Courses of Study:
Minor
Major (B.A.
Department of Romance and Comparative Literature website: http://www.brandeis.edu/departments/rocl/
Objectives
Learning to speak, read, write, and think a new language teaches us, as Montaigne wrote, to "knock off our corners by rubbing our brains against other people's." French, in its historical development in Europe and its subsequent spread to many areas of the earth, is inextricably tied to the intellectual, artistic, historical, and cultural development of a large portion of the world's population. The French curriculum is designed to teach students to express themselves clearly and effectively in written and oral French, as well as to acquaint them with the historical depth and geographical breadth of literary and cultural expression in French.
How to Become a Major
Students considering a French major should complete the language requirement as soon as possible. Students are advised to take FREN 104a and/or FREN 105a, FREN 106b, and FREN 110a before taking courses numbered 120a and beyond. Please note: Many French majors and minors choose to study abroad for all or part of their junior year. Students interested in learning more about the major or minor are encouraged to speak with the undergraduate advising head in French.
Faculty
See Romance and Comparative Literature.
Requirements for the Major
The major consists of nine semester courses:
A. FREN 106b (L'Art d'écrire: French Composition).
B. FREN 110a (Cultural Representations).
C. Six additional French courses numbered above 110a.
D. FREN 97a (Senior Essay--fall semester), or FREN 99b (Senior Thesis--a full-year course). After completing FREN 97a in the fall, students who have a 3.5 GPA in French courses seeking to fulfill requirements for departmental honors can petition to take FREN 99b the senior thesis, in the spring. Honors are awarded on the basis of cumulative excellence in all courses taken in the major, including the senior thesis.
Students seeking credit toward the French major for French courses cross-listed under European Cultural Studies will be required to do all reading and writing assignments in French. (The abbreviation FECS denotes French and European Cultural Studies courses.) Majors may receive credit for the major for related courses taken outside the department with written permission of the undergraduate advising head.
All students pursuing a French major will be assigned an advisor in the department
Requirements for Minor in French
A. FREN 106b (L'Art d'écrire: French Composition).
B. FREN 110a (Cultural Representations).
C. Three additional courses in French numbered above 100. One of these may be an FECS (French and European Cultural Studies) course, provided that all reading and writing assignments are completed in French.
All students pursuing a French minor will be assigned an advisor in the department.
Courses of Instruction
(1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students
Students may take at most two 30-level French courses for credit with permission of the language coordinator.
FREN 10a Beginning French
Students who have completed two or more years of study of French must obtain permission from the instructor before enrolling. Four class hours. Enrollment limited to 18 per section.
For students with no previous knowledge of French and those with a minimal background. Intensive training in the basics of French grammar, listening, comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing within the context of French and Francophone cultures. Usually offered every semester. Will be offered in the fall of 2002.
Staff
FREN 20b Continuing French
Prerequisite: FREN 10a or the equivalent as determined by the placement examination. Four class hours. Enrollment limited to 18 per section.
Continuation of FREN 10a. Intensive training in French grammar, listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing within the context of French and Francophone cultures. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
FREN 32a Intermediate French: Conversation
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Prerequisite: FREN 20b or the equivalent as determined by the placement examination. Four class hours. Enrollment limited to 15 per section.
Focuses on improving the speaking ability of students who wish to develop greater fluency in conversation while discussing contemporary French and Francophone cultures. Students continue to improve their skills in listening, comprehension, reading, and writing. Usually offered every year.
Staff
FREN 33a Intermediate French: Reading
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Prerequisite: FREN 20b or the equivalent as determined by the placement examination. Four class hours. Enrollment limited to 18 per section.
Focuses on improving the reading ability of students who wish to develop greater competence in reading comprehension. Selections from modern literature, political essays, and newspaper articles, etc., form the basis for examining various topics in French and Francophone cultures. Students continue to improve their skills in listening comprehension, speaking, and writing. Usually offered every year.
