French Courses by Semester

Summer 2023

FREN 1001 - Basic French I

Handling the immediate context of daily experience in spoken and written French: identifying, describing, and characterizing people, objects, places and events; giving information and instructions; issuing simple commands and requests.

Course is taught in French.

Prerequisite: French Placement Exam score: 0-250.

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 1002 - Basic French II

Speaking and writing in French about past and future events: telling a story (narrating and describing in the past), promising, predicting and proposing simple hypotheses and conjectures.

Course is taught in French.

Prerequisite: FREN 1001 or French Placement Exam score: 251-350.

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 1003 - Intermediate French I

Increasing active vocabulary, reinforcing mastery of basic grammar, dealing with more complex structures (verbal phrases, subordinate clauses) and using some patterns of indirect speech (e.g., repeating or relaying messages, giving reports, summarizing).

Course is taught in French.

Prerequisite: FREN 1002 or French Placement Exam score: 351-400.

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 1004 - Intermediate French II

Consolidation and further expansion of the ability to understand as well as produce a more complex level of oral and written discourse emphasizing subjective expression: issuing indirect commands and requests; giving opinions; making proposals; building arguments; defending and criticizing ideas.

Course is taught in French.

Prerequisite: FREN 1003 or French Placement Exam score: 401-500

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 2005 - Language, Culture, and Society

This is the first course in a two-course sequence designed for students at the advanced-intermediate level. Through an introduction to French history, 2005 promotes conversational skills and helps students develop the ability to write and comprehend somewhat complex texts on a broad range of topics. An extensive grammar review is included.

Course is taught in French.

This course satisfies GPAC requirements.

Prerequisite: FREN 1004 or French Placement Exam score: 501-550

View detailed course description.

FREN 2006 - Language, Culture and Society II

This course expands the range and complexity of oral communication skills via a variety of discussion formats as well as formal oral presentations and debates. 2006 also aims to develop the student's ability to analyze and comprehend more elaborate, expository prose and to write critically on a broad range of contemporary political, social and cultural topics. French 2006 continues the intensive grammar review begun in 2005.

Course is taught in French.

This course satisfies GPAC requirements.

Prerequisite: FREN 2005 or French Placement Exam score: 551-601

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 3010W - Advanced French Language, Structure and Composition

MTWR 12:30 - 1:30pm

Professor Sarah-Kay Hurst

Refining rhetoric in French, integrating notions from linguistics. Improving written and spoken French through new perspectives into the language itself. Register, borrowings, idiomatic expressions, and stylistic variation between French and English. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement.

Prerequisite: FREN 2006 or equivalent.

Spring 2024

FREN 1001 - Basic French I

Handling the immediate context of daily experience in spoken and written French: identifying, describing, and characterizing people, objects, places and events; giving information and instructions; issuing simple commands and requests.

Course is taught in French.

Prerequisite: French Placement Exam score: 0-250.

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 1002 - Basic French II

Speaking and writing in French about past and future events: telling a story (narrating and describing in the past), promising, predicting and proposing simple hypotheses and conjectures.

Course is taught in French.

Prerequisite: FREN 1001 or French Placement Exam score: 251-350.

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 1003 - Intermediate French I

Increasing active vocabulary, reinforcing mastery of basic grammar, dealing with more complex structures (verbal phrases, subordinate clauses) and using some patterns of indirect speech (e.g., repeating or relaying messages, giving reports, summarizing).

Course is taught in French.

Prerequisite: FREN 1002 or French Placement Exam score: 351-400.

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 1004 - Intermediate French II

Consolidation and further expansion of the ability to understand as well as produce a more complex level of oral and written discourse emphasizing subjective expression: issuing indirect commands and requests; giving opinions; making proposals; building arguments; defending and criticizing ideas.

Course is taught in French.

Prerequisite: FREN 1003 or French Placement Exam score: 401-500

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 2005 - Language, Culture, and Society

This is the first course in a two-course sequence designed for students at the advanced-intermediate level. Through an introduction to French history, 2005 promotes conversational skills and helps students develop the ability to write and comprehend somewhat complex texts on a broad range of topics. An extensive grammar review is included.

Course is taught in French.

This course satisfies GPAC requirements.

Prerequisite: FREN 1004 or French Placement Exam score: 501-550

View detailed course description.

FREN 2006 - Language, Culture and Society II

This course expands the range and complexity of oral communication skills via a variety of discussion formats as well as formal oral presentations and debates. 2006 also aims to develop the student's ability to analyze and comprehend more elaborate, expository prose and to write critically on a broad range of contemporary political, social and cultural topics. French 2006 continues the intensive grammar review begun in 2005.

Course is taught in French.

This course satisfies GPAC requirements.

