Professors: Elisabeth Cardonne-Arlyckb,
Cynthia B. Kerrb, Christine Reno (Chair);
Associate Professors: Mark Andrewsab,
Patricia-Pia Célérier; Assistant
Professors: Dalila Hannouche, Kathleen Hart; Visiting
Assistant Professor: Susan Hiner.
All courses are conducted in French.
Requirements for Concentration: 11 units including
at least 3 units at the 300-level. No courses in French
elected after the declaration of the major may be taken
NRO.
Senior Year Requirements: 3 units of French at the
300-level.
Teaching Certification: Students who wish to
obtain Secondary Certification must complete the program of
study outlined by the education department.
Advisers: The department.
Study Abroad: Vassar College and Wesleyan
University sponsor jointly a program of study in Paris.
Majors in French are expected to participate in this program
for one or two semesters during their junior year. Students
electing a correlate sequence in French are also encouraged
to participate in the program. Students concentrating in
other fields for whom study in Paris is advisable are
accepted, within the regulations of their respective
departments and the Office of the Dean of Studies. Courses
offered in the Paris program are included below. Students of
French who are unable to study abroad during the academic
year are strongly encouraged to attend the summer program at
Middlebury College French School, or other summer programs
in France or French-speaking countries.
Correlate Sequence in French: Students majoring in
other programs may complement their study by electing a
correlate sequence in French. Course selection should be
made in consultation with the chair or other advisers in the
department.
Requirements: 6 units, at least 5 of which must be
taken above the 100-level. At least 1 but preferably 2 units
must be taken at the 300-level. No French courses elected
after declaration of the correlate sequence may be taken
NRO.
Study Away and summer courses may be substituted in the
correlate sequence, with departmental approval. A majority
of units in the correlate sequence must be taken at
Vassar.
I. Introductory
105a-106b. Elementary French (1)
Fundamentals of the language. Students learn to
understand spoken French, to express simple ideas both
orally and in writing, and to read French of average
difficulty. The department.
Not open to students who have previously studied
French.
Three 50-minute class periods, 2 hours of drill and oral
practice.
II. Intermediate
205a or b. Intermediate French I (1)
Fast-paced review of the main points of basic grammar.
Includes practice in speaking, listening, reading, and
writing, through written exercises, short texts and
compositions, and work with the audiovisual resources of the
language laboratory. The department.
Prerequisite: French 105-106 or two years of French in
high school.
Three 50-minute or two 75-minute periods; one hour of
scheduled oral practice.
206a or b. Intermediate French II (1)
Expanded grammar study with an emphasis on more complex
linguistic structures such as relative pronouns and the
subjunctive. Reading, writing, and speaking skills are
developed through discussion of cultural and literary texts
and use of audiovisual material. This course prepares
students linguistically for cultural and literary study at
the intermediate level. The department.
Prerequisite: French 205 or three years of French in high
school. French 105-106 by permission of instructor.
Three 50-minute or two 75-minute periods; one hour of
scheduled oral practice.
212a or b. Reading French Literature and Film
(1)
Introduction to the analysis of literature and film and
to basic modes of interpretation through the study and
discussion of short texts (poems, short stories, films,
plays, essays). The department.
Prerequisite: French 206 or four years of French in high
school.
213a or b. France Through Her Media (1)
An introductory study of France through current
newspapers, magazines, television programs, films and the
web. A strong emphasis is placed on the expansion of
vocabulary and on oral and written expression. Some grammar
review. The department.
Prerequisite: French 206 or four years of French in high
school.
[228a. Tellers and Tales] (1)
Study of short stories taken from several periods of
French literature. Introduction to the study of narrative
forms and critical writing. Mr. Andrews.
Prerequisite: two years of college French or four years
of French in high school.
Not offered in 2000/01.
[230b. Medieval and Early Modern Times]
(1)
A study of aristocratic and popular literature and
culture, from medieval legends and Renaissance love poetry
to the splendors and decadence of Versailles, the comic
world of Moliere, and the tragic allegories of Racine.
