French Studies
Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures
https://cultures.rice.edu
207 Rayzor Hall
713-348-4868
Jacqueline Couti
Department Chair, Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures
jacqueline.couti@rice.edu
The Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures houses the French Studies program, offering courses on such topics as the legacy of courtly literature, French philosophy since the Enlightenment, sex and race in the French Atlantic, notions of the 'feminine' since the French Revolution, and social issues in contemporary France. The focus of the program is highly interdisciplinary, engaging not just literature and language, but also gender and race, film and visual art, history and medicine, philosophy and critical theory. Students in the program may pursue the BA degree with a major in French Studies. The department also offers a minor in French Studies.
The majority of courses are offered entirely in French but some courses are also offered in English (some of these in collaboration with the other majors offered by the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures).
Chair, Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures
Jacqueline Couti
Program Advisor
Linsey Sainte-Claire
Professor
Jacqueline Couti
Associate Professors
Caroline Fache
Julie Fette
Deborah A. Harter
Philip R. Wood
Assistant Professor
Linsey Sainte-Claire
Lecturer
Valentin Duquet
For Rice University degree-granting programs:
To view the list of official course offerings, please see Rice’s Course Catalog.
To view the most recent semester’s course schedule, please see Rice's Course Schedule.
French Studies (FREN)
FREN 106 - ACCELERATED FIRST-YEAR FRENCH
Short Title: ACCEL 1ST YR FRENCH
Department: Cntr Lang & Intercultural Comm
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level
Description: Alternate first-year French for students with previous knowledge of another romance language, or limited previous French knowledge with a significant (1+ year) gap in study. Covers equivalent of FREN 141 and 142. Upon completion, students are prepared for FREN 263 or Rice-in-France. Mutually exclusive: cannot earn credit for FREN 141/142. Mutually Exclusive: Cannot register for FREN 106 if student has credit for FREN 141/FREN 142.
FREN 141 - FIRST YEAR FRENCH I
Short Title: FIRST YEAR FRENCH I
Department: Cntr Lang & Intercultural Comm
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level
Description: Development of interactional competence in French (sociolinguistic and sociocultural knowledge) to communicate and interact with speakers of French. The course is based on a student-centered, critical-thinking approach to language analysis/acquisition. No prior knowledge of this language is necessary. Placement Test is required. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Mutually Exclusive: Cannot register for FREN 141 if student has credit for FREN 101/FREN 106/FREN 222.
FREN 142 - FIRST YEAR FRENCH II
Short Title: FIRST YEAR FRENCH II
Department: Cntr Lang & Intercultural Comm
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level
Prerequisite(s): FREN 141
Description: Continuation of FREN 141. Development of interactional competence in French (sociolinguistic and socio cultural knowledge) to communicate and interact with speakers of French. The course is based on a student-centered, critical-thinking approach to language analysis/acquisition. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Mutually Exclusive: Cannot register for FREN 142 if student has credit for FREN 106/FREN 262.
FREN 222 - AP/OTH CREDIT FRENCH LANGUAGE
Short Title: AP/OTH CREDIT FRENCH LANGUAGE
Department: Cntr Lang & Intercultural Comm
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Transfer
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level
Description: This course provides credit for students who have successfully completed approved examinations, such as Advanced Placement exams. This credit counts toward the total credit hours required for graduation. Mutually Exclusive: Cannot register for FREN 222 if student has credit for FREN 141.
FREN 238 - SPECIAL TOPICS
Short Title: SPECIAL TOPICS
Department: Cntr Lang & Intercultural Comm
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Internship/Practicum, Laboratory, Lecture, Lecture/Laboratory, Seminar, Independent Study
Credit Hours: 1-4
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level
Description: Topics and credit hours vary each semester. Contact department for current semester's topic(s). Repeatable for Credit.
FREN 263 - SECOND YEAR FRENCH I
Short Title: SECOND YEAR FRENCH I
Department: Cntr Lang & Intercultural Comm
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level
Prerequisite(s): FREN 106 or FREN 142
Description: Continuation of FREN 142. Development of interactional competence in French (sociolinguistic and socio cultural knowledge) to communicate and interact with speakers of French. The course is based on a student-centered, critical-thinking approach to language analysis/acquisition Mutually Exclusive: Cannot register for FREN 263 if student has credit for FREN 201.
