Major
A minimum of 11 courses beyond 201, including:
- FREN 231
- One elective in Francophone studies
- At least one 300-level course taken during their senior year
- FREN 401: Research Seminar in French & Francophone Studies
Minor
Five courses beyond 201, including FREN 231.
Suggested curricular flow through the major
First year:
FREN 101 in the fall and FREN 102 in the spring
or FREN 102, then FREN 201
or FREN 201, then FREN 202
or FREN 231 OR 232, followed by the other one (FREN 231 or 232)
NOTE: Entrance level dependent on the results of a placement examination.
Sophomore:
FREN 201, then FREN 202
or FREN 231 OR 232, followed by the other one (FREN 231 or 232), or a course at the 300 level
NOTES:
Students planning an international internship must contact their advisor in the spring of their sophomore year.
Check if you can combine any related and cross-listed electives taught in the FFS program if you are also a major or minor in another field such as Environmental Studies, English, Food Studies, INBM, IS, MES, or WGSS
Junior:
Study abroad in Toulouse, France, and/or Rabat, Morocco in the fall, spring, or all year, and/or Yaoundé, Cameroon (spring only)
FREN 231 (if not yet completed) or FREN 232, followed by 300-level courses
NOTE: Students planning to pursue honors should contact their advisors in the Spring semester of their junior year.
Senior:
FREN 401 and any combination of 300-level courses
NOTES: To get credit toward the FFS Major/Minor for cross-listed courses taught as FLIC courses (bilingual courses in French and English) students must enroll in FREN section of the class (e.g., not in the English; Environmental Studies; Food Studies; Middle East Studies; Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies sections)
Suggested curricular flow through the minor
First year:
FREN 101 in the fall and FREN 102 in the spring
or FREN 102, then FREN 201
or FREN 201, then FREN 202
or FREN 231 OR 232, followed by the other one (FREN 231 or 232)
NOTE: Entrance level dependent on the results of a placement examination.
Sophomore:
FREN 201, then FREN 202
or FREN 231 OR 232, followed by the other one (FREN 231 or 232), or a course at the 300 level
NOTES: Check if you can combine any related and cross-listed electives taught in the FFS program if you are also a major or minor in another field such as Environmental Studies, English, Food Studies, INBM, IS, MES, or WGSS
Junior:
Study abroad in Toulouse, France, and/or Rabat, Morocco in the fall, spring, or all year, and/or Yaoundé, Cameroon (spring only)
FREN 231 (if not yet completed) or FREN 232, followed by 300-level courses
Senior:
Any combination of 300-level courses
NOTE: To get credit toward the FFS Major/Minor for cross-listed courses taught as FLIC courses (bilingual courses in French and English) students must enroll in FREN section of the class (e.g., not in the English; Environmental Studies; Food Studies; Middle East Studies; Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies sections)
For detailed course descriptions and requirements for the major, please refer to the Academic Bulletin: French.
Independent study and independent research
Students interested in Independent Study or Independent Research in French or Francophone Studies should consult with the faculty member with whom they hope to work. Independent Study may not duplicate a class already being offered in a particular semester.
Independent Research is usually reserved for the senior year and for students who have a GPA of 3.50 or higher in the French major. Research may be carried out over one or two semesters for one or more credits. An independent research project comprises a substantial paper written in French, and is characterized by an independent and in-depth study of an advanced topic including a literature search, reading of original sources and a novel formulation of results. There is an oral defense at its completion. The project is supervised by two members in the department. When independent research is interdisciplinary in nature, a third faculty member from outside the department is invited to participate.
Honors
Students who wish to be considered for honors in French and Francophone Studies must have an overall GPA of at least 3.50 and they will register for an Independent Research (550) both in the fall and the spring of their senior year in lieu of the regular 300-level senior sequence. The students must identify a faculty member who is willing to serve as their Thesis Advisor, must submit a proposal, and must write a thesis, which will be evaluated by the faculty to receive honors.
An Honors Thesis meets the equivalent of two academic credits--one in the fall, and one in the spring respectively--and honors are conferred as a special designation on the students' academic transcript and diploma. In the event that students do not wish to continue with their thesis work into the spring semester, or if the independent research completed in the fall does not meet the standards of an honors thesis, the students will still receive academic credit for their Independent Research (550) in the fall, and they can enroll in either a topics or a senior seminar in the spring of their senior year to meet the senior year requirement.
