Courses

FREN-100/1, First-Level French
Five class periods. This course is designed for those students who have had little or no previous world language experience. The course emphasizes listening comprehension and the use of basic conversational patterns of French speech. Elementary grammatical and idiomatic structures are introduced, as well as appropriate reading material. Assignments are regularly required in the Language Learning Center. (Text: Motifs, Jansma/Kassen)

FREN-110/1, First-Level French
Five class periods. This course is designed for those students who have had previous experience in French, but who are not sufficiently prepared for the second-level course. The course emphasizes listening comprehension and the use of basic conversational patterns of French speech. Elementary grammatical and idiomatic structures are introduced, as well as appropriate reading material. Assignments are regularly required in the Language Learning Center. (Text: Motifs, Jansma/Kassen)

FREN-110/5, First-Level French
Five class periods. This course is a continuation of the First-Level French course for students from both FREN-100 and FREN-110 in preparation for French 200 the following year.

FREN-120/5, Accelerated First-Level French
A two-term commitment. Five class periods. Students will be recommended by the teacher for this accelerated course at the conclusion of the first trimester of FREN-100 or FREN-110. Successful completion of FREN-120 allows students to advance to FREN-220. The FREN-100/110-120-220 sequence covers three years of French in two years.

FREN-200/0, Second-Level French
A yearlong commitment. Five class periods. For students who have completed FREN-110, or for new students who qualify through a placement test. While continuing to develop aural-oral skills, this course involves reading non-technical French prose and writing simple compositions.

FREN-220/0, Accelerated Second-Level French
A yearlong commitment. Five class periods. Upon successful completion of this course, students continue their study in fourth-year courses. Because of the rapid pace, each student's progress will be evaluated closely in November to determine whether it is in his or her best interest to move to FREN-200. The course content consists of a complete grammar review and acquisition of contemporary vocabulary, along with films and varied texts. (Possible texts: Le Petit Nicolas, Sempé and Goscinny; Le Comte de Monte Cristo, Dumas; Une Fois Pour Toutes, Sturges, Nielsen, Herbst; Cinema for French Conversation, Rice)

FREN-300/0, Third-Level French
A yearlong commitment. Four class periods. This yearlong course develops listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through a review of grammar and the study of French films, such as Au Revoir Les Enfants, Les Choristes, and Amélie. Articles from magazines and newspapers, online resources, and occasional literary texts complement this core program. In the fall and spring terms, as a final project, students make a presentation on a topic of their choice. Preparation for this exercise requires considerable writing, while the presentation itself emphasizes speaking. (Text: Une Fois Pour Toutes, Sturges, Nielsen, Herbst; Cinema for French Conversation, Rice)

FREN-400/1, French Civilization
Four class periods. Intended for students who understand, read, and write French well and who already speak at a competent level, but who desire to develop further conversational skills and acquire the vocabulary and idiomatic expression necessary to be able to discuss major cultural and social issues. The course is based on current articles taken directly from the French and Francophone press. The students also read a novel and write a weekly essay. Diction, elocution, and intonation also are stressed through debates and role-playing. (Text: Civilisation progressive du Francaise, CLE; Grammaire progressive du Francaise, niveau avancé, CLE; M. Ibrahim, Schmitt)

FREN-400/2, The Francophone World
Four class periods. Students continue the study of French through a focus on the French-speaking areas outside of France. The course studies the civilizations of North, West and Sub-Saharan Africa and of the Antilles, and includes a study of the geographical, social, and historical aspects of these regions of the world. (Text: Grammaire progressive du Francaise, niveau avance, CLE; Civilisation progressive de la Francophone, CLE)

FREN-400/3, The Francophone Presence in the U.S.A.
Four class periods. A study of the immigration patterns and the cultures of Haitians and Francophone Asians in the United States, with special attention to the Francophone communities in Lawrence and Lowell, Mass. This service-learning course will consist of two classes on campus and one double-period class per week working with the Francophone communities in our neighboring cities. In addition to writing daily in a journal, students will be expected to present a final project documenting a case study or a particular topic of the course. Prerequisite: enrollment in FREN-400 for the winter term.

FREN-420/0, Crossing Cultures
A year-long commitment. This course, conducted entirely in French, includes conversation practice, vocabulary acquisition, grammar exercises, and essay writing in the context of cross-cultural themes in literature and movies. Fall Term - The class studies the complex relationship between France and Algeria in Albert Camus's novel L'Etranger and Gillo Pontecorvo's movie La Bataille d'Alger. Winter Term - The relationship between France and Germany provides the cultural background for La Grande Illusion, Le Silence de la Mer, and Le Dernier Metro. Spring Term - Persepolis pursues with humor the gender themes associated with coming of age in Iran and France. Texts include excerpts from Simone de Beauvoir's Le Deuxieme sexe, and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, an autobiographical French graphic novel set in Iran and France, and the 2007 movie Persepolis, directed by Marjane Satrapi and Victor Paronnaud.