FREN 264 - SECOND YEAR FRENCH II
Short Title: SECOND YEAR FRENCH II
Department: Cntr Lang & Intercultural Comm
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Lower-Level
Prerequisite(s): FREN 263
Description: Continuation of FREN 263. Development of interactional competence in French (sociolinguistic and socio cultural knowledge) to communicate and interact with speakers of French. The course is based on a student-centered, critical-thinking approach to language analysis/acquisition Mutually Exclusive: Cannot register for FREN 264 if student has credit for FREN 202.
FREN 301 - GRAMMAR AND CULTURAL LITERACY
Short Title: GRAMMAR AND CULTURAL LITERACY
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course is an integrated study of literary and cultural texts as a springboard for advanced-level refinements of grammar. Taught in French. D1 effective Fall 2024. Recommended Prerequisite(s): FREN 202 or 264 or Placement Test.
FREN 302 - WRITING WORKSHOP
Short Title: WRITING WORKSHOP
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course is offered annually and is required of all majors. It emphasizes composition and exposition through the practice of such genres as narration, description, portrait, essay, and "commentaire compose". Formerly FREN 336. Taught in French. Mutually Exclusive: Cannot register for FREN 302 if student has credit for FREN 336.
FREN 304 - FRENCH CULTURE THROUGH THE ARTS
Short Title: FRENCH CULTURE THRU THE ARTS
Department: Cntr Lang & Intercultural Comm
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Prerequisite(s): FREN 264
Description: This course takes into consideration the links between art, history and culture, and works are thus studied within their artistic, historical and social context. A particular attention is paid to study abroad location in France. The course will take full advantage of on-site classes and day-long tours, in the program location and surrounding region.
FREN 305 - THE MEDIA IN FRANCE
Short Title: THE MEDIA IN FRANCE
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course studies the media in France and France through its media. Using the internet, television, radio, and the press, students will analyze media trends and interpret current events. Taught in French.
FREN 306 - FRENCH SOCIETY AND LANGUAGE USE
Short Title: FRENCH SOCIETY & LANGUAGE USE
Department: Cntr Lang & Intercultural Comm
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Prerequisite(s): FREN 301
Description: This course forms part of the Rice in France study abroad program. It invites students to extend their knowledge and practice of French towards a more complex, appropriate, and subtle use of the language. Learners will discover and discuss a range of social topics from cultural difference, gender & social inequality in today’s French society, to social networking and migration & discrimination. In order to discuss these sociocultural topics, students will cover complex grammatical structures such as: anteriority, posteriority, and simultaneity. The course will cover expressions of subjectivity as well as reported speeches, linking words, and expression of opinion.
FREN 307 - THE MANY FACETS OF FRENCH CULTURAL IDENTITY
Short Title: FRENCH CULTURAL IDENTITY I
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: With the help of nine French films and selected readings, we will discuss what it means to be French today. Taught in French. Repeatable for Credit.
FREN 308 - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST(S): SEX, VIOLENCE, AND FOLKTALES IN THE AFRICAN DIASPORA
Short Title: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST(S)
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course examines the carnal violence and brutality associated with sex and gender in folktales and fairytales from the African diaspora to the Americas. In so doing, this course will also put European and African folklore in conversation with the New World’s oral traditions. Taught in English.
FREN 311 - MIDDLE AGES TO ENLIGHTENMENT
Short Title: MIDDLE AGES TO ENLIGHTENMENT
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Study of French culture, literature, and artifacts from the Middle Ages until the Enlightenment. Taught in French.
FREN 312 - THE FRENCH REVOLUTION TO WWII
Short Title: THE FRENCH REVOLUTION TO WWII
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Study of poetry, fiction, and cinema through the major literary and artistic movements from the Revolution to the 20th century: romanticism, realism, symbolism, Dada, surrealism, and existentialism. Taught in French.