The proposal must be written in French and must be submitted no later than two (2) weeks before the beginning of the fall semester (5 pages). The proposal should provide a detailed description of the research project, as well as explain the questions to be addressed, the current state of scholarship on this issue, the project’s contribution to current scholarship, and a tentative answer to the research question (i.e. a “thesis statement”). A proposed outline of the thesis chapters (1 page) should also be included. There should also be a fairly extensive bibliography (1-2 pages) that lists primary and secondary sources under separate headings.
HONORS THESIS TIMELINE
- May of Junior Year:
- Student approaches faculty member as a potential thesis advisor to declare their intention to write an honors thesis.
- Summer before graduation:
- Student submits a short proposal and reading bibliography (see above).
- Student registers for an independent research for the fall semester with their appointed thesis advisor.
- Fall semester of graduation:
- The student writes a 20-page research paper supervised by their thesis advisor that elaborates on the proposal.
- Before the last day of classes, the thesis advisor connects with the department and shares the student's research.
- By the end of the exam period, the FFS Chair and the committee will inform the prospective honors student whether the independent research completed in the fall meets the requirements for a thesis so far.
- If approved, the thesis advisor assigns a second reader. A third external reader might be contacted depending on the nature of the proposal. The student receives a grade for their independent research and registers for another independent research for the spring semester.
- If not approved, or if the student changes their mind about completing a thesis, the student receives credit toward the 300-level senior seminar to meet the 300-level major sequence requirement during their senior year.
- Spring semester of graduation:
- The student continues writing (20 pages)
- The advisor communicates the title of the senior thesis to the Registrar via the FFS Chair by the end of February.
- Mid semester check-in with the thesis committee.
- Two weeks before the date of the oral defense:
- The advisor will ensure that the candidate shares their best version of their thesis with the committee members. The document will be about 50 pages, excluding the bibliography.
- The advisor will share the defense information with the rest of the dept and FFS majors /minors with the permission of the candidate.
- Before the oral defense:
- Faculty will meet and discuss whether the thesis meets the criteria of an honors thesis
- They will vote on conferring provisional honors.
- During the oral defense:
- Faculty will ask questions probing, for example, the source base, evidence, methodology, and conclusions.
- Faculty will also offer advice for editing and revising the thesis in preparation for its submission (if approved for final honors) to the Dickinson College Archives.
- Honors will be conferred upon a student's successful completion of the oral defense.
- After the oral defense:
- The advisor will inform the Registrar's office (usually Marcia) whether the candidate has received honors or not (we will probably receive a deadline reminder from the Registrar soon - it's typically by May 14).
- Before graduation:
- The candidate will make final directed revisions essential for formal submission of the approved honors project according to the guidelines set by the Archives.
- Since 2016, the candidate may choose to publish their thesis in Dickinson Scholar with the approval of their advisor.
- Following graduation (or as early as possible):
- The ADC will generate an internal req. order with the FFS Chair to authorize payment toward the printing and binding of 3 copies of the thesis (student-archives-dept).
Internships
Thanks to its study abroad programming in three geographical regions, the Department of French and Francophone Studies is well positioned to support students who seek international internships to advance their professional profile and experience. Developing career-ready skills in the global market place starts as soon as the first year of college. While students prepare the grounds for an international experience by taking a French class, they should also familiarize themselves with the Center for Advising, Internships & Lifelong Career Development in order to develop a résumé to be shared with their advisor. During their Sophomore Year, students should begin making plans for an internship abroad by consulting with the Center for Global Study and Engagement about their opportunities and potential funding, and by meeting with their advisor and the department's study abroad coordinator. During Junior Year, internships may be available for students studying in Rabat, Toulouse, or Yaoundé. Think of international internships as providing lifelong opportunities for professional development. Thanks to their international experience and their capacity to understand people and cultures other than their own, our majors are ready to intern and work in leading professional contexts ranging from education to government, NGOs, law, international business, banking, and the press. For example, FFS Alumna Shiobhan O'Grady '13 studied in Yaoundé and in Rabat, found her calling when she interned in a bilingual news agency in Rabat, and is now the Cairo Bureau Chief for the Washington Post.
Opportunities for off-campus study
Junior Year: All students intending to major in French are strongly urged to plan their program of studies to allow for study abroad during the junior year at Dickinson's Study Center in Toulouse, France and/or in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The coordinators for Dickinson programs in these countries should be consulted with any questions.
Summer Immersion Program: The French Department occasionally offers a five-week student immersion program in Toulouse, depending upon student interest. This program, which has a prerequisite of 201 (Intermediate French), is of particular interest to French minors. The Department chairperson should be contacted for additional information.
