2024-2025 Academic Year

Fall 2024

SUST 200 The Start of the Anthropocene?
Cross-listed with ENST 302-01, FREN 364-01 and PHIL 261-01. Taught in English with a French language option. The beginning of the era of radical climate change, termed the 'Anthropocene', is often attributed to changes in culture, philosophy, economy, and technology in eighteenth-century Europe. What did questions of sustainability, climate, environment, and climate change look like in the eighteenth century? How did they impact modern-day assumptions of the natural environment and the human role within it? We will examine these sustainability-themed topics through the lens of the literature, science, and philosophy of Enlightenment France, during which new ways of perceiving and treating natural environments emerged. The Enlightenment movement was both a time of reason and progress as well as prejudice and destruction of both natural and human environments. We will reflect upon which aspects of eighteenth-century natural thought are still relevant and useful to our contemporary understandings of sustainability and which have become harmful to the future of our species and planet.

FREN 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.

PHIL 261 The Start of the Anthropocene?
Cross-listed with FREN 364-01, SUST 200-01 and ENST 302-01. Taught in English with a French language option. The beginning of the era of radical climate change, termed the 'Anthropocene', is often attributed to changes in culture, philosophy, economy, and technology in eighteenth-century Europe. What did questions of sustainability, climate, environment, and climate change look like in the eighteenth century? How did they impact modern-day assumptions of the natural environment and the human role within it? We will examine these sustainability-themed topics through the lens of the literature, science, and philosophy of Enlightenment France, during which new ways of perceiving and treating natural environments emerged. The Enlightenment movement was both a time of reason and progress as well as prejudice and destruction of both natural and human environments. We will reflect upon which aspects of eighteenth-century natural thought are still relevant and useful to our contemporary understandings of sustainability and which have become harmful to the future of our species and planet.

ENST 302 The Start of the Anthropocene?
Cross-listed with FREN 364-01, SUST 200-01 and PHIL 261-01. Taught in English with a French language option. The beginning of the era of radical climate change, termed the 'Anthropocene', is often attributed to changes in culture, philosophy, economy, and technology in eighteenth-century Europe. What did questions of sustainability, climate, environment, and climate change look like in the eighteenth century? How did they impact modern-day assumptions of the natural environment and the human role within it? We will examine these sustainability-themed topics through the lens of the literature, science, and philosophy of Enlightenment France, during which new ways of perceiving and treating natural environments emerged. The Enlightenment movement was both a time of reason and progress as well as prejudice and destruction of both natural and human environments. We will reflect upon which aspects of eighteenth-century natural thought are still relevant and useful to our contemporary understandings of sustainability and which have become harmful to the future of our species and planet.

FREN 364 The Start of the Anthropocene?
Cross-listed with ENST 302-01, PHIL 261-01 and SUST 200-01. Taught in English with a French language option. The beginning of the era of radical climate change, termed the 'Anthropocene', is often attributed to changes in culture, philosophy, economy, and technology in eighteenth-century Europe. What did questions of sustainability, climate, environment, and climate change look like in the eighteenth century? How did they impact modern-day assumptions of the natural environment and the human role within it? We will examine these sustainability-themed topics through the lens of the literature, science, and philosophy of Enlightenment France, during which new ways of perceiving and treating natural environments emerged. The Enlightenment movement was both a time of reason and progress as well as prejudice and destruction of both natural and human environments. We will reflect upon which aspects of eighteenth-century natural thought are still relevant and useful to our contemporary understandings of sustainability and which have become harmful to the future of our species and planet.

Spring 2025

FREN 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.

FREN 202 Living in 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.