FREN 313 - THE FRANCOPHONE WORLD
Short Title: THE FRANCOPHONE WORLD
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course will explore the artistic, historical, and philosophical textures of French cultures outside Europe, focusing especially on Africa north and south of the Sahara, the Caribbean, North America, and on the evolution of the concept of "francophonie" since World War II. Taught in French.
FREN 314 - CONTEMPORARY FRENCH SOCIETY
Short Title: CONTEMPORARY FRENCH SOCIETY
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course provides grounding in social, political, cultural, and economic aspects of contemporary France. The course will focus on themes such as youth, pop culture, media, religion, immigration, foreign policy, leisure, and gender. Taught in French. Formally known as FREN 321. Mutually exclusive with FREN 321. Students cannot earn credit for FREN 314 if previously taken FREN 321.
FREN 320 - FRENCH CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
Short Title: FRENCH CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: In this course, students will read and write about French children's literature, along the way familiarizing themselves with canonical and contemporary picturebooks, chapter books, and junior novels. Students will analyze children's literature as a literary genre, its place in French culture, and its role in socializing French citizens.
FREN 321 - INTRODUCTION TO FRENCH SOCIETY AND CULTURE
Short Title: INTRO FRENCH SOCIETY & CULTURE
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course provides grounding in social, political, cultural, and economic aspects of contemporary France. The course will focus on themes such as youth culture, Europeanization, immigration, and gender debates. Taught in French.
FREN 322 - FRENCH COMICS
Short Title: FRENCH COMICS
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course will examine French comics, also known as bande dessinée, BD, or graphic novel. Students will read canonical and contemporary comics for children and adults. We will study comics as a literary genre and their place in French culture.
FREN 324 - FROM DECOLONIZATION TO GLOBALIZATION
Short Title: FROM DECOLONI TO GLOBALIZATION
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Taught in English. Novels, and films, from North and West Africa, and the immigrant population in France, from 1960 to 2010. Emphasis on the tensions between narratives of political emancipation, modernity, secularism, and religious fundamentalism and mysticism. Extra reading for graduate students in theories of colonialism, postcolonialism, globalization. Cross-list: POLI 324, RELI 476. Mutually Exclusive: Cannot register for FREN 324 if student has credit for FREN 524/RELI 604.
FREN 325 - FRENCH THEORY, IN ENGLISH
Short Title: FRENCH THEORY, IN ENGLISH
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course provides an introduction to contemporary French theory and philosophy in their historical context, from decolonization and the Cold War to the present. Along the way, we will discuss French phenomenology, Marxism, structuralism, feminism, post-structuralism, and post-continental philosophy, including their impact on US culture. Taught in English. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: FREN 525.
FREN 326 - BANNED BOOKS
Short Title: BANNED BOOKS
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course will examine banned books in France. Why have certain books been banned at certain times? Censorship and controversy over literature demonstrate that competing values are at stake in French society. Students will read banned books in this class.
FREN 337 - SHAKESPEARE IN THE CARIBBEAN: POST/COLONIAL READINGS
Short Title: SHAKESPEARE IN THE CARIBBEAN
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course examines English translations of Caribbean and Latin American writers' retellings of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Students will explore the construction of identity (including race and gender) and otherness since the beginning of the colonial project (1492). We will question the relationship between colonized and colonizer, and tropes such as the Master/Slave relationship. Taught in English.
FREN 340 - GENDER AROUND THE WORLD
Short Title: GENDER AROUND THE WORLD
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course focuses on the challenges of defining gender, race, and identity in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, or the Global South as this area is also known. The nations of the Global South are newly industrialized or in the process of industrializing and have had to battle the widespread effects of colonialism and globalization. Students will investigate the pervasiveness of stereotypes in literature, film, popular culture and the media in western and non-western contexts. We will examine theories from the Global South to avoid the simplification of Eurocentric analysis. Taught in French.