Co-curricular activities/programs
The Department of French and Francophone Studies hosts regular events throughout the academic year. Dickinson students, faculty, and international exchange students gather weekly at the French Table to share a meal and informal discussion in French at all levels of proficiency. The Department also sponsors yearly a film festival thanks to the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. Moreover, students can practice their French by living in the Romance Language House where French exchange students from the University of Toulouse lead various activities ranging from game nights to French meals and bad movie nights! In consultation with the FFS department, the French Club sponsors films, field trips, lectures, dinners, picnics, and special events with Alumni.
More details can be found on the FFS FaceBook Page.
Courses
The following courses are offered in Toulouse; the prerequisite is FREN 236 for all courses, except FREN 220:
220 Language and Civilization Immersion
An intensive language and civilization course designed to increase oral proficiency, improve written expression, and develop cross-cultural observation skills through immersion in the Toulouse region. Social and cultural phenomena will be studied through interaction with French families, directed observation at a variety of sites, participation in class activities, and tutorials. The exclusive use of French during the five and one-half week immersion is expected of all students. Designed as content-based and writing intensive, the course emphasizes the teaching of language through a unified subject matter. This approach allows students to benefit from maximum exposure to the French language while they build their content knowledge of the French-speaking world through the study of a specific topic. Students will develop a study-abroad portfolio.
Prerequisite: 201 or its equivalent. Offered only in summer at the Dickinson Study Center in Toulouse. This course meets the equivalent of FREN 230 (on-campus gateway to the major) and can count towards the major or minor in French.
Attributes: Writing in the Discipline
255 French Literature & Society
A historically differentiated interpretation of French culture through examination of French literature from the Middle Ages to the present in conjunction with study of political, economic, and social structures of each period. Intellectual and artistic currents that inform and are informed by these structures. Introduction of new critical perspectives such as psychoanalytical and structuralist literary theory.
Offered only at the Dickinson Study Center in Toulouse.
Attributes: Humanities
256 French Literature & Society II
A historically differentiated interpretation of French culture through examination of French literature from the Middle Ages to the present in conjunction with study of political, economic, and social structures of each period. Intellectual and artistic currents that inform and are informed by these structures. Introduction of new critical perspectives such as psychoanalytical and structuralist literary theory.
Offered only at the Dickinson Study Center in Toulouse.
Attributes: Humanities
260 Writing Workshop
Offers a reinforcement of French written skills through practice in lexical expansion, idiomatic expression, and syntactical patterns. Students are given the tools necessary (vocabulary, syntax, grammar) to free and enrich their writing styles, primarily through creative writing. Exposition to various literary forms taken from French art and culture (literature, painting, music, theater, cinema) is an additional component.
One credit. Mandatory course offered each semester at the Dickinson Study Center in Toulouse.
273 Topics in Applied French
Continued study of the French language designed to take advantage of issues of current interest in French society or culture (e.g., electoral seasons, important historical commemorations, current social or cultural controversies). Ample opportunity for written work and discussion of the topic chosen.
One-half course credit. Offered only at the Dickinson Study Center in Toulouse.
300 Engaging Toulouse
This compulsory course provides a structured framework for students to interact, analyze and increase understanding about their host city, Toulouse— its history, institutions and communities, as well as its relation to the rest of France, including the nation’s capital. Place-based, high-impact learning experiences include urban walking tours, contemporary art exhibits, a two-day journey around the larger Occitane region and a four-day Paris excursion. Coursework is based on guided written and oral exercises in cultural reflection that employ immersive language learning strategies. Students engage locally by performing service-learning work in a project that uses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) as an outline for equitable reciprocal exchange. This enables them to learn with and from the community while connecting concrete local experiences to broader global issues.
One course credit. Offered every semester at the Dickinson Study Center in Toulouse.
Attributes: Service Learning, Sustainability Connections
320 Topics in Intercultural Communication
Contemporary French society examined through theoretical reading and discussion as well as directed experiential observation. Explicit reference to French and American perceptions of cultural concepts so as to provide ideas, insights, and methods by which to understand and analyze the two societies. Readings, reports, discussions, field projects, and use of local resources comprise the work of the course.
Offered only at the Dickinson Study Center in Toulouse.
French Courses
101 Elementary French
Complete first-year course. Intensive study of the fundamentals of French grammar, with special attention given to pronunciation and oral expression. Cultural readings in the context of language acquisition.
