FREN - French
FREN 101
Beginning French I
A beginning course designed to give training in reading, writing, speaking, and understanding. This course is for students with no previous training in the French language. It is recommended that students take 101, 102, and 200 in three consecutive terms. Five class meetings per week. Units: 6.
FREN 102
Beginning French II
A continuation of French 101. It is recommended that students take 101, 102, and 200 in three consecutive terms. Five class meetings per week. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: FREN 101
FREN 191
Directed Study in French
Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. Units: Variable.
FREN 195
Internship in French
An opportunity for students to apply their French language skills in business, government, and the non-profit sector on the regional, national, and international level. Arranged in collaboration with and supervised by a member of the department. Includes readings, discussion, report, and/or portfolio. Advance consultation and application required. Repeatable for up to 6 units. Units: 2 OR 3.
FREN 200
Intermediate French I
A continuation of French 102, structured to help students develop their skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Five class meetings per week. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: FREN 102 or placement by the department
FREN 201
Intermediate French II
Designed to help students attain facility in reading and oral comprehension and mastery of basic skills in writing and speaking. Includes grammar review that continues in French 202. Students with two to four years of high school French or the equivalent should contact the department about placement in this course. Four class meetings per week. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: FREN 200 or placement by the department
FREN 202
Intermediate French III
A continuation of French 200 or 201, intended to develop further a student’s proficiency in the four language skills. Placement determined by examination and consultation with the instructor. Four class meetings per week. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: FREN 200 or 201 or a minumum of three years of high school French or the equivalent
FREN 301
Introduction to French Literary Studies
This course introduces students to a wide range of literary genres through a careful selection of short texts and films. We study how the French have written their literary history to create and reinforce a unique national identity through a close reading of the works of writers such as Villon, Labé, Molière, Voltaire, Hugo, Maupassant, Camus, and Duras. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: FREN 202 or consent of instructor
FREN 302
Cinematically Speaking
French films function as a springboard for readings, discussions, oral presentations, and short critical essays. We will briefly examine the history of French film from 1940 to the present, study cinematic techniques, the vocabulary of cinema, and explore the principal themes. Units: 6.
Also listed as Film Studies 302
Prerequisite: FREN 202 or consent of instructor
FREN 303
Introduction to Francophone Literary Studies
This course aims at introducing students to the nature and role of literature in the francophone world. Selected pieces from various literary genres (folk tales, poetry, drama, and novels) by writers such as Césaire, Senghor, Diop, Bâ, Jalloun, Kateb, and Memmi will be read. Themes will include colonialism, resistance, and identity formation. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: FREN 202 or consent of instructor
FREN 304
Pleasures of the Text
This course’s texts are chosen for their accessibility to advanced intermediate readers of French. Objectives include: increased fluency in reading, vocabulary building, mastery of idiomatic structures, and an exploration of what makes reading worthwhile as well as pleasurable. We sample medieval legends, love poetry, dramatic novellas, and short modern novels. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: FREN 202 or consent of instructor
FREN 325
Destination Dakar
A required course for students who plan to take French 400 that will serve as an introduction to Dakar. Students will be asked to participate in weekly meetings. Units: 2.
FREN 390
Tutorial Studies in French
Topic of study and the structure of the term’s work depend on the interest of the student, the instructor, and the subject. Tutorials are not substitutes for courses but opportunities to pursue topics suggested by courses. Units: Variable.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required.
FREN 391
Directed Study in French
Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. Units: Variable.
FREN 395
Internship in French
An opportunity for students to apply their French language skills in business, government, and the non-profit sector on the regional, national, and international level. Arranged in collaboration with and supervised by a member of the department. Includes readings, discussion, report, and/or portfolio. Advance consultation and application required. Repeatable for up to 6 units. Units: 2 OR 3.
FREN 399
Independent Study in French
A thorough investigation of a topic of a student’s choice, carried out in consultation with an instructor. Students considering an honors project in their senior year should register for this course, for one or more terms. Units: Variable.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required.
FREN 400
Senegalese Culture
This course is part of the Lawrence Francophone Seminar in which students study in French-speaking West Africa for ten weeks. Offered in alternate years. Units: 6.
Also listed as Anthropology 450
Prerequisite: Must be attending the LU Francophone Seminar
FREN 401
Senegalese Literature and History
This course is part of the Lawrence Francophone Seminar in which students study in French-speaking West Africa for ten weeks. Offered in alternate years. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Must be attending the LU Francophone Seminar
FREN 402
French Language
This course is part of the Lawrence Francophone Seminar in which students study in French-speaking West Africa for ten weeks. Offered in alternate years. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: Must be attending the LU Francophone Seminar
FREN 403
Beginning Wolof
This course is part of the Lawrence Francophone Seminar in which students study in French-speaking West Africa for ten weeks. Offered in alternate years. Units: 3.