FREN 350 - PARIS: BEYOND FASHION AND CUISINE
Short Title: PARIS
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course uncovers the layers of Parisian history, challenges preconceptions, and fosters a deeper understanding of the city's evolving identity. Beyond the glamorous facade associated with the city, this course will delve into the intricate socio-political upheavals that have not only shaped Paris in the past but continue to influence its trajectory.
FREN 351 - THE INVENTION OF LA PROVINCE: RECASTING THE REGIONS OF FRANCE
Short Title: THE INVENTION OF LA PROVINCE
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Overview of the amazing diversity in the history, languages, economic bases, traditions, and cultures of the original provinces in order to arrive at a better understanding of France and the concept of La province as they exist today. Taught in French. Recommended Prerequisite(s): FREN 202 or FREN 264 or Placement Test. Recommended Prerequisite(s): FREN 202 or FREN 264 or Placement Test.
FREN 355 - MODERN SHORT STORY: TOWARDS AN ETHICS OF FICTION
Short Title: MODERN SHORT STORY
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Study of great modern short fiction with emphasis on reading as an ethical enterprise. Selected critical essays complement works from Melville to Maupassant, Flaubert to Kafka to O'Connor as we talk about alienation and solitude, death and violence and the vicissitudes of family. Taught in English. Cross-list: ENGL 355.
FREN 370 - WOMEN IN TALES OF THE FANTASTIC
Short Title: WOMEN IN TALES OF FANTASTIC
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course will explore those stories “behind the story” of the 19th century—that strange and often misunderstood genre, the “fantastic tale.” Reading such writers as Gautier, Balzac, and Maupassant, we will discuss this genre's anxieties about madness and machines, misbehaving objects, and especially about women and their bodies. Taught in French.
FREN 380 - FLAUBERT AND THE ART OF TRANSLATION: EXPERIMENTS IN WRITING
Short Title: WRITING FLAUBERT
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Flaubert was both a romantic and a realist who achieved the acutely modern through legend and myth in prose that was poetic. This will be a course in which he anchors our study of short, innovative prose works of the 19th century, encountered, each one, through the imaginative art of translation. Taught in French. Recommended Prerequisite(s): FREN 202 or FREN 264 or Placement Test
FREN 401 - TRANSLATION
Short Title: TRANSLATION
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Exploration of the theory and practice of translation. Includes translation of modern texts from and into English. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Taught in French. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor
FREN 402 - GLOBAL FRENCH CINEMA (IN ENGLISH)
Short Title: GLOBAL FRENCH CINEMA
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Taught in English. Cinema from France and the French-speaking world (especially Africa) - both the canon of "art" cinema and smash successes of commercial "entertainment." Discussion of this distinction. Critical and theoretical discourse in film studies with special attention to French contributions. Globalization in cinema. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course
FREN 403 - SPECIAL TOPICS
Short Title: SPECIAL TOPICS
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Independent Study
Credit Hours: 1-5
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Topics may vary. Please consult with the department for additional information. Taught in French. Instructor Permission Required. Repeatable for Credit.
FREN 407 - CINEMA IN FRENCH
Short Title: CINEMA IN FRENCH
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Cinema In French -- In France and the French-speaking world (especially Africa): both the canon of "auteurs" of "high culture" and commercial "mere entertainment." Discussion of this distinction, and introduction to critical and theoretical discourse in film studies. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor
FREN 408 - UNMASKING MADNESS
Short Title: UNMASKING MADNESS
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: How does literature complement medicine in its definition of madness? Is madness simply a mental illness or can it be socially-constructed? In this course, we will demystify such questions through the exploration of French and Francophone fictions and theoretical works. We will study notions such as unreason, passion, delirium, alienation, and maternal psychosis. Cross-list: MDHM 415.
FREN 409 - NOVELS AND FILMS
Short Title: NOVELS AND FILMS
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Comparison between French novels from the 16th to the 20th centuries and movies that have been based on them, in some cases more than one movie based on a given novel. The class will read each novel in question and then examine how the director perceived it when making the film. For example, La Reine Margot, Tous les Matins du Monde, Liaisons Dangereuses, Madame Bovary, Cyrano de Bergerac, Hiroshima mon amour. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Taught in French. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor
FREN 412 - SAINTS AND SINNERS
Short Title: SAINTS AND SINNERS
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Study of sanctity and sin in medieval culture through literary and some historical texts. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Taught in French. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor.