Staff
FREN 34a Intermediate French: Topics in French and Francophone Cultures
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Prerequisite: FREN 20b or the equivalent as determined by the placement examination. Four class hours. Enrollment limited to 18 per section.
Focuses on increasing the knowledge of students who wish to develop greater understanding of fundamental principles of French and Franccophone cultures, such as education, identity, and so on. Students continue to improve their skills in listening comprehension, speaking, and writing. Usually offered every year.
Staff
FREN 97a Senior Essay
Signatures of the instructor and the undergraduate advising head required. Students should consult the undergraduate advising head before enrolling.
FREN 97a offers students an opportunity to produce a senior essay under the direction of an individual instructor. Students normally enroll in FREN 97a in the fall. Only under exceptional circumstances will students enroll in FREN 97a in the spring. Offered every fall.
Staff
FREN 98a Independent Study
May be taken only with the written permission of the advising head of the major and the chair of the department. Signatures of the instructor and the chair of the department required.
Reading and reports under faculty supervision. Offered as needed.
Staff
FREN 98b Independent Study
May be taken only with the written permission of the undergraduate advising head and the chair of the department. Signatures of the instructor and the chair of the department required.
Reading and reports under faculty supervision. Offered as needed.
Staff
FREN 99b Senior Thesis
Signatures of the instructor and the undergraduate advising head required. Students should consult the undergraduate advising head before enrolling.
Usually offered every year.
Staff
(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students
All courses are conducted in French unless otherwise noted. The abbreviation FECS denotes French and European cultural studies courses, which are taught in English.
FREN 104b Advanced Language Skills through Culture
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Prerequisite: A 30-level French course or the equivalent. May be repeated once for credit with permission of the language coordinator. Three class hours. Enrollment limited to 18.
For students who would like to continue studying French beyond the foreign language requirement. Topics will vary, but all investigate aspects of French and Francophone cultures, such as French history through film, French Impressionism, issues of immigration, or understanding contemporary France. Reinforces the acquired skills of speaking, listening, comprehension, reading, and writing. Usually offered every year.
Staff
FREN 105a France Today: French Conversation
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Prerequisite: A 30-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. Three class hours. Enrollment limited to 15.
For students who have acquired knowledge of conversational French and wish to develop greater fluency in conversation. Role playing, vocabulary building, and guided speaking activities will develop conversational skills for various situations. Discussion of contemporary texts and films assist in vocabulary building. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
FREN 106b L'Art d'écrire: French Composition
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Prerequisite: FREN 104a or FREN 105a or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. Three class hours. Enrollment limited to 18.
For students who have acquired knowledge of written French and who wish to develop greater competence in examining and interpreting literary texts in order to better understand how to think á la francaise. Focuses on writing résumés, analyzing récits and portraits, and composing explications de textes and dissertations. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
FREN 110a Cultural Representations
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Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 18.
A foundation course in French culture, analyzing literary texts and other cultural phenomena such as film, painting, music, and politics. Usually offered every year.
Staff
FREN 120a The French Middle Ages
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Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
The Middle Ages was a time of contrast, obsessed with love of God and the carnal functions of the body. This course will investigate the dual character of medieval literature, looking at the powers of "le rire" and of "le sérieux." Literary forms studied will include plays, fabliaux, lais, chansons, ballades, and romances. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Randall
FREN 122b The Renaissance
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Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
The literature of the 16th century was erotic, tragic, and comic. The love poetry of writers such as Louise Labé and Joachim Du Bellay, the darkly comic novels of François Rabelais, the essays of Montaigne, and the baroque and polemical works of Agrippa d'Aubigné will be read. Issues of basic interest in the Renaissance such as Neoplatonism, the Reformation, and the "Querelle des femmes" will be analyzed. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Randall
FREN 130a The Seventeenth Century
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Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
Heart and mind in French Classicism. The combat of passion and reason in 17th-century masterpieces of comedy, tragedy, Pascal's Pensées, and the psychological novel, La princesse de Clèves. Topics include the conflict of love and duty, social class, skepticism and religious faith, gender roles. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the fall of 2001.