Attributes: Appropriate for First-Year
102 Elementary French
Complete first-year course. Intensive study of the fundamentals of French grammar, with special attention given to pronunciation and oral expression. Cultural readings in the context of language acquisition.
Prerequisite: 101 or the equivalent.
Attributes: Appropriate for First-Year
201 Intermediate French
Intensive second-year study of French, with attention to grammar review, conversation, reading in a cultural context and some writing.
Prerequisite: 102 or the equivalent. This course fulfills the language graduation requirement.
Attributes: Appropriate for First-Year
202 Living in the Francophone World
This course explores the contemporary Francophone world using regional case studies. Students will learn about life in diverse francophone locations through the study of language, culture, geography, history, art and politics. The regions under study reflect faculty strengths and experience as well as Dickinson’s global partners (Toulouse, Rabat, Yaoundé). Students will continue to develop all five communicative competencies (speaking, reading, writing, listening, and intercultural). Assignments and activities harness current technology including social media and audiovisual tools to learn about the lived experiences of francophones across the globe. Experiential learning components will introduce students to local and global francophone communities and study away opportunities. This is the gateway course to the major and minor in French and Francophone Studies. Students who complete FREN 202 or equivalent are eligible to study in Toulouse, France.
Prerquisite: FREN 201 or equivalent.
Attributes: Appropriate for First-Year
225 Topics in French & Francophone Studies
Investigation of a topic in the field of French and Francophone studies at the intermediate level. Students will continue to advance their written and oral communication skills while honing their intercultural and analytical skills through the examination of a range of material (texts, films, images, etc.).
Prerequisite: FREN 201 or equivalent.
231 French and Francophone Cultural Histories
This course explores the main historical eras and cultural movements that have shaped France and Francophone cultural identities, tracing the origins of the Francophone world, and decentering the traditional narrative of French imperial history. From the Medieval era to the collapse of the French Empire in early 20th century, the course explores the formation of the French nation while examining the rise and justification of colonial and racial ideas in mainland France that led to the creation of the French Empire and the making of the Francophone world. The course consolidates and builds competencies in listening, speaking, reading, and writing to prepare students for an immersive experience in a French-speaking environment. As a Writing-in-the-Discipline course, this class will focus on genres of writing specific to francophone academic practices. This is a required course for the major and minor in French and Francophone Studies.
Prerequisite: FREN 202 or equivalent.
Attributes: Appropriate for First-Year, Humanities, Writing in the Discipline
232 Professional French
This course prepares students for professional work in a Francophone context. Students will learn about the job search and application process as well as cultural norms and practices in Francophone workplaces. Emphasis is placed on developing professional communication and intercultural skills specific to professional contexts. As a WID class, this course develops students’ written expression with a focus on professional genres such as CVs and cover letters, publicity, memoranda, and business proposals. It further advances students’ linguistic and intercultural proficiency by teaching them how to use specialized vocabulary and appropriate registers to conduct business in French and Francophone working environments. Students will learn about different types of organizations from various sectors of the economy, preparing them for work in a range of fields. This course also contains experiential learning components that develop oral communication including interaction with francophone companies and institutions and mock job interviews.
Prerequisite: FREN 202 or equivalent.
Attributes: Appropriate for First-Year, Health Studies Elective, Writing in the Discipline
301 Food, France, and Cultural Identity
This course examines the past, present and future of French food culture while attending to a multitude of intersections, including gender, race, class, and sustainability. This course investigates France's epicurean traditions and agricultural systems to understand the complex relationships among gastronomic practices, food and farming industries, and French identity. An inquiry of this type must consider numerous questions relating to the sustainability and/or development of traditions, values, systems, and resources. Moreover, students will be asked to reflect on their own culinary customs as well as the agro-business systems of their native countries and the globalized world. Through intercultural analysis, students will learn about how a region's food habits and ideologies relate to and affect the environmental, socio- economic, and health concerns of its inhabitants.
Prerequisite: FREN 231 or 232
302 Issues in Contemporary French Society
This course is designed to give students an understanding of the main tensions and controversies of contemporary French culture. Focusing on political, social, and economic topics such as Americanization, regionalism, immigration, France's place in the European Union, the course facilitates acculturation in France or provides an academic substitute for that experience.
Prerequisite: FREN 231 or FREN 232.
Attributes: Sustainability Connections
303 Topics in Francophone Cultures
This course explores the relationship between literature and Francophone cultures (Vietnam, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa). Topics include: "Négritude," the negro-African identity, "cultural métissage," the status of women, the dialogue between tradition and modernity, independence, and post-colonial disillusionment. Historical overview of the international context of Francophonie will be examined through short stories, novels, poems, critical essays, feature and documentary films.