Prerequisite: two years of college French or four years
of French in high school.
Not offered in 2000/01.
231a. Revolutionary France and Its Legacies
(1)
Studies in French literature, history, and culture in
relation to the French Revolution during the Enlightenment
and the Romantic period.
Prerequisite: two years of college French or four years
of French in high school.
The course explores literary, artistic, social, or
political manifestations of modern French society and its
relation to the French-speaking world from the Napoleonic
Empire to the present.
Topic for 2000/01: The Romantic Imagination. A
study of poetry, theater, and short prose works
representative of the "romantic imagination." Topics include
melancholy or the "mal du siècle," exile, the
fantastic, passion, incest, the cult of the individual,
utopian socialism, romantic feminism and literary reactions
against romanticism. Authors such as Balzac, Constant,
Chateaubriand, Dumas, Hugo, Rostand. Ms. Hart.
Prerequisite: two years of college French or four years
of French in high school.
235b. Contemporary France (1)
A study of French society and culture from WWII to the
present. Starting with the 1939 German occupation and its
enduring marks on the French, the course draws on a variety
of texts (historical documents, novels and short stories,
special issues of selected French magazines and journals,
movies and documentaries) to examine the impact on society
and culture of the major historical events that have shaped
France. Attention is given to Metropolitan France, its
colonies and its Départements d'Outre-Mer
(Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guiana, and Reunion). Ms.
Hannouche.
Prerequisite: two years of college French or four years
of French in high school.
240a. Study of French Grammar (1)
In-depth study of major aspects of French grammar.
Grammar exercises, compositions, and oral practice. Ms.
Cardone-Arlyck.
Prerequisite: another 200-level course above French 206
or equivalent.
241b. Composition and Conversation (1)
A course designed to improve written and oral expression,
through the study and practice of various forms of writing,
and the discussion of readings on contemporary issues.
Prerequisite: another 200-level course above French 206
or equivalent.
242a. Studies in Genre I (1)
Study of narrative and prose forms including the novel,
autobiography, and the essay.
Prerequisite: another 200-level course above French 206
or equivalent.
Topic for 2000/01: Young Contemporary French
Writers. A study of contemporary French novels and short
stories addressing social change and emerging cultural
trends seen through the lives of ordinary French people.
Thematic concerns include life and death in the age of AIDS;
new gender roles and relations; the unemployment generation;
love , crime and survival; identity crises; urban mazes and
underworlds.
Among the writers to be studies are Marie Darrieussec,
Yves Simon, Emmanuele Bernheim, Herve Guibert, and Marie
Desplechin.
[243a. Studies in Genre II] (1)
Study of dramatic and lyric forms including theater,
poetry, and song.
Prerequisite: another 200-level course above French 206
or equivalent.
Not offered in 2000/01.
[244a. Studies in French Film](1)
The course focuses on the evolution of narrative forms in
French film, from the silent era to the present. Ms.
Cardonne-Arlyck.
Prerequisite: another 200-level course above French 206
or by permission.
246a. French-Speaking Cultures and Literatures of
Africa and the (1)
Caribbean
Topic for 2000/01: Between Two Continents:
Contemporary African and Caribbean Writers. In this
course, we study the current literary production of
Francophone writers of African origin who live or have lived
in France. We come to an understanding of how their
narrative worlds conjure up an artistic and cultural duality
that translates into a complex understanding of our times.
We read works by Jean-Luc Raharimanana (Madagascar),
Gisèle Pineau (Guadeloupe), Mongo Béti
(Cameroon), Fatou Keïta (Ivory Coast), and Daniel
Biyaoula (Congo-Brazzaville). Ms.
Célérier.
Prerequisite: another 200-level course above French 206
or equivalent.