Prerequisite: Must be attending the LU Francophone Seminar
FREN 404
Senegalese Music
This course is part of the Lawrence Francophone Seminar in which students study in French-speaking West Africa for ten weeks. Units: 3.
Also listed as Music Repertoire-Perf Study 405
Prerequisite: Must be attending the LU Francophone Seminar
FREN 410
Romantics, Realists, and Rebels
Beginning with Rousseau’s idealistic notions of nature, gender relationships, and social responsibility, this course examines the diverse ways in which Romantics, Realists, and Rebels reacted to the social, cultural, and political upheavals of the 19th century. Through the works of novelists, artists, poets, and musicians such as Chateaubriand, Delacroix, Chopin, Hugo, Balzac, Sand, Flaubert, Baudelaire, and Rimbaud (among others), we trace the wide range of responses characteristic of this turbulent period. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: At least one 300-level course in French or consent of instructor.
FREN 411
Fascism and Film
This course lets students examine films that were ostensibly made as entertainment or explicitly crafted as propaganda in the historical context of Nazi Germany and occupied France. Aside from learning how governments and their cinematic agents used this relatively new medium to shape public opinion (in support of the war, against Jews, etc.), students will see where and how resistance was possible. Units: 8.
Also listed as Film Studies 411
Prerequisite: One course in French at the 300 level or consent of instructor
FREN 420
Defining Frenchness
This course examines the French national self-image over the centuries, including the creation of a national historical narrative. We will also consider how defining the non-French, the foreigner, and especially the immigrant helps to reify national self-image. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 300-level French course or consent of instructor
FREN 440
Contemporary Issues in the French-Speaking World
This course is designed to give students insights into the realities of contemporary France and other parts of the French-speaking world (Belgium, Switzerland, Québec, Vietnam, francophone Africa, and the Islands of the Pacific and Indian Ocean) through the study and discussion of literature, essays, film, art, and recent newspaper and magazine excerpts, as well as radio and television broadcasts from the French media. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 300-level course or consent of instructor
FREN 445
Media and French Revolutions
In this course, we will think about how mediated representations shape our understanding of the world we live in by investigating the dynamic relationship between diverse forms of media (print, visual, and audio) and the French revolutions of the 19th century, as well as the Franco-Algerian War and the events of May 1968. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 300-level course or consent of instructor
FREN 460
Translation and Stylistics
This course provides students with the knowledge and basic skills involved in translating between English and French. It surveys various approaches to translation, grammatical problems involved, and linguistic and cultural differences. Literary, business, and diplomatic texts will be used. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 300-level course or consent of instructor
FREN 480
Travelers’ Tales
This course will investigate the dynamic reciprocal relationship between travel, real or imagined, and the development of a discourse on the Other. Drawing on the works of Montaigne, Graffigny, Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Loti, Celine, Maran, Dadié, and Beyala, the course will explore the writers’ fantasies in their attempt to acquaint us with the “exotic.” Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 300-level French course or consent of instructor
FREN 482
Monsters and Deviants
Every culture has its own definition of social deviance and monstrosity. We will study some of the favorite deviants of French fiction. Characters and authors may include a medieval werewolf, Quasimodo, the phantom of the opera, the Marquis de Sade, Hugo, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine, Lautréamont, Genet, Foucault, and Labou Tansi. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 300-level French course or consent of instructor
FREN 501
Immigrant Voices
This course examines the myths and realities of immigrant life through the writings of Maghrebin and sub-Saharan African francophone writers (Beyala, Diome, Boukedenna, Mounsi, Begag, and Chaouite). The course will address questions of identity, assimilation, acculturation, integration, alienation, and marginalization and various survival strategies. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 400-level French course or consent of instructor
FREN 502
Childhood
This course focuses on the representation of the child in French and Francophone literature. We will examine the construction of childhood by looking at changing notions of innocence, ongoing debates about education, cultural narratives about becoming gendered, and individual narratives about assuming an identity. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 400-level French course or consent of instructor
FREN 503
Women Writing in French
Seeking to uncover lives that had remained largely hidden, women writing in French have revealed and shared their innermost desires and frustrations. French and francophone women writers have braved ostracism to question their identity and their relationship to family and society. Authors may include Duras, Djebar, Cixous, Bugul, Kristeva, Sebbar, Sand, Colette, and Hébert. Units: 6.
