French and French Studies
Website: French and French Studies
The Department of French and French Studies offers students exceptional opportunities to study and experience some of the rich literature and culture of the French-speaking world. It also participates in interdisciplinary programs such as art and art history, international and global studies, film studies, and women’s and gender studies.
Placement
Students who have taken French at the secondary-school level must take the departmental placement examination. Those who wish to enroll at a level beneath that indicated by the placement examination receive credit only if departmental permission is obtained prior to registration in the course. The sequence of courses designed for Sewanee students who choose to meet their language requirement in French is designed to develop an operative level of oral and written proficiency, as well as the capability to read and critically react to important works in French.
For those wishing to go beyond the required sequence in French, the department sponsors both a major and a minor in French and French studies.
French House
All majors (and minors where possible) are expected to live in the French house for at least one semester; application forms are available in the department. The French house also serves as the major site for most Cercle Français activity; majors and minors are likewise expected to participate in the Cercle’s cultural program and to regularly attend the weekly Table Française.
The major in French and French Studies is an interdisciplinary program which examines the language, literature, history, culture, and society of France and of other Francophone countries.
Requirements for the Major in French and French Studies
The major requires successful completion of the following:
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Course Requirements | ||
| FREN 313 | Writing and Speaking French | 4 |
| FREN 314 | Introduction to Literature, Culture, and History of the French-Speaking World | 4 |
| FREN 435 | Senior Seminar 1 | 4 |
| Select at least three of the following: | 12 | |
| Early French Literature | ||
| The Seventeenth Century | ||
| The Eighteenth Century | ||
| Coupling and Creativity in the 19th Century | ||
| Contemporary Literature | ||
| The History of French Cinema | ||
| From the Household to the Department Store: Reimagining Economy | ||
| Topics of the French-Speaking World (may be retaken for credit when the topic is different) | ||
| Select at least two additional related courses from a semester program in a French-speaking country 2 | 8 | |
| Total Semester Hours | 32 | |
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Additional Requirements | ||
| A comprehensive examination | ||
- 1
During their final semester, senior French and French Studies majors participate in the FREN 435 seminar where they research a French and French Studies topic of their choosing and complete a sustained piece of writing on the subject in French.
- 2
Majors must study in a French-speaking country for at least a semester, preferably via the fall semester Sewanee-in-France Program (SIF). In exceptional cases, the department is willing to offer one of the following two alternatives in fulfilling the study-abroad requirement: study abroad program for a summer (5 to 6 weeks, 2 course credits) approved by the department and one additional 400-level course taken in the department; or without any study abroad, two additional 400-level courses taken in the department. If a student doesn't study abroad, he or she must also offer in writing a satisfactory reason explaining the impossibility of studying in a French-speaking country.
Honors
Majors in French and French Studies may obtain honors by achieving a 3.50 departmental GPA. Only courses required for the major, including courses taken during the last semester of their senior year, will count toward the departmental GPA.
Requirements for the Minor in French and French Studies
The minor requires successful completion of the following:
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Course Requirements | ||
| FREN 313 | Writing and Speaking French | 4 |
| FREN 314 | Introduction to Literature, Culture, and History of the French-Speaking World | 4 |
| Select one 400-level course in French and French studies (FREN) | 4 | |
| Select two related courses taken abroad 1 | 4-8 | |
| Total Semester Hours | 16-20 | |
- 1
Minors are strongly encouraged to participate in a semester or summer-abroad program in a French-speaking country where at least two related courses might be taken and where they would gain the linguistic confidence to do well in their chosen 400-level course in the department. The alternative to studying abroad is to take one additional 400-level course in the department.
Sewanee Semester in France
The Sewanee-in-France program applies place-based learning abroad, using Nantes—the first French city awarded the title European Green Capital—as a rich field laboratory. Through on-site examination in France, students experience first-hand that which can only be approached textually and via images and film from Sewanee. Classes meet at the IES (Institute for the International Education of Students) Abroad Nantes Center, where instruction is offered by a Sewanee faculty member and IES’s excellent teaching staff. The program includes several weekend trips within Brittany, Normandie, and the Loire Valley, including visits to Mont Saint-Michel, Clisson, Tours, and Vannes. Besides weekly cultural opportunities to attend plays, concerts, and dance performances in the city, Sewanee-in-France participants also enjoy excursions in and around Nantes as well as a weekend-long trip to Paris. The program consists of the following:
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Course Requirements | ||
| FREN 322 | Langue, Littérature, Culture in Nantes | 4 |
| Four additional courses taught by IES faculty | ||
French Courses
FREN 103 Elementary French I (4)
An intensive course in the basic elements of the language: pronunciation, structure of sentences, conversation, and reading. Use of language laboratory required. Four hours of class per week. Prerequisite: Placement.