Prerequisite: FREN 2005 or French Placement Exam score: 551-601

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

 
FREN 3020 - Contemporary France

MW 12:45-2:00 pm
Prof. Kathryn Kleppinger

What has made France the country it is today? To answer this question in all its complexity, we will undertake a historical and thematic approach to understand the major events, debates, and questions that have faced French politicians, writers, and citizens over the past century. We will consult political sources (speeches, declarations, and manifestos), literature (novels and eye-witness accounts), and cultural documents (newspaper articles, songs, films) to understand the varying perspectives and arguments that have shaped French politics, culture, and identity throughout the 20th and 21st  centuries. During the first half of the semester we will consider important events in French history throughout the
20th century, from the turn of the century through World War II and the wars of decolonization. Then, during the second half of the semester, we will undertake thematic studies to understand the recent impact of these events. Topics include: immigration and the colonial past, France as a nation and as part of Europe, and contemporary social identities. 

Prerequisite: FREN 2006 or equivalent

FREN 3030 - French for Professional Purposes

TRF 11:10 am – 12:00 pm
Prof. Hadia Anaye

Ce cours de français à objectif professionnel, ou “Business French”, a pour objectif de former les étudiants aux exigences du monde des affaires. A travers des mises en situations et projets de groupe, les étudiants développeront des compétences en communication professionnelle essentielles pour les futurs employeurs. Dans ce cours, nous étudierons le vocabulaire spécifique à divers secteurs d’activité tels que la diplomatie, les technologies, l’environnement, ou bien la santé publique, ainsi que la culture des entreprises francophones. De plus, des visites d’institutions internationales basées à Washington D.C. seront organisées, pour discuter de thèmes majeurs qui touchent le monde d’aujourd’hui. Nous analyserons également différents types de documents authentiques pour permettre aux étudiants une meilleure compréhension et  préparation pour le monde professionnel au sein d’entreprises et organisations francophones.

Prerequisite: FREN 2006 or equivalent

FREN 3100W - Introduction to French Literature

Prof. Charlee Bezilla
TR 12:45-2:00 pm

This course is an introduction to French literature and the gateway to the French Minor and Major. We will read closely a broad selection of texts from different genres (poetry, prose, theater) and historical periods (from the Renaissance to the 21st century) and learn how to read and write analytically about literature in its cultural context using different techniques and methodologies of textual analysis. Our journey is focused on learning an efficient method of literary analysis and deepening your appreciation of French literature.

This course satisfies the WID requirement.

Prerequisite: FREN 2006 or equivalent.

FREN 3600 - Writing Workshop in French

Prof. Abdourahman Waberi
MW 2:20-3:35 pm

This course will allow our students to improve their French writing skills and to explore or expand their writing desires and interests. They will refine their knowledge of the language through a variety of workshop-based activities and will learn to express creativity by writing different types of texts, including autobiographical sketches, poems, songs, and short stories. Multiple drafts will be required for each writing assignment, and individual attention will be given to each student. 

Prerequisite: FREN 2006 or equivalent.

FREN 3220 - Modern French Literature

Prof. Abdourahman Waberi
MW 3:45-5:00 pm

Dans ce cours nous étudierons des textes canoniques du 18e siècle jusqu’à nos jours, en considérant leurs contextes historiques, sociaux, et culturels. Ces œuvres partagent une interrogation sur la nature des rapports entre les hommes : quelles structures sociales sont possibles, et quel est l’impact de ces structures sur des individus ? Les sources littéraires peuvent contribuer des perspectives nuancées à un débat qui reste pertinent même aujourd’hui. Ce cours vise à développer vos capacités en plusieurs domaines : historique, littéraire, et sociologique. Vous apprendrez à identifier des thèmes communs à la littérature française au cours des 18e, 19e, 20e et 21e siècles et aussi à lire plus profondément pour apprécier les aspects artistiques des œuvres.

Prerequisite: FREN 2006 or equivalent

FREN 4600.10 - Fake News! Rumors, Scandals, and Culture Wars in Early Modern France

Prof. Charlee Bezilla
TR 2:20-3:35 pm

This course will explore what gossip, rumors, and “fake news” can tell us about the society and culture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in France and the Francophone world more broadly—and about cultural flashpoints in our own time. We’ll study different types of issues that led to scandal and debate in early modern France, from blood transfusions, sightings of fantastic creatures, and romantic affairs to political intrigue and controversial philosophies. The first half of the course will focus on primary sources such as images, periodicals, literary texts, and other forms of material culture. During the second half of the semester, our classroom will take the form of an Ancien régime "salon" as we delve into a historical role-playing game where you will have the opportunity to experience one of the period’s biggest culture wars from the perspectives of its participants.

