenced" colonized other. Second, we will more substantively explore how, after WW1, through the early 1960s, the colonized, breaking his silence, used "the barrel of the pen" and the camera to account for his own lived experiences of the "Metropole" (Paris and France as a whole).
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
Other Attribute(s): Speaking-Intensive, Writing-Intensive
S. Gadjigo
Prereq: Two courses in French at the 200 level.
FREN-341SE Courses in Francophone Studies: 'Ousmane Sembene: The Work of the Militant Artist'
Not Scheduled for This Year. Credits: 4
Born in 1923 in Senegal, the writer-filmmaker Ousmane Sembène is one of the few witnesses of the three significant periods in the contemporary history of so-called Francophone Africa: the colonial period, the struggle for political and economic independence and the effort to shake off the yoke of neocolonialism through the rehabilitation of the continent's cultural heritage. This course devoted to his work aims to explore the great events of his life, his involvement in European left movements, his coming to writing and especially the dominant features of his film.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
Other Attribute(s): Writing-Intensive
S. Gadjigo
Prereq: Two of the following courses: FREN-215, FREN-219, FREN-225.
FREN-351 Courses on Women and Gender
These courses explore cultural, literary, and social issues relating to women and gender identities in France and French-speaking countries. Topics may include women's writing, writing about women and men, the status of women, feminist criticism, and
FREN-351QU Courses on Women and Gender: 'Une Philosophe, Qu'est-ce? Thinking with French Women Philosophers from Simone de Beauvoir to Catherine Malabou'
Not Scheduled for This Year. Credits: 4
This course focuses on French women writers of philosophy. We start with the existentialism of Simone de Beauvoir, author of the founding text of second wave feminism, Le deuxième sexe. We'll consider écriture féminine with the French Feminism triad Hélène Cixous, Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigaray, as an antecedent of contemporary écriture inclusive. After exploring Barbara Cassin's project to define philosophical terms multilingually, we'll have a special focus on Catherine Malabou whose meditation on plasticity resonates with the gender fluidity of our time and whose recent study of anarchism offers a new critique of domination.
Applies to requirement(s): Humanities; Language
C. Shread
Prereq: Two of the following courses: FREN-215, FREN-219, FREN-225.
FREN-395 Independent Study
Fall and Spring. Credits: 1 - 8
The department
Instructor permission required.