[247a. Constructions of Identity] (1)
Focusing on events, institutions, or movements, on
expressions of "high" or "low" culture, on important
figures, or on issues of class, gender, race, or religious
differences, this course explores the changing conceptions
of what constitutes identity in France or the
French-speaking world.
Prerequisite: another 200-level course above French 206
or equivalent.
Not offered 2000/01.
280a. Multiculturalism in France (1)
Beginning with the history of immigration in France, the
course examines the political, social and cultural changes
that ethnicity is bringing about in today's France. The
course focuses on the creation of new ethnic groups and
considers the current arguments based on alternative
concepts of cultural and national identity, as well as the
conflicts generated by issues related to minority cultures.
Major topics include the impact of Islam in France, the
affirmation of cultural difference, citizenship, racism and
antiracism, and the renewed debates on integration and
multiculturalism.
298a or b. Independent Work (1/2
or 1)
Prerequisite for all advanced courses: 1 unit of
200-level work above French 236, or Study Abroad in France
or in a French-speaking country, or by permission.
Open only to majors. The department.
Permission required.
301a or b. Senior Translation
(1/2 or 1)
Open only to majors. One unit of credit given in
exceptional cases only and by permission of the Chair. The
department.
332a. Literature and Society in Pre-Revolutionary
France (1)
Topic for 2000/01: France on Trial. Courtroom
battles and celebrated "affaires" that shaped French
consciousness from Joan of Arc to Marie-Antoinette. The
seminar examines major turning points in the development of
French politics and culture through close analysis of
certain showcase trials and scandals leading up to the fall
of the Ancien Régime. Historical figures studied
include Saint Joan, Fouquet, Voltaire, Louis XVI and
Marie-Antoinette. Ms. Kerr.
[348a. Modernism and Its Discontent]
(1)
355a. Cross-Currents in French Culture (1)
Topic for 2000/01: Early French Feminism in Fact and
Fiction. The French Revolution of 1789 instituted the
Universal Rights of Man. But when Olympe de Gouges proposed
a "Declaration of the Rights of Woman," she was guillotined.
The severe repression of women in subsequent years
paradoxically helped to awaken feminist consciousness. In
this course we examine various works of literaturenovels, a
play, a travel narrative, and polemical essaysagainst the
backdrop of the emergence and evolution of French feminism
from the late-eighteenth to the late-nineteenth century.
Historical readings and literary texts authored by Laclos,
Sand, Tristan, Zola. Ms. Hart.
[366a. Francophone Literature and Cultures]
(1)
370a. Stylistics and Translation (1)
A study of different modes of writing and of the major
problems encountered when translating from English to
French, and vice versa. Practice with a broad range of both
literary and nonliterary texts. Ms.
Célérier.
380b. Special Seminar (1)
Topic for 2000/01: French Identity and European
Integration
This course reviews France's role in postwar European
construction. It focuses on France's national identity
crisis, and examines a spectrum of French views towards
European integration since 1950. Central concerns are the
challenges to France's status as a nation-state, the loss of
sovereignty and the weakening of the Jacobin tradition,
debates over the "French exception," the adoption of a
European single currency, the implications of the newly
implemented European citizenship, and the European Union's
restructuring of democracy for the 21st century.
399a or b. Senior Independent Work
(1/2 or 1)
One unit of credit given only in exceptional cases and by
permission of the Chair. The department.
Vassar-Wesleyan Program in Paris
Courses are subject to change. For information, please
consult the French department.
250a. "Poète maudit": Birth and Death of the
Myth (1)
How did the poet, a key figure at the Renaissance court,
come to be considered by the end of the nineteenth century
as a rebel, a literary outlaw? How does the modern poet
define himself in this century and beyond under the shadow
of this stereotype? After highlighting various milestones of
poetry's liberation from the constraints of literary
patronage (D'Aubigné's engaged epics, La Fontaine's
contradictory verse, Hugo's Romanticism) the course focuses
on the major "poètes maudits" of the post-Romantic
period: Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine and
Lautréamont. Ms. Garcia.
