Graduate Courses

Spring 2023

Fall 2023

FR501 French Reading Proficiency (3 credits)

  • Introduction to French grammar and vocabulary.
  • Emphasis on reading and translation skills.
  • Preparation of the French reading examination.
  • For students in graduate programs campus-wide.
  • Not for students enrolled in any French graduate program.

FR 511 Research Methodology – Critical Theory (3 credits)

  • Introduction to critical theory and various schools of criticism and theory.
  • Develops critical appraisal and approach to a chosen text.
  • Usually taught in English.
  • Cross-listed with RL 557 and EN 500.

FR 512 Methods of teaching French: Practicum (3 credits)

  • Bridges practices with key concept and theories.
  • Focus on teaching language and culture as integrated and situated practices.
  • Uses pedagogical research to assess and design instructional material.
  • Required for GTAs.

FR 514 Qualitative Methods in Applied Linguistics Research (3 credits)

  • Exploration principles and methods commonly used within a qualitative research framework in applied linguistics and second language studies.
  • Introduction to the the Institutional Review Board process.
  • Focus on data collection and data analysis procedures.
  • Cross-listed with RL 514.

FR 515 Topics in Second Language Acquisition (3 credits)

  • Analysis of major issues, theories, research findings and their implications for learning and teaching a foreign language.
  • Topic varies.
  • May be repeated for credit.
  • Can be cross-listed with GN 551, RL 580, or SP 581.

FR 521 French Pronunciation and Phonetics (3 credits)

  • Introducing a comprehensive analysis of traditional phonetic theory, the physical characteristics, attributes and articulation of speech sounds with their linguistic function.
  • Study of the International Phonetic Alphabet and system of French liaisons and contractions.
  • Develops awareness of the correspondence between written representations and actual pronunciation.
  • Emphasis on developing oral proficiency aiming an accent reduction in our students’ speech.

FR 531 Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa (3 credits)

  • Study of prominent themes of the African experience through the eyes of Francophone storytellers, authors, and cinematographers of sub-Saharan Africa, the Maghreb, and the African diaspora in Europe.
  • Exploration of dialectal and sociolinguistic themes.

FR 532 Francophone Louisiana (3 credits)

  • Familiarization with the dialects, literatures (oral and written), social histories, and cultures of Francophone Louisiana (the entire former territory) from 1682 (Colonial Period) to present time.
  • Exploration of the experiences of European colonizers and their descendants, Native Americans, people of African origin, and people of multiethnic identity (Creoles of Color, etc.).
  • Introduction to Cajun dances.

FR 533 Contemporary Civilization: Democracy in France (3 credits)

  • Exploration of the political, technological, and cultural movements of post-revolutionary France from 1789 to the present through the evolution of its democratic institutions.
  • History of democratic movements and institutions in France from the Revolution until the second World War.
  • Issues facing contemporary France, including decolonization, the rise of the European Union, the current migrant crisis.
  • Seeks to answer questions about how the idea and practice of democracy changes over time, such as: Who can participate? How can they participate? How do changes in democratic institutions reflect and affect social structures?
  • Slash-listed with FR 431.

FR 535 Bande Dessinée (3 credits)

  • Exploration and analysis of French-language graphic narrative media (comic books and graphic novels of France and francophone Belgium; samples from Switzerland, Africa and Québec; excerpts from spin-off cartoons and movies).
  • The emergence, range and importance of BD in francophone Europe.
  • Vocabulary, components and practices relative to the BD art form.
  • Connections to relevant cultural, artistic, semiotic, and linguistic themes.
  • Creation of a personal French BD mini-album.

FR 545 17th Century French Literature I (3 credits)

  • Study of prose writings of the 17th century, including the philosophical works of Descartes and Pascal and the novels of Madame de Lafayette.

FR 546 17th Century French Literature II (3 credits)

  • Study of verse writings of the 17th century, including pre-classical poets (such as Saint-Amant and de Viau) and dramatic works (such as the plays of Corneille, Molière, and Racine).