*This course satisfies the minor requirement for a course in literature and culture before 1800*

Prerequisite: FREN 2006 or equivalent
FREN 4700 - Race Matters: Tradition and Modernity in Africa and the Maghreb

Prof. Abdourahman Waberi
MW 11:10 am-12:25 pm

This course will explore the daunting issues that confront Africa and the Maghreb in its transformation from tradition to modernity. If tradition comprises the centuries-old oral legacies, modernity may refer to what has appeared or been produced recently, namely the writings along with films, visual arts, music etc. We will use a wide range of sources (novels, memoirs, films and songs) in order to understand the link between past and present, yesterday and tomorrow. Our topics will include language and memory, Islam and Christianity, urbanity and cultural productions, emancipation, and utopia

Prerequisite: FREN 2006 or equivalent

Fall 2024

FREN 1001 - Basic French I

Handling the immediate context of daily experience in spoken and written French: identifying, describing, and characterizing people, objects, places and events; giving information and instructions; issuing simple commands and requests.

Course is taught in French.

Prerequisite: French Placement Exam score: 0-250.

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 1002 - Basic French II

Speaking and writing in French about past and future events: telling a story (narrating and describing in the past), promising, predicting and proposing simple hypotheses and conjectures.

Course is taught in French.

Prerequisite: FREN 1001 or French Placement Exam score: 251-350.

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 1003 - Intermediate French I

Increasing active vocabulary, reinforcing mastery of basic grammar, dealing with more complex structures (verbal phrases, subordinate clauses) and using some patterns of indirect speech (e.g., repeating or relaying messages, giving reports, summarizing).

Course is taught in French.

Prerequisite: FREN 1002 or French Placement Exam score: 351-400.

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 1004 - Intermediate French II

Consolidation and further expansion of the ability to understand as well as produce a more complex level of oral and written discourse emphasizing subjective expression: issuing indirect commands and requests; giving opinions; making proposals; building arguments; defending and criticizing ideas.

Course is taught in French.

Prerequisite: FREN 1003 or French Placement Exam score: 401-500

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 2005 - Language, Culture, and Society

This is the first course in a two-course sequence designed for students at the advanced-intermediate level. Through an introduction to French history, 2005 promotes conversational skills and helps students develop the ability to write and comprehend somewhat complex texts on a broad range of topics. An extensive grammar review is included.

Course is taught in French.

This course satisfies GPAC requirements.

Prerequisite: FREN 1004 or French Placement Exam score: 501-550

View detailed course description.

FREN 2006 - Language, Culture and Society II

This course expands the range and complexity of oral communication skills via a variety of discussion formats as well as formal oral presentations and debates. 2006 also aims to develop the student's ability to analyze and comprehend more elaborate, expository prose and to write critically on a broad range of contemporary political, social and cultural topics. French 2006 continues the intensive grammar review begun in 2005.

Course is taught in French.

This course satisfies GPAC requirements.

Prerequisite: FREN 2005 or French Placement Exam score: 551-601

This course may not be audited or taken pass/fail.

View detailed course description.

FREN 3010W - Advanced French Language, Structure, and Composition

TR 2:20-3:35
Prof. Sarah-Kay Hurst

How did English words like ‘le week-end’ end up in French? Why do words like ‘forêt’ and ‘fête’ have an accent? Why do we ‘pay attention’ in English but ‘faire attention’ in French? In this course, you will refine your French by integrating notions from linguistics, improving your written and spoken French through new perspectives into the language itself. You will have myriad opportunities to strengthen your writing skills, and we will explore notions such as figures of speech, borrowings, idiomatic expressions, and stylistic variation between French and English. The course involves myriad learning activities including small group discussion, collective writing on classroom whiteboards, guided peer review and reflection, games like Kahoot and Jeopardy, passionate speeches, rapid debates, and interactive educational excursions around the D.C. region, such as to francophone embassies! 
This course satisfies the WID requirement. 
Prerequisite: FREN 2006 or equivalent.

FREN 3100W.10: Introduction to French Literature

MW 11:10-12:25
Prof. Masha Belenky

What can we learn from stories? In this course (a gateway to the French Minor and Major) we will study literature and film as a privileged window into French culture, history, and society. We will explore a diverse range of works from different genres (poetry, prose, theater, film) and historical periods (from the Renaissance to the 21st century) and discover the connections between aesthetic forms and ideologies. You will also have a chance to hone your critical reading and analytical writing skills, and practice your written and spoken French.
This course satisfies the WID requirement.
Prerequisite: FREN 2006 or equivalent.

