French Studies

The ability to think internationally and across cultures is the core mission of the University. With this in mind, French Studies is conceived and designed to support and strengthen students’ abilities to think, read, and write in French and about French literature, culture, and the Francophone world. Students will begin the French sequence according to prior experience and continue through advanced courses devoted to French literature, culture, and contemporary society. As part of their program of study, students may spend one semester at a French-speaking university after finishing FRE 300, or complete a series of courses in related disciplines; students will complete a capstone seminar in French Studies. Students who do not study in a French-speaking university will be encouraged to complete at least one travel course to France or the French-speaking world.

Major Requirements (51 Credits)

Required courses (or equivalent proficiency) (18 Credits)

FRE 100Introductory French, Part I

3

FRE 101Introductory French, Part II

3

FRE 200Intermediate French, Part I

3

FRE 201Intermediate French, Part II

3

FRE 300Advanced French, Part I

3

FRE 301Advanced French, Part II

3

Four of the following (12 Credits)

FRE 302Advanced French Conversation

3

FRE 303French Translation

3

FRE 320Writing the Self: French Autobiography and Autofiction

3

FRE 324Postcolonial Franco-Maghrebi Literature: Exile, Margins, and Re-Territorialization

3

FRE 325Representation of the Shoah in French Literature and Cinema

3

FRE 370
Topics in French Literature

3

FRE 372Distinction in French Literature: From the 17th to the 21st Century

3

FRE 374Introduction to French Cinema

3

FRE 376French Cinema: The New Wave

3

FYS 399Academic Mentoring

3

Major Electives (15 Credits)

One semester abroad in the French-speaking world (9 credits towards the major plus 6 elective credits) or 

CLCS 100The Stories We Live By

3

CLCS 110Reading Cultures: Approaches to Cultural Studies

3

 

Three of the following:

Courses are to be selected in consultation with the student’s academic advisor.

AHT 216Introduction to the History of Photography

3

AHT 234Painting in France in the 19th Century: Reality, Impressions, Simultaneity

3

AHT 338The City and Its Representation in the 20th Century

3

CLCS 105TParis Protagonist: Lost in Translation

3

CLCS 200Gender and Sexuality in a Global Context

3

CLCS 247TFrench Cultural Institutions: Power and Representation

3

CLCS 251TReading Moroccan Culture

3

CLCS 254Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures and Theories

3

CLCS 258TDiscovering Morocco: From Tradition to Modernity

3

CLCS 300Masculinities in Literature and Film

3

CLCS 320Culture, Class, Cuisine: Questions of Taste

3

HIS 202History of Switzerland

3

HIS 271History of Modern France

3

POL 224Politics and Society in Switzerland

3

 

Senior Capstone Requirement (6 Credits)

FRE 497Senior Seminar in French Studies

3

One of the following:

FRE 498Internship in French Studies

3

FRE 499Thesis in French Studies

3

Note: Prerequisites may be required for courses outside of the major.