FREN 413 - BLACK VENUS/VÉNUS NOIRE: REPRESENTATIONS OF BLACK WOMEN IN THE LONG 19TH CENTURY
Short Title: BLACK VENUS/VÉNUS NOIRE
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course explores the mythology of the black woman’s body in the French/Francophone imaginary, namely in the literary rewriting of the "primitive" in the long 19th century. Students will examine how this eroticized body bears traces of its social, political and cultural codification and symbolizes anxieties born out of the colonial encounter. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Taught in French. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor.
FREN 414 - SEX AND RACE IN THE FRENCH ATLANTIC
Short Title: SEX AND RACE - FRENCH ATLANTIC
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course examines the carnal violence and brutality associated with sex, gender, and race in folktales and fairy tales in French from the Americas. In so doing, this course will also put European and African folklore in conversation with the New World’s oral traditions. Effective May 15, 2021, this course does not carry D1 credit. Taught in French. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor.
FREN 416 - LITERATURE AND CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES: KING ARTHUR
Short Title: LIT & CULTURE OF MIDDLE AGES
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Examination of the origins of the legend of King Arthur and reasons for its popularity, particularly in literature of the French Middle Ages but also in other medieval literatures of Western Europe. Includes discussion of the legend's influence in diverse areas even in modern times. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Taught in French. Cross-list: MDEM 436. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor
FREN 424 - WOMEN IN FRANCE
Short Title: WOMEN IN FRANCE
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course studies women in education, the workplace, politics, and in social and cultural institutions in French society. The class explores the history of the French women's movement and analyzes French concepts of gender and feminism in comparison to American models. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Taught in French. Cross-list: SWGS 424. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300 level course or permission of instructor.
FREN 433 - FRENCH CARIBBEAN ECOCRITICISM
Short Title: FRENCH CARIBBEAN ECOCRITICISM
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course examines French Caribbean writers' representations of natural and human disasters, and their impact on human interactions, human societies, and nature. Contrary to scholars considered to be in the first-wave of ecocriticism, these writers explore the social dimensions of environmentalism as well as the ecological implications of colonialism and neocolonialism. Taught in French. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor.
FREN 450 - POETRY AND POETICS IN THE 19TH CENTURY
Short Title: POETRY & POETICS 19TH CENTURY
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Study of the poetry and prose poetry of the 19th century from the Romantic period to the Symbolist era, through such writers as Desbordes-Valmore, Lamartine, Musset, Vigny, Hugo, Nerval, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, and Mallarme. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Taught in French. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor
FREN 451 - AMERICA THROUGH FRENCH EYES
Short Title: AMERICA THROUGH FRENCH EYES
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: The course analyzes French and American culture and identity through transatlantic encounters. We study intellectuals' observations of American life (Tocqueville, Beauvoir...) and images of America in French novels, comic strips, films. We also examine American gazes toward the French. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Taught in French.
FREN 452 - WORLD WAR TWO IN FRENCH HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND FILM
Short Title: WORLD WAR TWO IN FRENCH HIST
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course studies the history and memory of World War Two in France. Students will learn how literature and film contributed to the making and undoing of national myths about collaboration and resistance and participation in the Holocaust. How has contemporary French society reconciled with this dark period of history? Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Taught in French. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor.
FREN 453 - IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP IN CONTEMPORARY FRANCE
Short Title: IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This course examines the impact of immigration on contemporary French society and analyzes debates over citizenship, integration, and multiculturalism. Taught in French. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor
FREN 460 - WOMEN IN FICTION AND HISTORY: NOTIONS OF THE FEMININE SINCE THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Short Title: WOMEN, FRENCH FICTION, HISTORY
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Reading closely lyric, fictional, historical, and critical texts from Olympe de Gouges and Baudelaire to Rachilde and Irigaray, we will explore how women have been represented (and misrepresented) since the French Revolution, and how notions of the feminine since the 18th century still plague women’s place and power in the 21st. Taught in French. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor.