FREN 3100W.11: Introduction to French Literature

TR 11:10-12:25
Prof. Kathryn Kleppinger

How can art help us make sense of the world we live in? What ideas can artists express in their writing (or filmmaking), and how do they do so? And how can we study works with an awareness of both the artistic and social questions contained in them? By addressing these fundamental questions about the nature of reading, writing, and artistic expression, this course serves as an introduction to French literature and to the French Minor and Major. By the end of the semester we will have discussed a broad selection of texts from different genres (poetry, prose, song lyrics, and cinema) and historical periods (from the Renaissance to the 21st century), and mastered how to read and to write analytically about cultural production using different techniques and methodologies of textual analysis. You will also gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the various forms of engagement French authors and filmmakers have employed in their quest to understand and synthesize human life in moments of crisis.
This course satisfies the WID requirement.
Prerequisite: FREN 2006 or equivalent.

 

FREN 3210: Medieval and Early Modern French Literature in Context

TR 11:10-12:25
Prof. Emma Campbell

How does literature engage with social and political change not only after the fact but as it is unfolding? What resources does literature offer for thinking and influencing such change? This course examines the historical dynamism and transnationalism of premodern literature written in French with these questions in mind. Between 1040 and 1700 the francophone world witnessed institutional and technological developments that altered how people interacted with the world around them; and it experienced socially transformative wars, plagues, and religious conflicts. By foregrounding literature’s responses to nonlinear change, this course asks: What does literature have to tell us about how people made sense of the changes they were living through? How did premodern texts participate in formulating and debating the questions that those changes raised? What can literary texts reveal about historical attitudes to gender, race, and linguistic and religious identity, as well as evolving social structures and major political events?
Prerequisite: FREN 3100W or equivalent.
This course satisfies the medieval/early modern requirement for the minor.

FREN 3600.10: Journeys Through Medieval Worlds: Stories, Landscapes, and Mobility

TR 2:20-3:35
Prof. Emma Campbell

It is common today to think of our lives in terms of journeys. Journeys—both physical and metaphorical—open up new experiences and perspectives; they can prompt us to reflect on our identities as they change over time. This course explores a much older version of this idea as a way of guiding students on their own journeys through medieval story worlds. Human understanding was, from a medieval perspective, often connected to movement and travel. French texts give shape to this concept through their depictions of chivalric quests; their tales of pilgrimages and spiritual journeys; and their attention to the deep connections between stories and landscapes. Texts themselves also moved geographically and linguistically. A focus on journeys thus raises questions that continue to preoccupy us today about the relationship between humans and their environments, between environments and textual culture, and about the agencies—human and nonhuman—that shape our understanding of the world
Prerequisite: FREN 3100W or equivalent.
This course satisfies the medieval/early modern requirement for the minor.

FREN 3600.11: Decentering la Parisienne

MW 12:45-2:00
Prof. Masha Belenky

From Balzac’s novels to “Emily in Paris,” the figure of la Parisienne seems to embody beauty, style, class status, and “Frenchness.” The myth surrounding this archetype crystallized in the early 1800s and continues to reinforce a monolithic and enduring image of idealized femininity. Beyond the seemingly simple stereotype, however, this figure taps into key issues of identity formation. In this course we explore questions of gender, class, racial, and national identities as they were and are refracted through the lens of the myth of the Parisienne. We study literary, cultural, and journalistic documents, alongside visual materials and ephemera, drawing the contours of this potent cultural myth as it was emerging and considering its contemporary articulations. Indeed, the Parisienne is now the subject of several important cultural critiques, including a recent documentary by Rokhaya Diallo and fashion interventions by Adama Ndiaye, among others. This course also aims to reveal the ways in which, even in the 19th century, there were voices of dissent and cracks in the façade. Through analysis of texts and images from the 1800s to today, we explore how writers, activists, and artists challenge this mythology in the context of a multicultural French society.
Prerequisite: FREN 3100W or equivalent.

FREN 4910: Advanced Studies in French Culture: Postcolonial Remakes

TR 12:45-2:00
Prof. Kathryn Kleppinger

This course begins by questioning the concept of the “classic”: why have certain literary texts and films been recognized as worthy of ongoing study and debate? What criteria are prioritized in these designations, and who gets to decide? From this vantage point we will then explore various examples of decentering: how have authors from colonial and/or postcolonial contexts revised, adapted, or challenged the French literary and cultural canon? In other words, how has the French empire chosen to “write back” to French literary traditions? We will study these works in pairs: for example, original Arsène Lupin novellas alongside the recent Lupin Netflix show, or Albert Camus’s L’Étranger alongside Kamel Daoud’s Mersault, contre-enquête. By the end of the semester students will have discovered several classics of French literature and cinema as well as how they have been reappropriated by artists from other Francophone regions of the world.
Prerequisite: FREN 3100W or equivalent
This course is open to all students (with the pre-req) but required for senior French majors.