Prerequisite: 231 or 232.
Attributes: AFST - Africa Course, Global Diversity, Humanities, INST Africa Course
304 Francophone African and Caribbean Cultures
This course examines cultures, literatures and films of some French-speaking countries and regions, notably the French Caribbean and Francophone sub-Saharan Africa. Since dominant intellectual and cultural traditions in the US derive primarily from Europe and post-colonial North America, commonly referred to as “Western traditions,” this global diversity course subsequently aims to encourage students to examine societies and cultures that have been shaped predominantly by other historical traditions to think critically about dominant Western traditions, so to engage the world more effectively. Students will learn to place each work into its cultural and historical context, and develop intelligent and informed understanding of concepts such as Negritude, Colonialism, Imperialism, Nationalism, Postcolonialism, etc. Students will watch films and read a series of original texts by French-speaking authors outside France. Emphasis will be on the initiation to analysis and close reading of texts and films during class discussions and at the end of which students will write an organized reflecting essay.
Prerequisite: FREN 231 or FREN 232.
Attributes: AFST - Africa Course, Global Diversity, Humanities, INST Africa Course
305 Middle Eastern Francophone Cinema
This class provides a general overview of Francophonie in the Maghreb (North Africa) and the Mashreq (Levant). It focuses on the relationship between previously colonized Arab countries like Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon and their former colonizer France. It examines literary and film productions from these countries and aims to show the way by which French and Arabs are represented in these narratives. It also seeks to study the human rights issues raised during the colonial and postcolonial areas, such as women rights, legal and illegal migration, war, resistance to oppression and terrorism, cultural and religious identities.
Prerequisite: FREN 231 or 232
Attributes: AFST - Africa Course, Global Diversity, Humanities, INST Africa Course
306 French Identity
This course examines the representation of French identity from its origins in the Ancien Régime to its present forms. Examples are drawn from history and human geography, politics, economics, aesthetics, religion, and philosophy. Depending on the instructor, these may include, for example, the representation of the State, the tension between Paris and the provinces, the semiotics of social rituals, and other subjects of cultural study.
Prerequisite: 231 or 231.
307 French Ecological Literature/Histoires françaises de l’écologie
This course will explore the history and literature of ecological thought in France, through the assumption that the human relationship to environment and the crises that arise from it are not new phenomena and not simply the result of present-day climate change. Rather, these stories have shaped and have been shaped by French culture through the centuries, from the early-modern period to the current era. Instead of approaching the course material chronologically, the class will group novels, short stories, graphic novels, films, and documentaries by theme, putting similar mentalities and imaginaries of nature from different historical periods into dialogue. Themes will be based on natural and human-made places: forest, sea, desert, islands, cities, gardens, colonies, post-apocalyptic landscapes/dystopias, utopias. Through readings and creative, thought-provoking assignments, students will reflect on the importance of fiction and literature in understanding and interacting with nature and in imagining futures in the face of real climate change concerns.
Prerequisites: French 231 or French 232.
Attributes: Humanities
363 Topics in French and Francophone Cultures
In-depth analysis and discussion of selected aspects of French and Francophone cultures not normally covered in other advanced offerings. Recent topics have included Cinema and Society, Introduction to Sociolinguistics, The French Press, Post-War France, Global Sororities.
Prerequisites: one course from FREN 301-307 . Priority given to senior majors in French.
364 Topics in French and Francophone Literatures
In-depth analysis and discussion of selected areas of French and Francophone literature not normally covered in other advanced offerings. Recent topics have included Literature of Immigration, Love Letters; Hate Mail, French Theater & Society.
Prerequisite: one course from FREN 301-307. Priority given to senior majors in French.
Attributes: Humanities
401 Research Seminar in French and Francophone Studies
The capstone class for French and Francophone studies majors, this course builds on previous coursework to hone students’ research, writing and reading skills. In the first two-thirds of the class, students will study a topic or theme selected by the professor and examine scholarly publications and research methods related to the topic. The last third of the class will be dedicated to researching a well-developed thesis related to the course topic and completing a substantial research project. This research project allows students to explore an aspect of the course that particularly interests them. Students will complete shorter research and writing assignments in the first nine weeks of the class that will act as stages to prepare them for the final paper or project. Students will present their research to faculty and students in the Department of French and Francophone Studies at the end of the semester.
Prerequisite: FREN 363 or FREN 364