French (FREN)
French Undergraduate Courses
FREN 1010 LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY IN US MEDIA (3 credits)
The course analyzes the intersection between languages and reality, i.e., how the coexistence of languages informs our daily experience, self-perception, and perception of others. We will explore the many assumptions and beliefs about the value of different languages and variants within them, and that of their speakers. We will look at examples of how linguistic groups in the US represent themselves and show the complexity and richness of their culture through visual and audio representations of language, through a variety of media-social media, film, music, and written narratives-while investigating when and how linguistic communities have formed and disappeared in the United States and their cultures of origin, thus placing U.S. linguistic diversity in a global context. (Cross-listed with WLL 1000, GERM 1010, JAPN 1020, SPAN 1010).
Distribution: Humanities and Fine Arts General Education course and MavEd Cultural Knowledge and U.S. Diversity General Education course
FREN 1110 ELEMENTARY FRENCH I (5 credits)
Elementary French I emphasizes the mastery of all four language skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing, as well as introduces cultural issues from the francophone world.
Distribution: Global Diversity General Education course and MavEd Humanities and Humanities and Fine Arts General Education course and MavEd Cultural Knowledge
FREN 1120 ELEMENTARY FRENCH II (5 credits)
French 1120 is the second course in the 16-hour Arts and Sciences Foreign Language requirement. It is communicative in approach and emphasizes the mastery of all language skills including listening, writing, speaking, and reading.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 1110 with a grade of C- or better or placement by diagnostic examination. Department permission is needed for transfer credit.
FREN 1210 FRENCH FOR BEGINNERS I (3 credits)
French 1210 helps you prepare for the moments when Google Translate fails and your French-speaking friend is talking way too fast! In this course, you will learn to handle real-life situations--such as ordering a falafel or a Croque Monsieur with frites, deciphering the train schedule, and meeting French-speakers from all around the globe. Because life does not come with subtitles, we will focus on building all language skills, including speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills so you can confidently dive into speaking French and exploring the Francophone world. Get ready to mispronounce words, laugh at yourself, and walk away knowing a whole lot more than just "Bonjour."
Prerequisite(s): FREN 1220 or placement
Distribution: MavEd Humanities and MavEd Cultural Knowledge
FREN 1220 FRENCH FOR BEGINNERS II (3 credits)
French 1220 builds on foundational communication skills introduced in French 1210, emphasizing the continued development of speaking, listening, reading, and writing through a communicative, real-world approach. Students will engage with everyday situations and cultural contexts where French is spoken, learning how to interact effectively when Google Translate falls short and conversations move quickly. With a focus on authentic communication, students will practice expressing opinions, narrating events, making requests, and navigating both formal and informal interactions. Life doesn't come with subtitles - so in this course, students will strengthen their confidence and fluency through meaningful use of language in diverse settings across the French-speaking world.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 1210 or placement
FREN 2110 INTERMEDIATE FRENCH I (3 credits)
Grammar review, continued oral practice, and introduction to literary readings.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 1120 or placement by Department of Foreign Languages diagnostic examination. Department permission is needed for transfer credit.
FREN 2120 INTERMEDIATE FRENCH II (3 credits)
Grammar review, continued oral practice, and introduction to literary readings.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 2110 or placement by Department of Foreign Languages diagnostic examination. Department permission is needed for transfer credit.
FREN 2210 FRENCH FOR INTERMEDIATE LEARNERS I (3 credits)
This third-semester course is designed for students who have completed French 1220 or possess equivalent proficiency. Building on prior knowledge, the course deepens students' ability to communicate with greater accuracy, flexibility, and cultural awareness. Through real-world tasks and immersive experiences, students will refine their speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in French while exploring contemporary issues, everyday interactions, and diverse perspectives from across the French-speaking world. Emphasis is placed on authentic language use, intercultural competence, and confident participation in dynamic social exchanges.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 1220 or placement
FREN 2220 FRENCH FOR INTERMEDIATE LEARNERS II (3 credits)
This fourth-semester course continues to build students' communicative abilities in French through meaningful engagement with real-world situations and diverse cultural contexts. Learners will narrate past events, express opinions, propose solutions, and handle social interactions with increased accuracy and flexibility. As students explore authentic materials and cultural topics from across the French-speaking world, they will expand their vocabulary, refine their grammatical control, and develop a stronger sense of intercultural competence. FREN 2220 prepares students to interact more independently and effectively in French, both in and beyond the classroom.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 2210 or placement
FREN 2240 FRENCH IN ACTION: BEYOND THE TEXTBOOK (3 credits)
This course is designed to strengthen students' spoken fluency, listening comprehension, and cultural competence through immersive, real-world communication in French. With a focus on oral input and output, students engage with authentic materials such as podcasts, music, and virtual exchanges to develop confidence and flexibility in language use. French in Action serves as a bridge to upper-level French courses, helping students refine their interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational communication skills in preparation for advanced study in literature, linguistics, and culture.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 2110, FREN 2120, FREN 2210, or FREN 2220 or placement or advisor permission
FREN 3020 SPECIAL TOPICS IN FRENCH (3 credits)
Topics for this course will include French grammar review, conversation practice, composition, and structure. This course is a bridge course designed for students who have completed FREN 2120, FREN 3030, or FREN 3040, to prepare them for 3000/4000-level content courses in French.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 2120 or equivalent. Not open to non-degree graduate students.
