Before you enroll in French language courses (FREN 10–106):
PLEASE READ INSTRUCTIONS BELOW.
1. Students currently enrolled in a French language course (FREN 10–105) will be contacted before the beginning of registration to choose one section of the next course in the language sequence. They will be given an access code for that section, or if that section is no longer available, they will be given further instructions.
2. Students who have never studied French before or who have studied French for less than one semester should state how much French they have studied and which section they prefer in an email to Professor Harder (harder@brandeis.edu) who will send them an access code for FREN 10a.
3. Students who have studied French but not at Brandeis OR students who scored below 620 on the French SAT II exam, below 5 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Levels Exam, or below 4 on the French AP exam should email Professor Harder (harder@brandeis.edu) for on-line access to the French placement test (valid for one year). After completion of the test and the questionnaire that follows, Professor Harder will provide an access code for a specific section of the appropriate language course.
4. Students who scored 620–710 on the French SAT II exam, who scored a 5 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Levels Exam, or who earned a 4 on the French AP exam should email their standardized exam score to Professor Harder (harder@brandeis.edu) to receive an access code for FREN 105a.
5. Students who scored 720 or above on the French SAT II exam, who scored a 6 or higher on the International Baccalaureate Higher Levels Exam, or who earned a 5 on the French AP should email their standardized exam score to Professor Harder (harder@brandeis.edu) to receive an access code for FREN 106b.
Fall 2013 French and Francophone Studies Courses
Schedule information is tentative. Please see http://www.brandeis.edu/registrar/schedule/classes/2013/Fall/2400/all for current listings.
ALL STUDENTS NEED AN ACCESS CODE TO ENROLL IN FRENCH LANGUAGE COURSES (FREN 10–105). PLEASE READ INSTRUCTIONS IN BAR TO RIGHT.
FREN 10a Beginning French
(1) MWRF 10:00–10:50, Donlan
(2) MWR 12:00–12:50 and F 12:30–1:20, Staff
Prerequisite: Access code required. Students with no previous knowledge of French and those with a minimal background, please see instructions to the right.
What do Montréal, Paris, and Dakar have in common? What are the rules regarding how many times one kisses a friend on the cheeks? Why is France called l’Hexagone? This course will introduce learners to French language and culture and will help them speak, listen, read, and write about everyday situations in France and Francophone countries.
FREN 20b Continuing French
(1) MWRF 9:00–9:50, Ratner
(2) MWRF 10:00–10:50, Ratner
(3) MWR 12–12:50 and F 12:30–1:20, Staff
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in FREN 10a or the equivalent. Access code required (please see instructions in box to right).
How do the French perceive space? How does the experience of an American student differ from that of a French student in high school and university? How do the French plaisirs de la table differ from American attitudes toward food? Learners will deepen their knowledge of French and Francophone cultures while expanding their ability to speak, read, listen, and write in French.
FREN 32a Intermediate French: Conversation
(1) MWRF 9:00–9:50, Theobald
(2) MWRF 10:00–10:50, Theobald
(3) MWRF 11:00–11:50, Staff
(4) MWR 12:00–12:50 and F 12:30–1:20, Staff
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in FREN 20b or the equivalent. Access code required (please see instructions in box to right).
Did you study French in the past and feel now that what you need most is to be able to speak? The French Conversation class is for you! It will focus on oral communication skills: pronunciation, oral comprehension, acquisition of common vocabulary, and conversational practice. Our materials will include radio and television programs, film, and newspapers.
FREN 104b Advanced Language Skills through Culture
MWR 12:00–12:50, Ratner
Prerequisite: a 30-level FREN course or the equivalent. Access code required (please see instructions in box to right).
Students advance their study of the French language by continuing to hone speaking, writing, listening and reading skills. We will watch and analyze movies representing major periods of French history: from the bloody religious wars to the pivotal French Revolution and the 20th-century Algerian conflict. For the final project, students will analyze a movie not studied in class and present a scene from it to the class.
FREN 105a France Today: French Conversation
MWR 10:00–10:50, Staff
Prerequisite: a 30-level FREN course, FREN 104b, or the equivalent. Access code required (please see instructions in box to right).
Improve your speaking skills while learning about and discussing socio–cultural issues that distinguish the French view of the world from that of Americans. Students will focus on expressing themselves better orally while continuing their work on reading, listening, and writing.
FREN 106b The Art of Composition
MWR 1:00–1:50, Staff
Prerequisite: FREN 104b, FREN 105a, or the equivalent. Access code required (please see instructions in box to right).
Study of French composition through analysis of passages from novels, poems, short stories and newspaper articles. Emphasis will be placed on techniques of writing in French, such as dissertation and explication de texte.
FREN 110a Cultural Representations
MW 2:00–3:20, Randall
Prerequisite: FREN 106b, the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
Examines how alienation, which is often understood as exemplifying western modernity, manifests itself in literary works and films from throughout the Francophone world and French history. We will look at authors such as Assia Djebar, Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Mohammed Dib, Albert Camus, Joachim Du Bellay, Pierre Corneille, and Molière.
FREN 139a Bad Girls / Les Mauvaises filles <-- NEW COURSE!
MWR 10:00–10:50, Harder
Prerequisite: FREN 106, the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
Through a selection of literary texts, images, and films, students will explore how artistic works from the Middle Ages to present day depict female figures in the French and Francophone world who have failed to conform to expectations of their gender.
FREN 146a Reading Versailles: Portrait, Space, and Spectacle under the Sun King <-- NEW TOPIC!
MWR 12:00–12:50, Theobald
Prerequisite: FREN 106, the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
Examines bodies of literature, visual arts, and courtiers at Versailles in the theatrical society of intrigue and exile under Louis XIV. Concentrates on how the texts, maps, and art of the palace fashion a global portrait of absolutism: the Sun King.
FREN 164a Haiti, Then and Now
TF 12:30–1:50, Hale
Prerequisite: FREN 106b, the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
Studies Haiti's cultural history through literature, music, painting, film, and journalism. Topics include: Haiti's first inhabitants, the Arawaks and Taino; slavery and colonialism; the world's first black republic; dictators and presidents; Creole and French; Catholicism and Vaudou; the island's ecology; the 2010 earthquake and international aid.
Cross-Listed with French and Francophone Studies
FA 158b Picasso and Matisse
TF 12:30–1:50, Scott
May not be taken for credit by students who took FA 173b in prior years.
Examines the major contributions of all periods of Picasso's career, with special focus on the development of Cubism, counterbalanced with the color expression of Matisse and the Fauves. The larger circle of artists, poets, and patrons associated with both these masters--from Juan Gris, Fernand Leger, and especially Georges Braque, to Gertrude Stein and Guillaume Apollinaire--forms the core subject matter.
HIST 192b Romantic and Existentialist Political Thought
MWR 10:00–10:50, Hulliung
Readings from Camus, Sartre, Beckett, and others. Examination and criticism of romantic and existentialist theories of politics.
Taught by French and Francophone Studies Faculty
COML 165a Reading, Writing and Teaching across Cultures
TF 11:00–12:20, Hale
Examines contemporary literary representations of literacy, schooling, and language from a cross-cultural perspective. Students also analyze their own educational trajectories and experiences with writing and reading.
Schedule information is tentative. Please see http://www.brandeis.edu/registrar/schedule/classes/2013/Fall/2400/all for current listings.