251a. Love and Tragedy in French Theater (1)
This course first studies the nature of
seventeenth-century tragedy as transformed by Corneille and
Racine, who grafted a love story onto the core of myth. We
then move to the twentieth century's reshaping of the notion
of the tragic through the influence of various philosophical
currents. Questions of style (baroque and classical) and
philosophy (existentialism and the absurd) are foregrounded,
with emphasis both on the continuity of tragic literature
and on formal variations from the seventeenth century to the
present. Plays are chosen in light of the Paris theatrical
season, so as to allow the analysis of a number of live
performances. Mr. Clément.
[252a. Special Topics] (1)
This course is taught by the resident director. Topics
vary each year.
Not offered in 2000/01.
253a. Contemporary French History (1)
This course focuses on French political history since
1958 and salient features of France's political
institutions: strengths and weaknesses of the 1958
Constitution; the shared leadership of president and prime
minister; the evolving role of the Assemblée
Nationale and the constitutional and state councils. We
analyze the strategies of the various political parties and
the two recent major transformations in civil society: the
urban crisis and the increasing visibility of women and
minority groups (youths and immigrants) in the political
arena. Franco-American relations and France's emerging role
in the European Community are examined in depth. Ms.
Sanson.
255b. France and the European Union (1)
This course examines the place of France in the European
Union. It looks at the problems arising from economic
restructuring, involving the lifting of trade barriers and
the adoption of a common European currency. Finally, it
analyzes the consequences of such changes for French
national identity: shifts in educational policy, social and
political disparities, the exacerbation of historical
animosities. Ms. Balleix-Banerjee.
256b. Enlightenment Literature (1)
An introduction to the nature and spirit of the French
Enlightenment through some of the major literary and
philosophical works of the period. The course involves a
historical presentation of the eighteenth century as well as
a study of great individual works to which we still refer
today in our thinking about art, science, politics, and
love: Montesquieu's Lettres persanes; Rousseau's
Discours; Diderot's Rêve de d'Alembert
and Pardoxe sur le Comédien; Voltaire's
polemical writings. Mr. Chartier.
258b. Revolution and Totalitarianism in Europe;
Fascist Italy, (1)
National Socialist Germany, Soviet Russia
(1917-1939)
The totalitarian regimes of the 1930s in Europe resulted
from the political, economic and social consequences of
World War I. These authoritarian governments embody
totalitarian ideologies which molded twentieth-century man.
While Mussolini's fascist state, Hitler's Third Reich and
Stalin's Soviet Union present important differences, all
have in common interference through coercion at every
leveleducation, culture, religion. This courses studies all
aspects of these anti-democratic dictatorships. Mr.
Ostenc.
259b. Social Classes and Political Parties in
Contemporary France (1)
An in-depth study of France's ideological and political
traditions and its economic, political and social
structures. By tracing the historical development of these
traditions since the Revolution and by comparing the French
system with that of other European nations and the U.S., we
come to understand the specificity of what many call
"l'exception française" as well as the complexity of
several major problems facing French institutions and
society as France moves toward integration in the European
Community. Ms. Berger.
260b. Studies in French Cinema. (1)
261a. Paris Through its Monuments (1)
This course offers a panorama of the history of Paris art
and architecture. Students visit monuments and sections of
the city chosen to illustrate particular periods of its
development. Oral reports, slide viewing, written work and
readings on the periods under study are required of course
participants. Ms. Pêcheur.
This course is taught by the resident director. Topics
vary each year. Topic for 2000/01: The Nineteenth-Century
French Novel. In this course we follow the
transformation of a genre, from the effusive Romantic novel
to the sometimes brutal chronicles created by proponents of
the Realist and Naturalist movements. At issue in this class
is how stylistic concerns echo (or contradict?) evolving
attitudes regarding the complexities and inequities of
French nineteenth-century society. Works in this class
include Chateaubriand's Atala, Stendhal's Le Rouge
et le noir , Hugo's Quatre-vingt-treize, Sand's
Indiana, Flaubert's Education sentimentale,
Zola's Germinal, and Balzac's Illusions
perdues. Mr. Curran.
