Key - General Education Requirements, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Key - Basic Skills Requirements, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

I   Workshop in Composition
A  Algebra

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FR Courses 2134

This five-hour-per-week course introduces students to the French language, and is designed to develop both linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in both spoken and written French. Because the focus is on task-centered communication, the class is conducted entirely in the target language. Course objectives for Elementary French 0001 are: a) to speak French well enough to describe, narrate and ask simple questions in the present about a variety of everyday topics such as family, work, eating and traveling; b) to understand French well enough to grasp main ideas in short conversations about everyday topics; c) to understand simple written French well enough to grasp main ideas; d) to write sentences and short paragraphs on everyday topics; f) to develop an awareness of French-speaking cultures; f) to understand, at a very basic level, how French functions as a language. This course is for students with little or no previous exposure to the language and its cultures. TAUGHT IN FRENCH

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

As a continuation of French 0001, this five-hour-per-week course (re)introduces students to the French language, building on skills gained in French 1. Culturally-contextualized comprehension and production abilities in both written and spoken form are stressed. Because the focus is on communication, French 0002 is taught entirely in the target language. Objectives for Elementary French 0002 are: to speak French well enough to ask for and give autobiographical information (names, ages, birthdates, places of origin, occupation); to talk about friends and family and one’s immediate environment; to talk about likes and dislikes (food, preferences, sports, leisure time); to talk about university life (courses, daily schedule, current residence). By the end of the course, students should be able to identify the main ideas, purpose and some supporting details of uncomplicated authentic target-language texts with clear underlying structures that describe everyday activities of a personal and/or social nature, i.e., travel brochures, schedules, menus, advertisements, maps and signs, popular press articles, etc. Students in French 0002 continue to develop a deeper understanding of the cultural products, practices and perspectives of French-speaking lands and how French works as a language. TAUGHT IN FRENCH

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

This intermediate, three hour-per-week course builds on the skills acquired during the first year of study in French 1 and 2, while further developing linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in French. Because the focus is on communication, the course is taught entirely in the target language. Course objectives for French 3 are as follows: 1) speak French well enough to ask and answer questions in various situations beyond what is needed to simply "survive" in a francophone culture, i.e., the ability to talk about self and surroundings in some detail; 2) understand enough spoken French to grasp main ideas and some supporting details in short conversations related to topics above; 3) read well enough to understand principal themes and most details in simple literary and non-literary texts; 4) write longer and more cohesive paragraphs; 5) cultivate a deeper understanding of French-speaking cultures; 6) gain a better understanding of how French works as a language

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

As a continuation of French 0003, this three-hour-per-week course builds on the linguistic and sociolinguistic skills acquired in French 0003. The focus is on communication and instruction is entirely in the target language. Course objectives for French 0004 are as follows: 1) speak French well enough to ask and answer questions in various situations beyond what is needed to simply “get along” in a francophone culture, i.e., the ability to talk about oneself and describe surroundings with a bit of detail; 2) understand enough spoken French to grasp main ideas and supporting details in short conversations related to topics above; 3) read well enough to understand principal themes and most details in simple literary and non-literary texts; 4) write longer and more cohesive paragraphs; 5) cultivate a deeper understanding of French-speaking cultures; 6) gain a better understanding of how French works as a language. TAUGHT IN FRENCH

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

This beginning course is designed to teach students the basic vocabulary and grammar of written French in order to acquire reading skills in the language. Course is taught in English and no oral, written or laboratory work is required.

Prerequisite(s): PREQ: FR 0007 (MIN GRADE:

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

This course is designed to lead students to a better understanding of France today. We pay particular attention to different forms of identity in France: national, religious, regional, ethnic. Wherever feasible, class discussion will center on primary documents (newspapers, magazines, films, cartoons, public opinion polls, etc.). The format is a combination of lectures and discussions. French is the language of instruction and of students' written work.

Prerequisite(s): PREQ: FR 0004 or 0021 or 0027 or 0055 or 0056 (MIN GRADE: 'C' for all listed Courses)

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The purpose of this course is to illustrate ways of looking at literary texts. We shall examine poems, prose works and plays from France and the francophone world, trying to answer some of the following questions: What are the characteristics of these different genres? What is specifically literary in the text? How can reading such a text make us more able to understand today's world? Considering these questions should make students more familiar with French-language literary production and also help them understand the literary phenomenon in general.

Prerequisite(s): PREQ: FR 0004 or 0020 or 0027 or 0055 or 0056 (MIN GRADE:

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In this course we will explore the encounter between Europeans, Africans and Americans in the New World. The course is designed to give students a historical perspective on the French presence in the Americas, with a particular emphasis on the period that ranges from the early 16th century to the early 19th century. The course is taught entirely in French. Our goal is to encourage students to read, contextualize and understand important documents in the original language, while promoting development of their written and oral expression in order to more effectively communicate that understanding. The French Atlantic fulfills the General Education Requirement for a course in historical change.