Also listed as Gender Studies 503
Prerequisite: One 400-level French course or consent of instructor
FREN 504
Je t'aime, moi non plus: Franco-American Love-Hate Stories
How did the national friendship forged during the “sister” American and French Revolutions devolve into the post-9/11 enmity-filled era of “freedom fries” and widespread French-bashing? In this course, we will examine a variety of each nation’s diverse mutual representations in order to better understand the dynamic and often volatile nature of Franco-American cultural relations. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 400-level course in French or consent of instructor
FREN 516
Romantics, Rebels, Realists
Beginning with Rousseau’s idealistic notions of nature, gender relationships, and social responsibility, this course will trace Romantically inspired dissatisfaction with the cultural status quo. We examine the range of responses characteristic of this intellectual moment: retreat into a Romantic idyll, open dissension, subversion, and realistic accommodation. Course explores readings in the context of art, music, and history. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 400-level French course or consent of instructor
FREN 555
Myths of Paris
In this course, we will examine some of the major literary, cultural, and intellectual movements that have shaped the character of French depictions of Paris from the 18 to the 21st centuries. Special focus will be placed on literary and visual representations of Paris and the construction of its myths. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 400-level course or consent of instructor
FREN 559
Ancients Against Moderns
From 17th-century quarrels in the Acad’mie Française to the Culture Wars of the 1990s, we read (in)famous theorists to discover how paradigm shifts come about as the result of vociferous academic debates when they surface in the public sphere. Authors and theorists may include Perrault, Boileau, Derrida, Godard, Foucault, Barthes, Lyotard, Bourdeau. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 400-level French course or consent of instructor
FREN 568
France Under Nazi Occupation
This course looks at France and its people under Nazi occupation. It examines well-known films and literature produced under German and Vichy censorship and the risks those cultural products did or did not entail. It compares those literary and cinematic texts with more recent attempts to make sense of the difficult period. Units: 6.
Prerequisite: One 400 level French course or consent of instructor
FREN 588
Black Cultural Nationalisms
A study of the variations of black cultural nationalisms in the works of francophone writers from Africa and the Diaspora. This course examines the writers, challenge to the “Négritude” school and the ways in which they articulate plural and locational black identities to affirm their unique sense of national belonging. Readings from authors such as Senghor, Cé’saire, Laye, Condé’, Chamoiseau, Contant, and Glissant. Units: 6.
Also listed as Ethnic Studies 584
Prerequisite: One 400-level French course or consent of instructor
FREN 590
Tutorial Studies in French
Topic of study and the structure of the term’s work depend on the interest of the student, the instructor, and the subject. Tutorials are not substitutes for courses but opportunities to pursue topics suggested by courses. Units: Variable.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required.
FREN 591
Directed Study in French
Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. Units: Variable.
FREN 595
Internship in French
An opportunity for students to apply their French language skills in business, government, and the non-profit sector on the regional, national, and international level. Arranged in collaboration with and supervised by a member of the department. Includes readings, discussion, report, and/or portfolio. Advance consultation and application required. Repeatable for up to 6 units. Units: 2 OR 3.
FREN 599
Independent Study in French
A thorough investigation of a topic of a student’s choice, carried out in consultation with an instructor. Students considering an honors project in their senior year should register for this course, for one or more terms. Units: Variable.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required.
FREN 600
Senior Seminar
Seniors meet with the instructor early in Term I to select a specific topic. They read and discuss texts at the beginning of the Winter Term, then formulate their own projects, which may take them in a direction of their choice (literature, art, history, music, etc.). Units: 6.
FREN 690
Tutorial Studies in French
Topic of study and the structure of the term’s work depend on the interest of the student, the instructor, and the subject. Tutorials are not substitutes for courses but opportunities to pursue topics suggested by courses. Units: Variable.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required.
FREN 691
Directed Study in French
Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. Units: Variable.
FREN 695
Internship in French
An opportunity for students to apply their French language skills in business, government, and the non-profit sector on the regional, national, and international level. Arranged in collaboration with and supervised by a member of the department. Includes readings, discussion, report, and/or portfolio. Advance consultation and application required. Repeatable for up to 6 units. Units: 2 OR 3.
FREN 699
Independent Study in French
A thorough investigation of a topic of a student’s choice, carried out in consultation with an instructor. Students considering an honors project in their senior year should register for this course, for one or more terms. Units: Variable.
Prerequisite: Counter Registration Required.