Department of Romance Studies

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

For a full list of courses offered next semester, download the PDF brochure: French and Francophone Studies Course Offerings Fall 2023

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. Harder.

(1) M,T,W,Th 9:05–9:55 AM, Niehaus

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 and Francophone countries.

(1) M,T,W,Th 11:15 AM–12:05 PM, Niehaus

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,F 9:05–9:55 AM, Theobald
(2) M,W,Th 10:10–11:00 AM; F 10–10:50 AM, Theobald

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” like sexism and globalization, 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.

(1) M,W,Th 1:20–2:10 PM, Niehaus

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 history, as well as space and nature differ from our own. We also examine issues of globalization in the Francophone world.

(1) M,W,Th 10:10–11:00 AM, 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, and writing.

(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 online tools enable students to improve their creative and analytical writing skills. Students examine different types of texts, exploring their literary style, determining their authority, and exploring how words and images may move and manipulate readers and viewers.

(1) M,W,Th 11:15 AM–12:05 PM, Fauré-Bellaïche

This class looks at how novels, poems, films and other forms of cultural representations reflect larger social questions throughout the French-speaking world.  Texts and films by modern and contemporary French and Francophone writers and directors, including Emmanuel Carrère, Céline Sciamma, Marjane Satrapi, Nathacha Appanah, Annie Ernaux, and Catherine Cusset.

(1) M,W,Th 1:20–2:10 PM, Theobald

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

Explores the theories and practices of text-image interactions in illustrated francophone books of the past and present by addressing themes such as learning, travel, sentimentality, pornography, politics, and humor. This course will include archival work in the Brandeis library.

(1) M,W,Th 12:20–1:10 PM, Fauré-Bellaïche

Introduces Francophone literature and film, retracing, through the works of great contemporary Francophone writers and directors, the evolution of the Francophone world, from the colonial struggles to the transcultural and transnational trajectories of our global era.

(1) M,W,Th 10:10–11:00 AM, Dowden and Burt

Enrollment limited to Humanities Fellows.

How do you turn catastrophe into art - and why? This first-year seminar in the humanities addresses such elemental questions, especially those centering on love and death. How does literature catch hold of catastrophic experiences and make them intelligible or even beautiful? Should misery even be beautiful? By exploring the tragic tradition in literature across many eras, cultures, genres, and languages, this course looks for basic patterns.