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Undergraduate Courses

Course Descriptions for the Fall 2013 semester

FREN 110 – ELEMENTARY FRENCH I     3 credits

An introduction to French with an emphasis on acquiring a basic level of proficiency in the language and an understanding of France and the Francophone world.  Speaking French from day one, students practice the language through listening comprehension/speaking activities, vocabulary and grammar exercises, meaningful readings, video segments, and Web activities devoted to French and Francophone language and culture.  Texts:  Voilà! (textbook/two audio CDs and workbook/lab manual, 5th edition), Heilenman, Kaplan, and Toussaint Tournier (Thomson/Heinle).

Requirements:  daily presence and participation, tests, compositions, and a final exam.

 FREN 120 – ELEMENTARY FRENCH II     3 credits

A second-semester elementary French course:  a continuation of FREN 110 with emphasis on acquiring basic level of proficiency in the language and understanding of the culture of France and the Francophone world.  Speaking French from day one, students practice the language through listening comprehension/speaking activities, vocabulary and grammar exercises, meaningful readings, video segments, and Web activities devoted to French and Francophone language and culture.  Texts:  Voilà! (textbook/two audio CDs and workbook/lab manual, 5th edition), Heilenman, Kaplan, and Toussaint Tournier (Thomson/Heinle).

Requirements:  daily presence and participation, tests, compositions, and a final exam

FREN 230 - INTERMEDIATE FRENCH I     3 credits

Course taught in French. Students review grammar points learned in elementary French and study more complex grammatical structures. The course is designed to improve: (1) listening comprehension, through class lecture and discussion; (2) speaking proficiency, through exercises on vocabulary and pronunciation; (3) reading comprehension, through analysis of cultural readings; and (4) writing ability, through frequent assignments.

Prerequisite: FREN 120, 126, or 2-3 years of high school French.

FREN 240 – Intermediate French II: Four Skills     3 credits

Course taught in French. Practice with the four skills: reading, writing, understanding, and speaking. Readings of contemporary literary texts. Review of grammar as questions arise. Requirements:  compositions, quizzes, midterm and final. Prerequisite: FREN 230 or equivalent.  Suitable for students who plan to continue beyond the 240 level. This course completes the CHFA Language Requirement.

FREN 250 – LANGUAGE & LITERATURE 3 credits Prof. Dianne Sears

Course taught in French. Four Skills course for students with four years of high school French or equivalent. Active and regular participation in class required. Introduction to literary analysis of short stories, plays, and poems. Review of grammar as questions arise. Requirements: written exercises, short papers, and hour exams.

FREN 285 – LANGUAGE SUITE CONVERSATION 2 credits  

Thatcher House, By Arrangement  

This course improves French with an emphasis on oral skills and a focus on French and Francophone societies and cultures. Students make regular presentations in class, participate in role-play, improvisation, and other creative activities. We attend relevant events off-campus in the Five Colleges, as well as hosting the Fête des Crèpes and other cooking events, and an annual trip to Montreal In order to participate, students must usually be resident in the Thatcher House dorm and are required to take a 3 credit course in the French department. Honors Colloquium (FREN HO1) available

FREN 350 - FRENCH FILM 4 credits Prof. Kathryn Lachman

General Education course taught entirely in English, and all films have English subtitles.  This semester’s focus is on contemporary French and Francophone films.  Using the background you acquire from the assigned readings, papers, lectures, screenings, and meetings of your discussion section, you will learn how to do a critical film analysis.  We will explore recent debates about French identity in light of the challenges posed by immigration (especially non-European immigration), feminism, economic and cultural globalization, and France's version of “multiculturalism," casting a wide net over cinema to examine the privileged relationship between a nation, an art, and a social practice.

FREN 371 – ADVANCED GRAMMAR  3 credits Prof. Luke Bouvier/ Eva Valenta

Course taught in French. The first of two consecutive courses devoted to advanced grammar review and composition (followed by French 473). Extensive written practice with various grammatical structures, frequent short writing assignments, introduction to literary analysis.

FREN 384 - THEMES IN FRENCH LIT & INTLET HISTORY 3 credits  Prof. Eva Valenta

Course taught in French. Some of the major contributions of French writers over the centuries to an exploration of the human condition. Focus on several different aspects of the relations between such intellectual inquiry and the evolution of literary forms and genres. The specific themes chosen by the instructor. For example: first semester: love and hate in tragedies, comedies, poems and novels; second semester: adolescence, identity, and individuation. May be used for the major requirement instead of FRENCH 324.

FREN 397E ST- ENTERPRISE ESSENTIALS AND THE JOB SEARCH credits 3 Prof. Nancy Lamb

FREN 397G- GLOBAL ISSUES  credits 3  Prof. Nancy Lamb

Course taught in French. Exploration of global socio-economic, political, and environmental challenges, such as indigenous rights, food, water, and health issues, natural disasters, land grabbing, and wars. A study of past and current events.

FREN 424-RENAISSANCE PROSE 3 credits Prof. Philippe Baillargeon

Course taught in French. The purpose of this course is to acquaint the participants with some works of late-medieval and Renaissance storytellers (French "conteurs"). We will read a variety of texts in the storytelling tradition, from /Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles/ to Beroalde de Verville's /Le Moyen de parvenir/. We will place emphasis on genre definition, narratology, aesthetics and cultural history. Among the problems we will discuss together are the following: the relationship between ideology (courtly love, feudalism, humanism, evangelism, "Querelle des femmes", etc.) and literature; rhetoric and truth, historicity and exemplarity; imitation; intertextuality; "vraisemblance"; authority, authorship and gendered discourse; exemplarity, self-referentiality and identity. (Gen.Ed. AL)

FREN 433- FRENCH CLASSICISM 3 credits Prof. Patrick Mensah

Course taught in French. A study of triumphs and tensions within the literature and culture of the Age of the Sun King. Topics include the comedies of Molière, women writers and the rise of the novel, and commentaries on the human condition by writers such as La Rochefoucauld and La Bruyère.

FREN 473 – COMPOSITION 3 credits Prof. Nancy Lamb

The second of two consecutive courses devoted to advanced grammar review and composition (following French 371). Extensive written practice with various grammatical structures, frequent short writing assignments, introduction to literary analysis. Taught in French.

FREN 498Y – Language Suite Conversation, 2 credits  

Thatcher House, By Arrangement  

This is a practicuum course designed as an apprenticeship for students interested in teaching and mentoring their peers and taking a leadership role in the residential Thatcher House French community. Eligible students must be proficient in French beyond the 300 level, ideally with native or near-native speaking, reading and writing ability. In peer group tutoring sessions, undergraduate TAs help fellow students with various areas including conversation, vocabulary, grammar, literary and cultural assignments. They are also responsible for facilitating joint projects such as the annual Thatcher Conference presentations, Photostory digital narration, cultural events such as the Fête des Crèpes and annual trip to Montreal.  Honors Colloquium (FREN HO3 – 1 credit) available

 

We also offer Independent Studies

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