FREN 104 Elementary French II (4)
An intensive course in the basic elements of the language: pronunciation, structure of sentences, conversation, and reading. Use of language laboratory required. Four hours of class per week. Prerequisite: FREN 103 or placement.
FREN 203 Intermediate French (4)
An intensive course in more advanced elements of the language: pronunciation, structure of sentences, conversation, and reading. Use of language laboratory required. Four hours of class per week. Prerequisite: FREN 104 or placement.
FREN 300 Advanced French (4)
A continuation of the study of advanced French language, leading to readings from various authors, periods, genres, and Francophone countries. Specific grammatical structures are studied parallel to the readings, and progress in oral and written French is also stressed. Prerequisite: FREN 203 or placement.
FREN 301 Discovering Paris (4)
An interdisciplinary survey of Paris seen through history, culture, literature, and the arts. This course traces the development of Paris from its foundation by Gaulish boatmen of the Parisii tribe to its current status as a global city. Cinema, art, literature, and computer-mediated virtual tours are used to analyze the evolution of major political and cultural events in Parisian history. Taught in English. Does not count toward a French and French Studies major nor minor. Prerequisite: FREN 203.
FREN 313 Writing and Speaking French (4)
Advanced language review and emphasis on accuracy of expression with intensive writing on diverse themes. Development of oral expression and vocabulary expansion; materials used include audio, video, and electronic sources, as well as readings. Prerequisite: FREN 300 or placement.
FREN 314 Introduction to Literature, Culture, and History of the French-Speaking World (4)
Readings in representative authors, themes and periods from France and from other Francophone countries. Prerequisite: FREN 300 or placement.
FREN 320 Advanced Language Abroad (4)
A course designed to increase oral and written proficiency by offering students the opportunity to live and study in France, generally during the same time-frame as Sewanee's regular summer session. Normally taken in tandem with FREN 321. Prerequisite: Only open to students who have completed one course in French numbered 300 or higher or placement and been admitted to the Summer in France program.
FREN 321 Studies in Culture and Literature Abroad (4)
Complementary on-site study of French language and civilization within the framework of the Sewanee Summer-in-France program, with emphasis upon cultural readings and literary topics that should be of particular interest when explored on site in France. Prerequisite: Only open to students who have completed one course in French numbered 300 or higher or placement and been admitted to the Summer in France program.
FREN 322 Langue, Littérature, Culture in Nantes (4)
Intensive grammar review and vocabulary expansion–specifically, the acquisition of pivotal expressions that aid in modulating the flow of the French sentence; the overall goal is to improve students' compositional skills for the various writing assignments required while studying in Nantes. Literary and cultural readings are also discussed and analyzed in the second part of the course, with excursions to areas within Nantes and the Brittany region that have a significant connection to the authors' lives. This course is part of the Sewanee Semester in France program. Prerequisite: Only open to students who have completed FREN 300 or FREN 313 and been admitted to the Sewanee in France program..
FREN 323 Advanced French Language and Oral Expression (4)
An advanced language course designed to help students with their writing skills by promoting mastery of French syntax and by enriching academic vocabulary. To help with oral improvement, Sewanee students are exposed to French theater, dance, music, and cinema at some of the great performing arts centers in Paris, and to prepare for each of the performances, they have assigned readings to be discussed in class; then in follow-up to each outing, the fine-arts experience offers a shared context that can likewise be discussed and analyzed, also in the design of improving oral fluency. This course is part of the Sewanee Semester in Paris. Prerequisite: Only open to students who have completed FREN 300 or FREN 313 and been admitted to the Sewanee in Paris program.
FREN 324 Contemporary France (4)
A course meant to facilitate the integration of students into contemporary life in France by offering an anthropological view "from within," stressing such themes as French econo-political culture, societal and administrative structures, education, intellectual life and the press, justice, immigration, France's participation in the European Union, among other modern-day issues. This course is part of the Sewanee Semester in Paris. Prerequisite: Only open to students who have completed FREN 300 or FREN 313 and been admitted to the Sewanee in Paris program.
FREN 325 19th Century French Painting and Sculpture (4)
A course focusing upon the evolution of great painting and sculpture in nineteenth-century France, from neo-classical representation toward modernity. There will be one classroom meeting a week to discuss theoretical and analytical issues linked to various artistic movements and affiliations, along with a weekly visit to Parisian museums in order to study on-site some celebrated exemplars of those same movements and affiliations. This course is part of the Sewanee Semester in Paris. Prerequisite: Only open to students who have completed FREN 300 or FREN 313 and been admitted to the Sewanee in Paris program.