Mr. Kaplan
FECS 134a Women and Moralists in the Ancien Régime
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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation.
Examines women's part in changing the literary, artistic, intellectual, and political culture of the 17th- and 18th-century French monarchy. Topics include salons and social mobility, learned ladies and renegade nuns, science and morality, and subverting authority. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Harth
FREN 135a The Nineteenth Century
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Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
Liberation and selfhood in 19th-century France. Short stories, novels, poetry, and theater in 19th-century France. Topics include love and intimacy, the struggle for identity, gender roles, myth and folklore, religion and secularization. Authors may include Lamartine, Hugo, Desbordes-Valmore, Musset, Nerval, Sand, and Balzac. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Kaplan
FREN 137a The Twentieth Century
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Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
Major prose and drama of the 20th century. Topics may include the breakdown of genres; language and its limits; the absurd; memoirs of childhood; questions of personal, national, and ethnic identity; and rewriting the classics. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Hale
FREN 142b "La Ville Ecrite"
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Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
Analyzes the symbolic appearance of the city in French literature and film from the Middle Ages to the present day. The symbolic representation of the city in literature and film will be contextualized in theoretical writings by urbanists and philosophers. The symbolic and theoretical depictions of the city will be used to understand the culture in which they were produced. Usually offered every second year. Last offered in the spring of 2001.
Mr. Randall
FECS 145a Topics in French Fiction in Translation
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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation.
Power, passion, creativity in the French Novel. Major novels of the 19th and 20th centuries by Balzac, Stendhal, George Sand, Flaubert, Zola, and Proust reflect France's social and political upheavals. Topics include psychological analysis, revolution and class conflicts, male and female relationships, and the creative process. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Kaplan
FREN 150b Topics in French Poetry
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Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit with special permission.
The lyric imagination. Reading modern French verse and prose poems, from Baudelaire to Yves Bonnefoy, with essays on the creative process. No previous experience with poetry is necessary. Topics include rebellion against romanticism, surrealist love, ethnic and female voices, beauty and spiritual meaning. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the fall of 2000.
Mr. Kaplan
FREN 155b Topics in French Drama
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Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit with special permission.
Topics may include Greek myth in French drama, theater of the revolution, comedy and tragedy, Romantic drama, melodrama, farce, the theater of the absurd, African and Caribbean drama, and French classical theater. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Hale
FECS 157a Topics in French Film
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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation. Signature of the instructor required. May be repeated for credit with special permission
The topic for 2001-02: The New Wave. From the 1950s on, the innovations of the French New Wave have influenced film in France and abroad. Filmmakers to be studied include Godard, Chabrol, Melville, Rivette, Rohmer, Truffaut, and Varda. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the fall of 2001.
Ms. Harth
FREN 165b Topics in Francophone Literatures
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Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit with special permission.
A survey of the poetry, prose, and drama of Francophone writers of Africa or the Caribbean (in alternating sequence). Topics include Négritude, French and African languages, tradition and change, oral and written literature, Islam, the influence of film, and the role of women Francophone writers. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Hale
FECS 182b French Literature and Painting
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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation.
Explores the interrelations between French painting and literature through selected texts and corresponding visual images of the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics include Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism, Surrealism, and Cubism. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1998.
Ms. Hale
FREN 186b French Literature and Politics
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Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
A historical analysis of the development of political theory and literature. The class analyzes how a literary work relates to the political culture in which it was produced. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 2000.
Mr. Randall
FREN 190b Advanced Seminar
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Signature of the instructor required. May be repeated for credit with special permission.
Staff
Cross-Listed Courses
ECS 100a
European Cultural Studies: The Proseminar