Department of Romance Studies

All schedule information is tentative. Please see the Registrar's site for the latest information.

For a short introduction to each of our course offerings or language levels, click on the course title below.

For more information about FREN 10-106 placement/enrollment, please see our Language Programs Placement page. If you have any questions, please contact Prof. Theobald.

(1) M,W,Th 10:10–11:00 AM; T 10–10:50 AM, Lerme

For students with little or no knowledge of French language. Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page). 

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? Learners discover the basics of French language and culture while speaking, listening, reading, and writing about everyday situations in France & Francophone countries.

(1) M,T,W,Th 11:15 AM–12:05 PM, Lerme

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in FREN 10a or the equivalent. Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page). 

How does the attitude of a French student toward family and strangers differ from the experience of an American student? How do the French view work and vacation? Learners will deepen their knowledge of French and Francophone cultures while expanding their ability to speak, read, listen, and write in French.

(1) M,W,Th 10:10–11:00; F 10–10:50 AM, Niehaus
(2) M,W,Th 12:20–1:10 PM; F 12:45–1:35 PM, Niehaus

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in FREN 20b or the equivalent. Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page).

Did you study French in the past and need more speaking and writing practice plus a grammar review? This Intermediate French class is for you! Exploring social “controversies” related to, for example, gender identity and Smartphone addiction, it focuses on essential communication skills such as comprehension, contemporary vocabulary use, and conversational practice. Our materials include videos, music, websites, articles, and short stories, with an emphasis on Haitian culture in the final unit.

(1) M,W,Th 1:20–2:10 PM, Lerme

Prerequisite: A 30-level FREN course or the equivalent. Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page).

Students advance their speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, while focusing on key elements of French and Francophone cultures. Through the study of films, comics, current events, and cultural comparisons, we explore the ways in which French speakers’ perceptions of time and space differ from our own. We also examine issues of globalization in the francophone world.

(1) M,W,Th 11:15 AM–12:05 PM, Harder

Prerequisite: FREN 104b, or the equivalent. Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page).

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, & writing as they explore current topics of debate like slang usage and immigration.

(1) M,W,Th 12:20–1:10 PM, Harder

Prerequisite: FREN 105a, or the equivalent. Permission required (please see instructions on our Language Programs Placement page). [DL; WI]

Innovative strategies and digital resources enable students to improve their descriptive and analytical writing and speaking skills. Students examine different types of texts (including films, photographs, and AI-generated images), exploring their style, determining their authority and creativity, and understanding how words and images move and manipulate readers and viewers.

(1) M,W 2:30–3:50 PM, Theobald

This course examines the linguistic and geographic ebb and flow between New England and francophone Canada, the multiple pressures on Native American societies, and the rich representations—particularly certain “myth cycles”—that arise from those interactions over time. Tracing the establishment of New France, subsequent waves of Catholic and Protestant immigrants (including the diaspora of Acadians), and indigenous displacement and resistance, the class will rely upon maps, stories, historical objects, memoirs, poems, films, and pictures to flesh out the complexities of anglophone, francophone, and autochtone co-existence.

(1) M,W,Th 1:20–2:10 PM, Niehaus

Prerequisite: FREN 106b, equivalent, or permission of instructor. [Cross-listed with FTIM.]

Introduces students to the major trends in French and Francophone cinema from the postwar period to the present. The course will include a discussion of major works of cinema from a variety of genres, including comedy, documentary, social realism, historical drama, and autobiography. Each work will be studied through formal analysis, different theoretical lenses, and in the context of major historical and artistic turning points. Topics of discussion will include student protest movements, class struggle, and decolonization, as well as the issues of pressing concern today, such as immigration and social, political, and environmental inequality.

(1) T,Th 5:30 PM–6:50 PM, Staff

Focuses on major 19th century artists in France, from the innovation of Edouard Manet to the formation of the group called the Impressionists. Study of the series of independent exhibitions, mounted between 1874 - 1886, and organized by the unlikely allies Edgar Degas and Claude Monet, including women artists Morisot and Cassatt. Also analysis of the influence of Japanese art from abroad, and the new 'objective' style, shaped in part by the invention of photography, will be a focus. The next generation - Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, and Van Gogh - develop stylistic ideas out of Impressionism, and re-shape its aims.