Prerequisite(s): PREQ: FR 0004 or 0020 or 0021 or 0055 or 0056 (MIN GRADE:

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

In this course students will continue to develop oral proficiency in French through engaging in conversation, providing and obtaining information, and exchanging opinions. Students present informally during debates and sketches as well as more formally through oral exposes and digitally recorded oral samples. Understanding of the cultural implications of written and visual texts is enhanced through exposure to current news stories and films.

Prerequisite(s): PREQ: FR 0004 or 0020 or 0021 or 0027 or 0056 (MIN GRADE: 'C' for all listed Courses)

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

The course is designed to promote the development of writing skills through a writing-as-process approach. Class work and written assignments will include journal writing, grammar review, vocabulary development, and analysis of model texts. Based on close work with models, students will then craft substantial compositions, each illustrating a function (narration, description) or a genre (essay, film review). Attention will be given to helping students improve as writers by learning to analyze, edit, and revise their own work. Course taught in French.

Prerequisite(s): PREQ: FR 0004 or 0020 or 0021 or 0027 or 0055 (MIN GRADE:

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

This one-unit class at once builds on and complements French 55. It is designed to improve students’ oral proficiency and sociolinguistic competence through contextualized simulated immersion. The course is divided into four sections, each demanding different, but complementary social and linguistic skills, to wit 1) getting to know people and places; 2) current events; 3) debate and disagreement; 4) cultural comparisons. Emphasis is on acquiring the authentic oral communication skills, in the widest sense of the term, necessary to navigate expertly French-speaking environments.

Prerequisite(s): PREQ: FR 0055

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This course introduces students to some of the novels that have shaped the modern French literary sensibility and show how the French novel has evolved from the 19th-century novelist Guy de Maupassant to the modern writers Albert Camus and Marguerite Duras. From social climbers and expatriate lovers of exoticism in the late 19th-century and early 20th-century to those people who experienced the trauma of the German Occupation of France in 1940 and the Holocaust, we will encounter characters who struggled to survive and to define themselves in often difficult circumstances. We will read six novels in English translation. Our goal is not only a better comprehension of literary texts but also an exploration of different ways of reading and writing about complex novels. This course fulfills the Writing Requirement toward the French major and the LIT general education requirement. It does not count as a credit requirement for the French major. This course will be taught in English.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

The Algerian War for Independence (1954-1962) was one of the most violent anti-colonial conflicts of the 20th century. Fifty-years on, the events of the conflict continue to shape debates about torture, immigration, colonial history, and national identity. Despite its impact, however, the definitive history of the war remains to be written: as numerous historians like Benjamin Stora and Raphaëlle Branche have suggested, contested memories on either side of the Mediterranean contribute to a situation where for some, the trauma of the war seems not yet to have ended. Through a range of sources including theatre, novels, journalism, and film, this course will examine representations of the war in order to understand its enduring presence in French and Algerian public consciousness. Why is the war, to use Rapheëlle Branche’s terms “an open wound,” and in what ways did it/does it shape French and Algerian societies? Course materials will include texts by Jean-Paul Sartre, Francis Jeanson, Mohamed Dib, Kateb Yacine, Henri Alleg, Assia Djebar, and Nathalie Funès.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

This course will help students to develop as nearly as possible a native pronunciation of French through a better understanding of its sound system and intensive oral practice. Activities will include transcription of French words and phrases using the International Phonetic Alphabet and study and practice of all of the following: the articulation of vowels and consonants, basic intonational patterns, and selected phonological processes, such as liaison and schwa-deletion. Students will leave the course with better pronunciation and increased self-confidence in spoken French. Taught in French.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

A best-selling French novel of the eighteenth century famously posed the question, “How can one be Persian?” This course frames questions about French and francophone literature, culture and film in a global context to ask, with Montesquieu, how can one be French and global? We will investigate spaces, objects, environments, and texts (including their readers/viewers and histories) that allow us to think about articulations of, and connections between, France and the world in different transcultural, literary, and historical contexts. The seminar’s four modules—book and world; worldliness and cosmopolitanism; translating; and exhibiting theworld—will structure class study and individual student research. The course materials cover the Middles Ages to the contemporary period and include literary texts, historical documents, film, visual culture, critical readings, and online sources. Students will hone their skills of literary and cultural analysis as they explore a global perspective on French and francophone studies. Coursework and discussions are in French, enabling students to develop and refine their linguistic skills (speaking, reading, writing, and listening) throughout the seminar. Connections to other literary and language traditions are welcome! Prerequisite: at least six credits above FR4 or permission of instructor.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

Description not available at this time.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

Description not available at this time.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

Description not available at this time.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