FREN 477 - SPECIAL TOPICS
Short Title: SPECIAL TOPICS
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Activity Course, Internship/Practicum, Laboratory, Lecture, Seminar, Intensive Learning Experience, Independent Study, Lecture/Laboratory, Research, Studio
Credit Hours: 1-4
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Topics and credit hours vary each semester. Contact department for current semester's topic(s). Repeatable for Credit.
FREN 478 - THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN
Short Title: THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: The seminar examines the history, political writings, literature and the arts of the French Caribbean from the beginning of colonization to the present. It could include figures such as Saint-John Perse, Roumain, Césaire, Fanon, Depestre, Schwarz-Bart, Warner-Vieyra, Glissant, Condé, Chamoiseau, Laferrière, as well as the Caribbean arts and film. Taught in English. Effective Fall 2021, this course does not carry D1. Cross-list: ARCR 478. Mutually Exclusive: Cannot register for FREN 478 if student has credit for FREN 578.
FREN 493 - FALL HONOR THESIS
Short Title: FALL HONOR THESIS
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Research
Credit Hours: 3-6
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Independent research projects by outstanding French Studies majors leading to a substantial honors thesis, undertaken in close cooperation with a departmental faculty member. Instructor Permission Required.
FREN 494 - SPRING HONOR THESIS
Short Title: SPRING HONOR THESIS
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Research
Credit Hours: 3-6
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Independent research projects by outstanding French Studies majors leading to a substantial honors thesis, undertaken in close cooperation with a departmental faculty member. Instructor Permission Required.
FREN 495 - THE FRENCH AVANT-GARDE: SYMBOLISM, DADAISM, SURREALISM, CONTEMPORARY CINEMA
Short Title: THE FRENCH AVANT-GARDE
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: Short texts and films by Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, Jarry, Apollinaire, Breton, Artaud, Bataille, Robbe-Grillet, Catherine Breillat, Virginie Despentes. Effective May 15, 2019, this course does not carry D1 credit. Taught in French. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Completion of one 300-level course or permission of instructor
FREN 499 - INTERNSHIP
Short Title: INTERNSHIP
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Internship/Practicum
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate, Undergraduate Professional or Visiting Undergraduate level students.
Course Level: Undergraduate Upper-Level
Description: This internship allows students to demonstrate that they have achieved the cultural literacy necessary for studying abroad or practicing internationally-based professions by demonstrating an understanding of the major social, cultural, and political stakes of the French and Francophone world. Instructor Permission Required. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Any FREN 300-level course. Repeatable for Credit.
FREN 525 - FRENCH THEORY, IN ENGLISH
Short Title: FRENCH THEORY, IN ENGLISH
Department: Modrn & Classicl Lit & Culture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Course Level: Graduate
Description: This course provides an introduction to contemporary French theory and philosophy in their historical context, from decolonization and the Cold War to the present. Along the way, we will discuss French phenomenology, Marxism, structuralism, feminism, post-structuralism, and post-continental philosophy, including their impact on US culture. Taught in English. Graduate students taking the course for 500-level credit will be assigned book-length texts instead of the essays assigned to undergraduates, and they will write a 15 page mid-semester paper and a 25 page final paper. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: FREN 325.
Description and Code Legend
Note: Internally, the university uses the following descriptions, codes, and abbreviations for this academic program. The following is a quick reference:
Course Catalog/Schedule
- Course offerings/subject code for French Studies: FREN
Department Description and Code
- Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures: MCLC
Undergraduate Degree Description and Code
- Bachelor of Arts degree: BA
Undergraduate Major Description and Code
- Major in French Studies: FREN
Undergraduate Minor Description and Code
- Minor in French Studies: FREM
CIP Code and Description1
- FREN Major/Program: CIP Code/Title: 16.0901 - French Language and Literature
- FREM Minor: CIP Code/Title: 16.0901 - French Language and Literature
1 | Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) 2020 Codes and Descriptions from the National Center for Education Statistics: https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/. |