FREN 3030 FRENCH CONVERSATION (3 credits)
Practice in a variety of conversational situations and levels.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 2120 or placement by Department of Foreign Languages diagnostic examination.
FREN 3040 FRENCH GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION (3 credits)
Review of grammatical principles, practice in written composition.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 2120 or placement by Department of Foreign Languages diagnostic examination.
FREN 3050 INTRODUCTION TO TRANSLATION (3 credits)
Introduction to the theory and various techniques of translation from French into English. Students will review specific differences between French and English grammar and lexicon. Students will first practice translating sentences, moving to paragraphs to end on translating various genres of literary works. Throughout the course, students will translate a great variety of texts such as news articles, administrative forms, official records, business documents, brochures, operating instructions, and how to translate subtitles.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 3040 or permission
FREN 3060 READINGS IN FRENCH (3 credits)
This course aims to increase students' fluency in reading and to develop comprehension skills that will help them in advanced language studies. The course will also enrich students' vocabulary through the use of a variety of primary sources; many genres will be sampled.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 2120. Not open to non-degree graduate students.
FREN 3160 INTRODUCTION TO FRENCH LITERATURE (3 credits)
Readings in this survey course will include a selection of French authors from the medieval period to the present. This selection will vary depending on the instructor. The main objective of this course is the development of critical reading skills and an understanding of major authors, movements, and themes in French literature. Students will read selections from numerous authors in a variety of genres, including short stories, theater, poetry, and the novel. The course also focuses on continuing to develop French language skills, in particular through reading for comprehension and interpretation of metaphorical meaning. Discussion will help to hone speaking skills.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 3060 or instructor permission.
FREN 3370 FRENCH CIVILIZATION (3 credits)
A historical view of France through its political, artistic, musical, literary, architectural and philosophical development from prehistory to the present.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 2120 or permission
FREN 3580 BUSINESS FRENCH (3 credits)
An introduction to the French business world. Students will acquire the necessary vocabulary, skills and cultural strategies to perform adequately in a French business environment so they can understand the cultural differences between the American and French business worlds.
Prerequisite(s): FREN 2120 or equivalent
FREN 4030 ADVANCED FRENCH CONVERSATION (3 credits)
This course focuses on the development of oral skills in French through the use of complex and sophisticated conversational structures and nuanced lexicon. Students will be involved in expressing or presenting their ideas and opinions, interpersonal speaking activities, and a variety of activities including reading short literary and cultural texts and screening films. (Cross-listed with FREN 8036).
Prerequisite(s): FREN 3030 or departmental permission. Not open to non-degree graduate students.
FREN 4040 ADVANCED FRENCH COMPOSITION AND STYLISTICS (3 credits)
In this capstone course, required for the completion of the major, learners will explore and practice advanced grammatical structures, write compositions in a variety of genres, and familiarize themselves with advanced stylistics.
Prerequisite(s): French majors with Junior or Senior standing. Not open to non-degree graduate students.
Distribution: Writing in the Discipline Single Course
FREN 4050 SEMINAR IN THE CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION OF QUEBEC (3 credits)
An introduction to the many facets of Quebec Culture & Civilization, through readings on Quebec's history and contemporary culture and also through films and other media related to Quebec. (Cross-listed with FREN 8056).
