This course teaches listening and speaking skills in French through active participation by the students in communicative situations. By the end of the course, the students are able to comprehend and communicate orally in a culturally acceptable manner, using basic language structures and common vocabulary related to everyday topics and communication needs.

This course teaches listening, speaking, reading, and some writing skills in French through active participation by the students in a wide variety of communicative contexts. By the end of the course, the students are able to comprehend, communicate orally, read intelligently and write simply in French, using basic language structures. They also will be able to employ constructively a broad range of vocabulary related to the themes studied and to survival communication and cultural needs.

This course teaches listening, speaking, reading comprehension, and basic writing skills in sequential development following 101/102, using a variety of original texts in French and exposing students to native French speakers and cultural events.

Expanding on French 201, this course provides original texts, film media, music, and cross-cultural experiences. Students speak and read, using all verb tenses and a broad range of structures and vocabulary. They create original compositions at their level, geared to their interests.

This course continues the linguistic and cultural experiences of 201/202. Grammar and phonetics are studied in relation to the language skills the students have acquired. Cultural inquiry and current foreign events are emphasized. Original compositions are linked to course goals as well as student interests. Majors and minors are required to pass a target language proficiency exam during the term in which they take 301.

An opportunity for extended use of the target language to improve oral fluency and proficiency. A wide range of communicative opportunities will encourage active exploration of the target culture. (The course can be repeated for up to a total of 4 credits.) S or U.

Students will learn about social, political, and economic issues affecting the French-speaking world using a variety of media and texts. Issues will be contextualized in the contemporary world, and examination of their historical background will further students' understanding of these issues in their cultural context.

Students will study major currents of cultural and intellectual life in French-speaking regions. Topics will range from high culture to daily life. Students will examine the historical background of cultural manifestations. A variety of media including printed texts will guide students' understanding of both past and present cultural life.

Students will learn to read and discuss in French a range of French texts. They will be exposed to the French literary tradition and learn to interpret textual intentions and assumptions.

A capstone experience in which the students will study the theoretical foundations of French studies (cultural as well as literary). They will be introduced to the problems of translation. A major component of the course will be the preparation of an independent research paper, the Senior Thesis, which will culminate in a formal oral presentation of the results of the investigation as well as in a major paper written in French.

Students stage a play in French.

Students also read and discuss related texts; these include such topics as other plays that contextualize the play being performed or texts expanding on cultural or historical issues raised by it. The course fulfills a topics course requirement of the major.

Intensive study of specific topics relating to French literature and culture. Topics in French may focus on a wide range of subjects. Some examples from recent years are:

• French women writers, a course that examined writing by women in France from the Middle ages to the present, with emphasis on the past 100 years.
• The ancien régime, a course studying the history, art, music, and literature of the 17th and 18th centuries, from Louis XIV the "Sun King" to the French Revolution.
• La Francophonie, a course exploring the current cultures and history of former French colonies in North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal), and the French Caribbean (Martinique) using short stories, a novel, essays, and film.