Introduction to basic skills: comprehension, speaking, reading and writing. Regular assignments for laboratory work.
Introduction to basic skills: comprehension, speaking, reading and writing. Regular assignments for laboratory work.
A semester-long study of topics in French. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar's webpage for descriptions and applicability to graduation requirements.
This course will allow students to practice conversational French with confidence in an informal and relaxed setting, leading to a stimulating exchange of opinions. They will engage with French popular culture in the form of films, news items, songs, plays, etc. Conducted in French. May be repeated for up to one credit.
Development of basic skills, classroom and laboratory. Carefully selected readings in the students special fields of interest.
Development of basic skills, classroom and laboratory. Carefully selected readings in the students special fields of interest.
This course presents a survey of French history and culture, from the Renaissance to the 20th Century, as the history and culture are represented in a major French art form, the cinema. Topics studied include: religion and marriage in the Renaissance, court life under the ancient regime, the French Revolution, Napoleons Empire, colonialism, World War I, World War II, the Algerian War, and the student revolution of 1968. Conducted in English.
This course focuses on pressing political, socio-cultural, economic and historical issues raised by French, Francophone, and African filmmakers. It examines the relationship between cinema and other forms of creative practice and expression in particular, history, literature, and the visual arts. It also explores the significance and use of cinema in juxtaposition with cultural and social development. Conducted in English. May be repeated for credit.
Screening.
This course surveys the literature and films produced by African men and women describing, examining, or challenging power structures and dominant discourses that characterize gender roles and representation. The questions the course will seek to address are among others: How do African feminisms deal with issues of female subjecthood and agency in local contexts where culture, politics, social institutions and language are established within dominant male narratives? How to begin to understand gender dynamics and sexuality in particular African works? How do African feminist discourses negotiate the constraints and structures of feminist internationalism while maintaining a specific African inflection? Taught in English.
A semester-long study of topics in French. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar's webpage for descriptions and applicability to graduation requirements.
Oral and written compositions based upon readings of texts emphasizing French and Francophone cultures and literary vocabulary needed in more advanced letters courses. Exercises in Syntax and introductory phonetics. Conducted in French.
Examines conceptions of culture and civilization and notions of Empire in France from the Renaissance to the Exposition Coloniale of 1931, with an emphasis on the historical development and ideological foundations of French colonialism and its manifestations. Authors and texts include: Montaigne; the Code noir; the Encyclopédie; the Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen; Rousseau; Voltaire; Dederot; Chateaubriand; Tocqueville; Claire de Duras; Renan; Gobineau; Gauguin; Drumont; Sartre. Conducted in English.
An introduction to the cultures, literatures and histories of the erstwhile French colonies through a study of representative texts by Francophone authors including Léopold Sédar, Aimé Césaire, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Ferdinand Oyono, Assia Djebar, Maryse Condé, Fatou Diome, Azouz Begag among others. Conducted in English.
Introduction to the study of French literature through reading typical works in the various genres. The course will acquaint the student with the basic vocabulary and tools of literary criticism. Conducted in French.
This course explores how contemporary written literature in Africa continues to derive a great deal of its vitality from older traditions of verbal art. Initially the course will examine sample texts from the oral tradition. It will next focus on representative texts by major African writers whose works have made use of said oral tradition as well as examine their social and political contexts. The principal concern of the course will be the analysis of the aesthetic implications of the transposition of oral techniques and structural features into the medium of the written/printed word. Conducted in English.
A semester-long study of topics in French. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar's webpage for descriptions and applicability to graduation requirements.
A semester-long study of topics in French. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar's webpage for descriptions and applicability to graduation requirements.
Focusing on key texts from the 16th to the 18th century, this course proposes to examine the various philosophical tendencies that have marked French cultural, social, and political thought through the ages, and which continue to have an impact on modern thinking. Selected themes such as education, reason, progress, enlightenment, as well as their intellectual and aesthetic ramifications will be analyzed. Conducted in English and French.
Examination of the characteristics of language and its variations. The course introduces language within its social context and examines topics such as language definition, dialects and dialectal variations, language and social class, mother tongue, language and identity, language spread, language shift, and language loss. Conducted in English.
An examination of one major topic in French literature, with an emphasis on the significance of the specific topic in French literature in general. Topics may be organized around a major author or comparison of authors, an idea, a genre, a literary movement, or a critical approach, such as comparative approaches to humanism: neo-classicalism; literature and nationalism; colonialism; romanticism; negritude; existentialism; post-colonialism; Francophone literature; and lyric voice. This course is taught in seminar format and designed not to be introductory in nature, but rather to explore a particular topic or theme intensively and creatively. Conducted in French. May be repeated for credit.
This seminar course will serve to integrate the lingistic, cultural, historical and literary experiences of seniors in the language. The class will be taught in a true seminar fashion, with a flexible format to allow students to highlight their varying individual backgrounds and interests in French. The course will include a discussion of major works of French literature, the topic set by the professor according to the proposed student projects. Students must present a major research paper at the end of the semester and pass an oral defense. Both research paper and oral defense will be in French. Conducted in French. Prerequisite: This course serves as the Senior Year Experience, so it is limited to seniors or consent of instructor.
Willamette University