FREN 4070 FRANCOPHONE WEST AFRICA CULTURES (3 credits)
This course is intended as an introduction and exploration to the history, literary traditions and cinema of Francophone West Africa from 1945 to today. It seeks to familiarize students with the practice of reading literary texts, discussing seminal films and articulating critically informed reaction in writing. The course will focus on a selection of canonical authors and seminal films from Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal . The texts and films will provide a point of entry to the study of history, society, and culture. Historical, socio-political and cultural issues covered in the course will include: Ancient rites and oral literature, French colonization and post-colonialism, women and gender issues, childhood, immigration, the "Afropean" literature and West African Francophone countries contemporary challenges (politics and economies) with presentations on Benin, Niger and Togo today. (Cross-listed with FREN 8076).
Prerequisite(s): FREN 2120
FREN 4150 CONTEMPORARY FRENCH NOVEL (3 credits)
Selected contemporary French novels are analyzed and discussed. The main objective of this course is the development of critical reading and analytical skills that will allow students to reflect more productively upon the major social and aesthetic themes manifest in the texts under consideration. In addition, students will examine the sociopolitical and cultural contexts of these literary works. (Cross-listed with FREN 8156).
Prerequisite(s): FREN 3060 or permission. Not open to non-degree graduate students.
FREN 4170 CONTEMPORARY FRENCH THEATER (3 credits)
Selected contemporary French plays are analyzed and discussed. The main objective of this course is the development of critical reading and analytical skills that will allow students to reflect more productively upon the major social and aesthetic themes manifest in the texts under consideration. (Cross-listed with FREN 8176).
Prerequisite(s): FREN 3060 or permission of instructor. Not open to non-degree graduate students.
FREN 4560 FRANCOPHONE WOMEN WRITERS: EXILES, MADWOMEN, AND WITCHES (3 credits)
This course is an introduction in English to the rich variety of writing produced by women during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries from across the French-speaking world. We will focus on a selection of contemporary works by French and francophone women writers who lived and/or wrote in Canada, France, Guadeloupe, Haiti, North Africa, Senegal, and Quebec. The texts lend themselves to an exploration of many topical critical issues, including the construction of identity, the (re)presentation of history, the reliability of memory, and the effects of colonialism on different societies. In addition to our discussions of narrative motifs and technique, we will also look at the geopolitical and cultural contexts of these literary works, giving special attention to representations of gender, race, and class. (Cross-listed with FREN 8566, ENGL 4560, WGST 4560).
Prerequisite(s): Prereq: ENGL 1160 and one additional course in literature at the 2000 level or higher or permission.
FREN 4860 MODERN FRENCH WOMEN AUTHORS (3 credits)
Selected contemporary French literary texts written by women are analyzed and discussed. This may include novels, short stories, poetry, and graphic novels. The primary objective of this course is the development of critical reading and analytical skills that will allow students to reflect more productively upon the major social and aesthetic themes manifest in the works under consideration. In addition, students will examine the sociopolitical and cultural contexts of these works.(Cross-listed with FREN 8866).
Prerequisite(s): FREN 3060 or permission. Not open to non-degree graduate students.
FREN 4900 INDEPENDENT STUDY (1-3 credits)
Specially planned assignments in a well-defined field of French Studies, carried out under the supervision of a member of the Foreign Languages and Literature faculty. Designed primarily for the student who has need of work not currently available in the departmental offerings and who has demonstrated the capability of working independently. In general, these independent studies should not be taken as substitutes for scheduled classes of the same nature. May be repeated for credit once. (Cross-listed with FREN 8906).
Prerequisite(s): Junior or Senior standing, no incompletes outstanding, and departmental permission. Not open to non-degree graduate students.
FREN 4950 PRO-SEMINAR: LITERATURE AND/OR FILM (3 credits)
This course is dedicated to the study of a narrow field of the literature and/or cinema of the Francophone world. (Cross-listed with FREN 8956).
FREN 4960 PRO-SEMINAR: CULTURE AND SOCIETY (3 credits)
This course will address narrow field of study of the civilization, history, film, contemporary culture, art, politics, and or cultural studies of the Francophone world. (Cross-listed with FREN 8966).
Prerequisite(s): FREN 2120; FREN 3030, FREN 3040, and FREN 3060
FREN 4970 PRO-SEMINAR: LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE FOR THE PROFESSIONS (3 credits)
This course will address a narrow field of study of linguistics, translation/interpretation or the professional language of the Francophone world. (Cross-listed with FREN 8976).