French Courses

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Explanation of Course Numbers

• Courses in the 1000s are primarily introductory undergraduate courses
• Those in the 2000s to 4000s are upper-level undergraduate courses that also may be taken for graduate credit with permission and additional work assigned
• Those in the 6000s and 8000s are for master’s, doctoral, and professional-level students
• The 6000s are open to advanced undergraduate students with approval of the instructor and the dean or advising office

Note: FREN courses numbered from 1001 through 2006 cannot be taken Pass/No Pass.

FREN 1000. Dean's Seminar. 3 Credits.

The Dean’s Seminars provide Columbian College first-year students focused scholarship on specific intellectual challenges. Topics vary by semester; see department for more details.

FREN 1001. Basic French I. 4 Credits.

Handling the immediate context of daily experience in spoken and written French: identifying, describing, and characterizing people, objects, places, and events; giving information and instructions; issuing simple commands and requests. Laboratory fee.

FREN 1002. Basic French II. 4 Credits.

Speaking and writing in French about past and future events: telling a story (narrating and describing in the past), promising, predicting, and proposing simple hypotheses and conjectures. Prerequisite: FREN 1001 . Laboratory fee.

FREN 1003. Intermediate French I. 3 Credits.

Increasing active vocabulary, reinforcing mastery of basic grammar, dealing with more complex structures (verbal phrases, subordinate clauses), and using some patterns of indirect speech (e.g., repeating or relaying messages, giving reports, summarizing). Prerequisite: FREN 1002 . Laboratory fee.

FREN 1004. Intermediate French II. 3 Credits.

Consolidation and further expansion of the ability to understand as well as produce a more complex level of oral and written discourse emphasizing subjective expression: issuing indirect commands and requests; giving opinions; making proposals, building arguments; defending and criticizing ideas. Prerequisite: FREN 1003 . Laboratory fee.

FREN 1006. French Language and Culture I. 3 Credits.

Offered through the GW Paris Business Studies Program.

FREN 1007. French Language and Cultures II. 3 Credits.

Continuation of FREN 1006. Offered through the GW Paris Business Studies Program.

FREN 1099. Variable Topics. 1-36 Credits.

FREN 2005. Language, Culture, and Society I. 3 Credits.

Development of strong conversational skills and the rudiments of expository writing. The vocabulary and structures necessary to move from handling everyday experience and subjective expression to the exposition of more abstract thought and ideas and discussion of political, social, and cultural issues.  Prerequisite: FREN 1004. 

FREN 2006. Language, Culture, and Society II. 3 Credits.

Continued expansion of the range and complexity of conversational skills and further development of the writing of effective expository prose on a broad range of contemporary subjects. Short texts serve as the basis for oral discussion, analytical reading, and writing brief critical essays. Laboratory fee. Prerequisite: FREN 2005.

FREN 2049. French for Graduate Students. 0 Credits.

No academic credit. Tuition is charged at the rate of 3 credits. Restricted to graduate students preparing for reading examinations.

FREN 2500. Cultural Politics of Food in France. 3 Credits.

The construction of French national identity through representations of food in literature and film. Taught in English.

FREN 2600. French Culture in Context. 3 Credits.

Students gain a deeper understanding of historical and contemporary social, cultural, and political debates in France using French primary sources from various points in history. Readings are in English translation.

FREN 3010W. Advanced French Language, Structure, and Composition. 3 Credits.

Refining rhetoric in French, integrating notions from linguistics. Improving written and spoken French through new perspectives into the language itself. Register, borrowings, idiomatic expressions, and stylistic variation between French and English. Prerequisites: FREN 2006. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement.

FREN 3020. Contemporary France. 3 Credits.

Emphasis on advanced oral work. Discussion of French culture and civilization, based on contemporary writings and video documents. Prerequisite: FREN 2006. Laboratory fee.

FREN 3030. Business and Commercial French. 3 Credits.

Structure and language of French economic institutions. Discussion of legal, financial, and administrative documents. Oral and written reports. Preparation for the certificate of the Paris Chamber of Commerce. Prerequisite: FREN 2006.

FREN 3099. Variable Topics. 1-12 Credits.

FREN 3100. Introduction to French Literature. 3 Credits.

Readings, textual analysis, and writing on a broad selection of texts from different genres and periods. French and Francophone literatures in their cultural contexts. Close reading approach and introduction to literary vocabulary. Prerequisite: FREN 2006.

FREN 3100W. Introduction to French Literature. 3 Credits.

Readings, textual analysis, and writing on a broad selection of texts from different genres and periods; close reading approach and introduction to literary vocabulary. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement. Prerequisite: FREN 2006.

FREN 3210. Medieval and Early Modern French Literature in Context. 3 Credits.

Texts of the Middle Ages to the seventeenth century studied in their historical, social, and cultural contexts. Topics may include feudal society and the literature of courtly love; humanism, Rabelais, and Renaissance poetry; women and salon writing; Versailles, absolutism, and classical theater. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 3220. Modern French Literature. 3 Credits.

