FEATURED COURSE CATALOGUE

Le mot juste:
Composition and Cultural Analysis in French

In this course, students produce multiple versions of various types of both creative and analytical writing. The processes of, first, reading examples of such kinds of work; second, composing original writing samples of their own; and, third, revising and finessing their work encourage students’ mastery of various forms of reading, writing, and critical interpretation in the French language. Finally, students present their collective work in a formal presentation of their portfolio at the end of the term.

Culture of Empire, Culture of Resistance:
Representation and Power in the French-Speaking World from Imperialism to Decolonization

In this course, we engage with an array of literary genres as well as films, paintings, and other cultural sources to investigate the stakes of cultural representation through Orientalism, imperialism, and decolonization. We therefore consider France, the French colonial project, and the evolution of the francophone world across various historical and cultural moments from the 19th to the 21st centuries. The course culminates in student presentations of original, mentored, scaffolded research that relates to central questions and concepts raised throughout the semester.

Liberté, captivité, en français:
Contemporary Cultural Representations of Freedom and Captivity in the French-Speaking World

In this seminar, we explore the notions of freedom and captivity in the 20th and 21st centuries through reading and interpreting literary texts, films, and scholarship in French from primarily North and West francophone African writers, filmmakers, and scholars. By working closely and critically with these cultural documents, we hone and deepen our understanding of these concepts as well as the regions from which these cultural expressions come, whether aesthetic or critical in nature.

Contemporary Franco-Arab Cultural Exchanges

France and the Arab world have a long, complex history of cultural, economic, and political exchange. This seminar focuses on contemporary cultural exchange between France and the Arab world through the study of literature, film, monuments, visual art, and critical texts from and / or about the francophone Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia) and Mashreq (Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria). Central questions include the role of the French language in both colonialism and decolonization; how cultural figures working in French understand their place in a global francophone culture industry; and how exchanges throughout France and the Arab world have influenced both global cultural production in French and notions of identity and belonging.

Fourteen Kilometers:
Mediterranean (Im)Migrations and Their Representations in French

"Fourteen Kilometers: Mediterranean (Im)migrations in Contemporary Francophone Culture" interrogates the representation of immigration in contemporary literature, film, news reports, political speeches, and other media from francophone North Africa, as well as from various regions throughout the Mediterranean. The phenomenon of immigrants coming from both sub-Saharan and North Africa and attempting to cross the Mediterranean to achieve a "better life" has generated many works of literature and film that are as pressing in content as they are rich in stylistics. In this course, we examine recent histories of immigration from / through North Africa, engage with criticism about cultural representations of immigrants and immigration, and study contemporary representations of immigrants' experiences in France. See THIS LINK for the student built website related to this course.

Cinema in French:
Films from the French-Speaking World in the 20th and 21st Centuries

In “Cinema in French: Films from the French-Speaking World,” students encounter six films dating from the early twentieth century (La Règle du jeu, 1939) to the early twenty-first century (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu, 2019). By watching and studying a wide array of films from the francophone world, students will open their eyes, quite literally, to many different traditions of filmmaking and visual and narrative representation that entertain, provoke, question, and challenge. With each film, we focus on a particular cinematic notion, along with accompanying critical readings, vocabulary, interpretive training, and unique assignments. In this way, students enrich their cultural knowledge, cinematic understanding, and hone their critical thinking, reading, writing, argumentation, and cultural analysis skills in French.