An introduction to Romanesque and Gothic architecture and
medieval painting and sculpture. Guided visits to
Saint-German-des-Prés, the Musée de Cluny,
Notre-Dame, the basilica of Saint-Denis, the Conciergerie,
the Sainte-Chapelle, the Louvre, Saint-Séverin,
Saint-Etienne-du-Mont and the Sainte-Geneviève area
complement scholarly readings on French medieval art and
study of notable medieval monuments outside of Paris. Ms
Pêcheur.
265a,b. Franco-African Relations (1)
Beginning with a survey of precolonial kingdoms in Africa
and the implantation of Islam, the course proceeds to an
analysis of European intervention and of the structure of
European colonial administration. Various phases of the
African independence movement are highlighted: the formation
of an African elite, the spread of African nationalisms,
Panafricanism, and "Négritude." Finally, we examine
French policies in the post-colonial period and the U.S.'s
emerging role in African affairs. Mr. Amégan.
267a, 268b. History of Art (1)
This course focuses, each semester, on a different period
in the history of French art, with special emphasis on the
works of one or several of the major artists of the period,
or of one school of art. Class visits to the Louvre, the
Musée d'Orsay, the Orangerie, the Picasso Museum, or
other museums containing works by artists under study are an
integral part of the course.
Topic for Fall 2000: Modernism: Approaches to
Twentieth-Century Art. This course presents the wide
array and the profusion of styles, forms, practices and
agendas found in art of the twentieth century. Questions of
tradition and modernity are explored in depth. Visits to
permanent art collections and galleries allow students to
observe and analyze contemporary art work, its presentation,
the transformation of space, and new techniques and
experiments. Ms. Kraguly.
Topic for Spring 2001: From Object to Work of Art.
Our twentieth-century world has become increasingly
object-centered, and the proliferation of objects has led to
corresponding economic and cultural changes. Many modern
artists attempt to break down barriers between life and art
and take a dynamic stance vis-à-vis objects, which
they lift from their everyday framework in a dynamic of
alineation. The course examines several key artistic
movements notable for their innovations with objects:
Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, New Realism as well as recent
works by Manzoni, Broodthaers, Beuys, Raynaud, Lavel, and
Oldenburg. Visits to Beaubourg, the Louvre, the Musée
Picasso, the Grand Palais, the Jeu de Paume, and the
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris form an
essential part of the program. Ms. Kraguly.
269a. From Notre Dame to IRCAM: A Survey of Musical
Culture (1)
in France (1300-2000)
This course attempts to identify the contributions of
French composers to the history of Western music by placing
their achievements in the context of other disciplines
(literature and the applied arts), and in comparison with
other cultures. It follows French music from chant and early
polyphony in the thirteenth century through the birth and
development of French opera and revolutionary songs, and
explores the relationship between music and symbolist
poetry, and French drama and music in the twentieth century.
Lectures are accompanied by audio and visual aids and field
trips to conservatories, libraries, opera houses, salons and
concert halls. Mr. Memed.
272a or b. Writing Workshop
(1/2)
This half-credit course is required of all students.
Those attending the Vassar-Wesleyan Program for the full
year take the workshop during the first semester only. The
course prepares students to write papers for their classes.
It covers common problems encountered in writing French and
introduces students to the organization and style of written
assignments in France. Students meet individually with a
tutor once a week for an additional half-hour.
273a, 274b. Special Topics: University of Paris
(1)
Students in the Paris Program have the opportunity to
enroll in French university courses under the supervision of
the resident director and receive Vassar credit.
Internship in a French governmental, civic or volunteer
organization through cooperation with the Internships in
Francophone Europe program. Special application procedure.
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