Texts of the eighteenth century to the present in historical, social, and cultural contexts. Topics may include philosophes and the rise of social consciousness; the French Revolution and Romanticism; dada and surrealism; existentialism and World War II; decolonization and francophone literature. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 3300. Topics in French and Francophone Literatures and Cultures in Translation. 3 Credits.

Dynamics of French-speaking societies and their cultures studied through literature, art, or film. Topics vary. Readings and lectures in English. The course may be repeated for credit. A laboratory fee may be required.

FREN 3400. Studies in Genre. 3 Credits.

Study in narrative, dramatic, or lyric form. Topics vary by semester. May be repeated for credit provided topic differs. See department for details. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 3500. Race, Religion, and Identity in France. 3 Credits.

The intersection of race, religion, and identity in France from an historical perspective; key concepts of French universalism and secularism in relation to different minority groups. Resources may include literature, film, historical documents, and sociological studies. May be taught in French or English Recommended background: Prior completion of FREN 3100W.

FREN 3520. The Age of Classicism. 3 Credits.

Drama, philosophy, criticism, poetry, and fiction of the seventeenth century. Topics may include préciosité, baroque, Jansenism, classicism, and rationalism in the context of the major social, political, and religious movements of the period. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 3530. The Age of Enlightenment. 3 Credits.

The major novelists, dramatists, and philosophes of the eighteenth century. The works of Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot and their relationship to the social, political, and philosophical thought of the period. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 3550. Studies in Twentieth-Century French Literature. 3 Credits.

Major literary movements of the twentieth century: avant-garde, surrealism, existentialism, nouveau roman, and nouveau théâtre. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 3560. Topics in Contemporary Francophone Literature and Cinema. 3 Credits.

Analysis of relations between France and its former colonies as manifested in the literature and cinema of France and the Francophone world. Race and gender relations; exile; nationalism; and identity and place as seen through various literary and cinematic responses to the discourses of metropolitan France by its former colonies. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 3600. Special Topics in French Literature. 3 Credits.

Topics vary by semester. May be repeated for credit provided the topic differs. See department for details. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 3600W. Special Topics in French Literature and Culture. 3 Credits.

Topics vary by semester. May be repeated for credit provided topic differs. See department for more details. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 3700. History of French Cinema. 3 Credits.

French cinema from its inception to the New Wave; the relationship of filmmaking and audience reception to the evolution of French society and political institutions; the language of cinema as it evolves according to periods and genres and as critics and filmmakers create a theoretical discourse specific to film.

FREN 4135. Folger Seminar. 3 Credits.

The history of books and early modern culture. Use of the archive at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Students must obtain departmental approval in the preceding semester. Same as ENGL 4135/ HIST 4135. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 4470. Writing Women. 3 Credits.

Dynamics of gender in French literature and culture with emphasis on women as agents and objects of representation; gender roles in the formation of social biases, norms, and power structures. Texts range from the Middle Ages to the present. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 4500. Studies in Medieval French Literature. 3 Credits.

Readings and analysis of the major literary texts from the 11th through the 15th centuries. Chansons de geste, courtly literature, fabliaux, drama, lyric and didactic poetry. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 4510. French Literature of the Renaissance. 3 Credits.

Sixteenth century prose and poetry in the context of cultural and historical movements. Topics may include humanism; concepts of self and subjectivity; the wars of religion; the discovery of the New World; court and city life; the private and public spheres; religious and secular love. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 4540. Nineteenth-Century French Literature and Culture. 3 Credits.

Key aspects of nineteenth-century French literature in its historical, cultural, and political context. Major authors and literary movements studied through the lens of a particular theme, which varies from year to year. Prerequisites: FREN 3100W.

FREN 4600. Special Topics in French Literature. 3 Credits.

Examination of French and Francophone literature organized around a single theme. Topics vary by semester. May be repeated for credit provided the topic differs. Consult the Schedule of Classes for more details. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 4600W. Special Topics in French Literature. 3 Credits.

Examination of French and Francophone literature organized around a single theme. Topics vary by semester. May be repeated for credit provided the topic differs. Consult the Schedule of Classes for more details. Prerequisites: FREN 3100W. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement.

FREN 4700. Race Matters: Literature, Culture, and Identity in Contemporary France. 3 Credits.

An interdisciplinary examination of cultural, political, and economic realities for Black populations in France. Prerequisite: FREN 3100W.

FREN 4800. Independent Study. 1-4 Credits.

Admission by permission of department chair and instructor. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: French 3100W.

FREN 4910. Proseminar: Readings for the Major. 3 Credits.

Required of all majors as preparation of the senior essay. Specific topic in the history of French literature varies by year. Restricted to French majors in their senior year. Prerequisite: French 3100W.

FREN 4920W. Proseminar II. 3 Credits.

Continuation of FREN 4910. Required of all majors; preparation of the senior essay. The specified topic in the history of French literature varies by year. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement.

FREN 5099. Variable Topics. 1-99 Credits.