In this course we explore a number of canonical and not-so canonical medieval texts from the double perspective of their place in medieval culture and in modern criticism. We will focus on two clusters of texts: those, like the Chanson de Roland, the Jeu de Saint Nicolas and the Apparition to Maitre Jean de Meun that pit the French against the Muslim ‘other.’ We will study medieval views of the French nation and Islam together with the modern reception of these texts around such notions as the “post-colonial middle ages” and “Creole medievalism.” The second focus is on gender transformation in non-religious and religious texts, such as Le Roman de Silence, Christine de Pizan’s Mutacion de Fortune, and “transvestite” saints’ lives, a concept we will explore from the medieval perspective of the “male woman” and of modern definitions of gender. The course also has a linguistic Old/Middle French component. Texts are available in Old/Middle French and modern French or English translations. Discussions will be in French and English depending on the composition of the class.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

The 50th anniversary of Algerian independence in July 2012, commemorated against the backdrop of the so-called Arab Spring, marked a moment of reckoning for scholars of Algeria who have sought to reevaluate the post-independence trajectory of the Algerian nation against ongoing events in the Maghreb. Evolving out of this point of intersection -- between historical reflection and analysis of ongoing struggles for democracy -- this course will juxtapose a broad range of texts about Algerian literature and politics with current writing about revolution and the Arab spring. The course, one that is intended for both scholars of the Maghreb and students with broad interests in post-colonial theory, will be organized around three guiding sets of questions: 1) What are the relationships between political violence, social transformation, and cultural form? How do cultural forms like the novel and theatre reflect and intervene in revolutionary contexts? 2) In what way did the events of the French-Algerian war shape intellectual thought about revolutionary praxis and social solidarity? How have the events of the Arab Spring continued to form these currents of political philosophy? 3) What place does Algeria occupy in current thinking about the Arab world and its future? Readings will include novels by Mohamed Dib, Kateb Yacine, Boualem Sansal, and Merzak Allouache; theoretical texts by Jacques Derrida, Francois Lyotard, Alain Badiou, and Pierre Bourdieu; and commentary on the Arab Spring by Tariq Ramadan and Jean-Pierre Filiu. This course will be taught in English.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

“The invention of what will endure”: New Francophone Theory 1995-2011 In the past two decades, French-speaking theorists have suggested a proliferation of new ideas regarding materialism, subjectivity, sexual difference, and literary creativity. Their insights have called into question many traditional and modern preconceptions, even those once considered shockingly avant-garde, regarding the aesthetic and the socio-political. This course offers a survey of diverse perspectives in contemporary Francophone thought. These thinkers draw on post-Marxism, mathematical ontology, postcolonial studies, neurophilosophy, feminism, and speculative materialism, and discuss both poetry and prose. Our goal is to take stock of the cutting-edge in French-language thought regarding questions of aesthetic and political creativity, including matters of inequality and marginalization and the nature of what can be represented. We will begin the course with Alain Badiou’s study of Samuel Beckett and Jacques Rancière’s monograph on Stéphane Mallarmé. These twinned post-Marxist accounts of formal innovators in poetry and prose reveal new approaches to the relation between individual creativity and literary expression, on one hand, and ethico-political commitment, on the other. Following from this, we will delve into Achille Mbembe’s description of the African postcolonial situation and its relevance to contemporary thought in the Francophone world. We will then return to Beckett, with Hélène Cixous’s post-feminist reading of the role of minimalism and ambiguity in his work, which supplements and challenges Badiou’s heroic account. We will approach this concern with the feminine more systematically in Catherine Malabou’s polemic, which engages with the history of philosophy as well as contemporary understandings of embodiment in order to re-conceptualize the material quality of feminine experience. Last, we will delve into Quentin Meillassoux’s approach to Mallarmé as the exemplary thinker of the aleatory and the contingent, in a powerful counterpoint to Rancière’s approach. The course will be taught in English and make use of translations. The course is organized around weekly seminars and requires regular written responses to the texts as well as in-class presentations. Readings include Alain Badiou, Beckett (1995), Jacques Rancière, Mallarmé (1996). Achille Mbembe, On the Postcolony (2000), Hélène Cixous, Zero’s Neighbor (2007), Catherine Malabou, Changing Difference (2009), and Quentin Meillassoux, The Number and the Siren (2011

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

Description not available at this time.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

Discription not available at this time.

Prerequisite(s): none

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This IL course is offered by the School of Education. (This database contains courses offered by the School of Arts and Sciences, the College of General Studies, the University Honors College, and some core courses in the Arts and Sciences/Business Dual Degree Program.)

Prerequisite(s): none

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Graduate students should consult with the DGS before registering for this course.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

Graduate students should consult with the DGS before registering for this course.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

Description not available at this time.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

Description not available at this time.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

Description not available at this time.

Prerequisite(s): none

Check with the department on how often this course is offered.

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