FREN-450/1, History of France: 1610-1815
Four class periods. This course will explore the creation of unified France from the beginning of the reign of Louis XIII through the end of the First Empire. Emphasis will be on the final consolidation of power under Louis XIV, the succeeding years, the tumultuous years of the French Revolution, and the First Empire under Napoleon I. Emphasis will be placed not only on historical events, but on their influence on the French art, music, and architecture of the time.

FREN-460/2, History of France: 1815-1945
Four class periods. This course will focus on the history and culture of France from the defeat of Napoleon I until the end of World War I, with emphasis on the prolonged struggle to institute democracy, the development as an industrialized nation with pressures for social reform, and France's grandeur as a colonial power and as a center for the arts. Particular attention will be paid to the study of French impressionism and the other dominant schools of art, literature, and music.

FREN-470/3, Contemporary French Civilization
Four class periods. This course deals with aspects of contemporary French civilization such as the family, the school system, politics, gender roles, art, and popular culture. The emphasis is on learning about culture comparatively through the discussion of articles, films, and comic strips. The course includes research on the Web and e-mail with French students.

FREN-500/1, Civilization of France and the Francophone World
Open to students who have completed fourth-level French and to qualified new students, this French history, geography, and civilization course is designed to address multidisciplinary issues concerning France and the Francophone world. There also are vocabulary, grammar, conversation, composition, and reading components. The choice of texts is generally determined by the class and the instructor. The course is intended to help students prepare for the Advanced Placement examination in French Language.

FREN-500/2, Civilization of France and the Francophone World
Open to students who have completed fourth-level French and to qualified new students, this French history, geography, and civilization course is designed to address multidisciplinary issues concerning France and the Francophone world. There also are vocabulary, grammar, conversation, composition, and reading components. The choice of texts is generally determined by the class and the instructor. The course is intended to help students prepare for the Advanced Placement examination in French Language.

FREN-500/3, Civilization of France and the Francophone World
Open to students who have completed fourth-level French and to qualified new students, this French history, geography, and civilization course is designed to address multidisciplinary issues concerning France and the Francophone world. There also are vocabulary, grammar, conversation, composition, and reading components. The choice of texts is generally determined by the class and the instructor. The course is intended to help students prepare for the Advanced Placement examination in French Language.

FREN-520/0, French Literature and Cinema
A yearlong commitment. Five class periods. Open to students who have completed three terms of fourth-level French and to qualified new students. This course is primarily a seminar in which students share their interpretations of works studied in class discussions and oral presentations. It emphasizes the cultural and social contexts of major films and literary works so that class discussions often include current events of the French-speaking world. We read news articles and Web-based work. It also includes an introduction to the methodology of literary and argumentative papers in French and meets the requirements of the Advanced Placement examination in French Language. The syllabus may include works by Moliere, Flaubert, Rostand, Pagnol, Ionesco, Sartre, Begag, or Nothomb. Films range from the new wave to classic comedies and contemporary features. Film adaptations also may be studies along with the original novel (i.e., Marcel Pagnol's Manon des Sources).

FREN-600, Modern Literature
Two two-hour class periods. A seminar course open to students who have completed 500-level French or the equivalent. The course studies modern novels, plays, poetry, and films. The student may write and/or perform a play. The books studied may include La Peste, Camus; Un Amour de Swann, Proust; La Vie devant soi, Ajar; La P...respectueuse, Sartre; Coq de Bruyere, Tournier; and La Civilisation, ma Mere, Chraibi. Films recently studied include Diabolo Menthe, Kurys; Rouge, Kieslowski; and Manon des Sources, Pagnol.

FREN-600/2, Modern French Literature
Two two-hour class periods. A seminar course open to students who have completed 500-level French or the equivalent. The course studies modern novels, plays, poetry, and films. The student may write and/or perform a play. The books studied may include La Peste, Camus; Un Amour de Swann, Proust; La Vie devant soi, Ajar; La P...respectueuse, Sartre; Coq de Bruyere, Tournier; and La Civilisation, ma Mere, Chraibi. Films recently studied include Diabolo Menthe, Kurys; Rouge, Kieslowski; and Manon des Sources, Pagnol.

FREN-600/3, Modern French Literature
Two two-hour class periods. A seminar course open to students who have completed 500-level French or the equivalent. The course studies modern novels, plays, poetry, and films. The student may write and/or perform a play. The books studied may include La Peste, Camus; Un Amour de Swann, Proust; La Vie devant soi, Ajar; La P...respectueuse, Sartre; Coq de Bruyere, Tournier; and La Civilisation, ma Mere, Chraibi. Films recently studied include Diabolo Menthe, Kurys; Rouge, Kieslowski; and Manon des Sources, Pagnol.