FREN 400 Greatest Hits of French Literature and Culture (4)
This course introduces students to the "greatest hits" of French culture and literature from the Middle Ages to the present day. Each period is covered in six class days, and each day introduces a short text or piece representing the philosophy, socio-historical climate, drama, poetry, prose, and art/music of the particular segment.
FREN 401 Early French Literature (4)
Readings and criticism in French literature from 'La Chanson de Roland' to 'Montaigne,' with an emphasis on the evolution of narratology and poetics, and on the role of women. Prerequisite: FREN 314 or placement.
FREN 403 The Seventeenth Century (4)
Readings in baroque poets, Descartes, Pascal, LaFontaine, moralistes, Boileau, as well as in the great dramatists of the century: Corneille, Moliere, and Racine. Prerequisite: FREN 314 or placement.
FREN 405 The Eighteenth Century (4)
A study of the stylistic strains of the century, with particular emphasis on enlightenment writings and on the development of the novel and of comedy: Montesquieu, Marivaux, Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Beaumarchais, Isabelle de Charriere, Andre Chenier, among others. Prerequisite: FREN 314 or placement.
FREN 407 Coupling and Creativity in the 19th Century (4)
Through considering the biographical and creative dynamics between literary couples of various kinds, this course explores literary and historical dimensions of nineteenth-century literature. Examples of such pairings include George Sand’s novel Elle et Lui and Alfred de Musset's play Lorenzaccio, both products of the authors’ romance and romanticism; the historical pairing between Baudelaire and Flaubert, each put on trial for “outraging public morals” with the “realism” of Les Fleurs du Mal and Madame Bovary; and at the end of the century, the tumultuous creative and personal partnership between symbolist poets Verlaine and Rimbaud, one of whom then moved into the modern form of prose poetry. Prerequisite: FREN 314 or placement.
FREN 409 Contemporary Literature (4)
A study of twentieth-century poetry, prose, and theater through cultural analysis. Prerequisite: FREN 314 or placement.
FREN 415 The History of French Cinema (4)
A survey of French films from the invention of cinema to the contemporary period, with an emphasis on points of connection with American cinema. From the Lumieres brothers to Melies, from Pathe and Gaumont to Surrealism (Clair, Bunuel, Cocteau), from Abel Gance to realism (Renoir, Carne) and from "New Wave" (Resnais, Godard, Truffaut) to "Modern Cinema" (Lelouch, Malle). Prerequisite: FREN 314 or placement.
FREN 416 From the Household to the Department Store: Reimagining Economy (4)
This course traces the development of economic theory from Plato and Aristotle, who consider it in the moral context of oiko nomos, law of the household, to the more modern political economy of Adam Smith. It then examines economic themes, broadly considered, in French literature such as Perceval ou le Conte du Graal, Molière’s plays of the Classical Age, and Zola’s 19th-century novel about the department store, Au Bonheur des Dames. All works of economic theory not originally in French are read in French translation. Prerequisite: FREN 300 or placement.
FREN 417 Topics of the French-Speaking World (4)
An examination of the French-speaking world and its language, literature, culture, art, music, and political life. Topics vary from year to year, but the course would typically include cultural themes, novels, short stories, poetry, film, and drama from France, French-speaking Europe, North and West Africa, Quebec, and the Antilles. This course may be repeated once for credit when the topic differs. Prerequisite: FREN 314 or placement.
FREN 435 Senior Seminar (4)
Preparation of an in-depth research paper in French on a topic approved by the seminar professor pertaining to an aspect of French/Francophone literature or culture, and preparation also for the oral defense of the paper at semester's end. Research strategies for obtaining source materials in French are explored and utilized, and writing techniques and style are fine-tuned. Required of all majors in French and French Studies.
FREN 440 Directed Reading (2 or 4)
This is a course designed to help majors who, for exceptional reasons, may need to complete reading in a certain area. Open only to students pursuing majors in French or French studies. Prerequisite: Instructor prerequisite override required.
FREN 444 Independent Study (2 or 4)
For majors who wish to pursue, during the Advent semester of their senior year, a readings and research project culminating in a paper of some length on a chosen topic. Applicants for this project must have a 3.50 GPA in French and French studies, and a brief abstract of the proposed study must be submitted to the department for approval prior to enrollment in the course. Open only to students pursuing majors in French or French studies. Prerequisite: Instructor prerequisite override required.