FR 547 Special Topics in 18th Century French Literature (3 credits)

  • Study of important texts of the period.
  • Example of topics: Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses / The Epistolary Novel; The Libertine Novel in the Shadow of Enlightenment.
  • May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

FR 548 18th Century Philosophe Movement (3 credits)

  • Study of intellectual prose of the Enlightenment.

FR 551 19th Century French Novel (3 credits)

  • Study of Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism and Decadence.
  • Generally includes exploration of the following novelists: Chateaubriand, Mme de Staël, Stendhal, Balzac, Hugo, Sand, Flaubert, Zola, Huysmans, Rachilde.
  • May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

FR 552 Special Topics in 19th Century French Literature (3 credits)

  • Study of poetry, theatre, and prose either genre-specific or in combination to explore either movements in literary thought or a particular theme.
  • Example of topics: Bohemia; Zola and Adaptation; Theater and Revolution; Feminine Fictions.
  • May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

FR 553 20th Century French Novel (3 credits)

  • Exploration of influential novelists of the period and their works.
  • Possible extension into the 21st century French prose.

FR 554 Special Topics in 20th-Century French Literature (3 credits)

  • Exploration of contemporary topics in French literature (including prose, poetry and theater)
  • Examples of topics: Globalization; Post-colonialism; Identity and Hybridity; non-canonical recent literary production.
  • Slash-listed with FR 470 or FR 480.

FR 555 Quebecois Literature and Culture (3 credits)

  • Study of the history, culture, and literature of Québec and French-speaking Canada.
  • Emphasis on the modern period.

FR 561 French Linguistics (3 credits)

  • Applies linguistic theory to the analysis and description of French phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic structures.
  • Explores tendencies of change in contemporary French and dialects.
  • Slash-listed with FR 461.

FR 563 French-English Translation (3 credits)

  • Study of issues in translation.
  • Exploration of translation strategies and relevant theoretical approaches.

FR 570 Graduate Seminar (3 credits)

  • Intensive examination of a selected topic, with emphasis on student reading, research, writing and presentations.
  • Examples of topics : Feminine Fictions, Science Fiction Contemporaine.
  • Slash-listed with FR 470.
  • May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

FR 577 French Cinema (3 credits)

  • Critical study of motion pictures produced in French with emphasis on student research and presentations.
  • Film screenings are a necessary part of this course.

FR 578 Writing Immigration (3 credits)

  • Focuses on writings on immigration in the context of all movement of immigrants in the French-speaking world, not just the French metropole and its immigrant neighborhoods.
  • Writings cover a range of experiences and social classes, from an elite class of immigrants to clandestine immigration.
  • Uses interdisciplinary critical theory as a tool for literary analysis.

FR 580 Special Topics (3 credits)

  • Directed reading, writing, research, and oral presentations.
  • Examples of topics : Literary Correspondence; Research in French Sociolinguistics; French Nobel Prize Winners.
  • Slash-listed with FR 480.
  • May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

FR 590 Directed Readings/Directed Study (1–9 credits)

Prerequisite: instructor permission.

  • Offered based on demand.
  • Directed reading, research, and writing.
  • Topic determined in consultation with the instructor.
  • May not substitute for courses already offered as part of regular programming.
  • May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

FR 598 Non-Thesis Research (1 to 6 credits)

  • Available to students preparing comprehensive examinations.

FR 599 Thesis Research (1–9 credits)

  • Available to M.A. students completing a Master’s thesis.

FR 643 Poetry of the French Renaissance (3 credits)

  • Study of major poets of the Renaissance: Marot, Scève, Louise Labé, du Bellay, Ronsard.
  • Focus on the reinvention of French poetry during the Renaissance.

FR 644 Narratives of the French Renaissance (3 credits)

  • Study of major works, including Rabelais and Montaigne.
  • Offered according to demand.

FR 699 Dissertation Research (1–15 credits)

  • Available to PhD Candidates once regular coursework has been completed.
  • Preparation of the pre-prospectus, prospectus and doctoral dissertation).