The Whitman academic calendar is based on a 14-week semester system. Beginning and intermediate language courses meet for 4 hours a week; advanced language courses and literature courses meet for 3 hours a week. Classes average between 10 and 15 students. Film courses have a weekly screening in addition to the normally scheduled class time. The numbering system for courses in the French department corresponds to the level of difficulty of the course material, and breaks down as follows:

• 100-level: beginning language
• 200-level: intermediate language
• 300-level: advanced language and introduction to literature and culture
• 400-level: literature

World literature courses do not follow the same numbering system as courses in the French department. A 300-level course in World Literature would correspond to a 400-level course in the French department in its degree of difficulty and expectations.

105, 106 Elementary French
4, 4     Fall: Hurlburt, Maestretti; Spring: Staff
For students who have had little or no formal contact with the language. The ultimate aim is reasonable mastery of the four skills: speaking, understanding, reading, and writing. Only French will be spoken in class. Grammar is taught with a view to generating fluency rather than as an end in itself. Four classroom meetings are required each week. Students who have previous work in French are required to take a departmental placement examination for entrance.

205, 206 Intermediate French
4, 4     O’Neil, Iverson
A year-long comprehensive review of spoken and written French. Only French will be used in the classroom in daily drills and discussions. Short compositions are required once a week. Four classroom meetings are required each week. While this course stresses grammar, it will also include weekly readings in French literature. Prerequisite: French 106. Students who have not taken French at Whitman previously are required to take a departmental placement examination for entrance.

210 Intensive Intermediate French
4, x   Zalloua
This accelerated course will allow motivated students who place at the high intermediate level to advance to the 300-level courses after only one semester. It is offered as an alternative to the standard two-semester second-year language sequence (French 205-206). Work will focus on development of the four basic linguistic skills – speaking, listening, writing and reading – through structured grammar practice, communicative activities, and selected readings. Prerequisite: Placement exam or consent of the instructor.

305, 306 Advanced French
4, 4     Simek, O’Neil
Students will expand and perfect their ability to function accurately and appropriately in written and oral French. These courses develop advanced grammar, composition, and discussion skills around primary sources, including literary and popular texts and electronic media. They may include frequent compositions, advanced grammatical exercises, active discussion, theatrical exercises and student projects and presentations. Strongly recommended for French majors. Prerequisites: French 206 or French 210 or placement exam. May be taken out of sequence.

315 Introduction to French Literature
4, 4     Hurlburt, Iverson
This course provides an introduction to the major historical periods and literary authors of French civilization from medieval times through the mid-twentieth century. We will develop the student's ability to read closely and analyze texts in French through selected excerpts and shorter works by authors such as Villon, Montaigne, Molière, Voltaire, Flaubert, Baudelaire, and others. A final exam, short papers, oral presentations and active participation are required. The course will be conducted in French. French 315 is required for a French minor and can be counted for the French major. Prerequisites: French 206 or consent of instructor.

316 Contemporary France and the Francophone World
x, 4     O’Neil
An introduction to the society and culture of France and the Francophone world from the early twentieth century to the present. Topics discussed include French youth, the condition of women, immigration and racism, the economy and work, Paris, the provinces and the DOM-TOM, Francophone countries, education and politics. Assignments may include readings from the French press and modern French fiction, French film screenings and radio broadcasts. Conducted in French. Prerequisite: French 206 or consent of instructor.

427 Survey of the Literature of the Middle Ages
4, x     Zalloua
The medieval epic, theatre, lyric poetry, and narrative fiction, including courtly and bourgeois literature. Conducted in French. This course meets three times a week. Prerequisites: at least two 300-level French classes or consent of instructor. Offered in alternate years with French 429.

428 Survey of Renaissance Literature
4; not offered 2007-08
The French literary Renaissance studied principally through the works of Rabelais, Montaigne, and the Pleiade poets. Three periods per week. Conducted in French. Prerequisites: at least two 300-level French classes or consent of instructor. Offered in alternate years with French 430.

429 Literature of the Seventeenth Century
x, 4     Iverson
The classical age as it developed out of the French Renaissance. Studies in the classical theatre, poetry, and novel against the background of philosophical and ethical thought expressed by such thinkers as Descartes, Pascal, LaRochefoucauld, and others. Conducted in French. Three periods per week. Prerequisites: at least two 300-level French classes or consent of instructor. Offered in alternate years with French 427.

430 Eighteenth-Century Literature
4; not offered 2007-08
The Age of Enlightenment. Studies in the literary genres that reflect the evolution in ethical and aesthetic thought in such writers as Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, and Beaumarchais. Conducted in French. Three periods per week. Prerequisites: at least two 300-level French classes or consent of instructor. Offered in alternate years with French 428.

447 Nineteenth-Century Literature
4; not offered 2007-08
A selection of novels, poetry, and plays reviewed in light of major aesthetic trends (Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism) and socio-political influences. This course will examine the work of such authors as Chateaubriand, Hugo, Balzac, Stendhal, Baudelaire, and Zola. Conducted in French. Prerequisites: at least two 300-level French classes or consent of instructor.

448 Introduction to French Cinema
x, 4     Hurlburt
An introduction to the major authors and movements of French cinema from the 1930s to the present day. We will study works by film authors such as Renoir, Carné, Tati, Godard, Truffaut, Varda, Kassovitz and Serreau. In addition to required screenings, students will read a broad selection of critical texts introducing the technical, theoretical, cultural, political and economic forces that have shaped the French film industry from the advent of sound through to the present day. Movies will be shown in French with English subtitles. This course will be taught in two sections, one in English (RFS 368B) and one in French; the two sections will be combined in English once a week. Prerequisites: at least two 300-level French classes or consent of instructor.

449 Twentieth-Century French Literature
4, x     O’Neil
Modernism and the Age of Suspicion. We will explore the aesthetic, philosophical, and political developments of the twentieth century in France through works by writers such as Valéry, Proust, Breton, Sartre, Beckett, Camus, Sarraute, and Duras. Conducted in French. Prerequisites: at least two 300-level French classes or consent of instructor.

450 Francophone Literatures
4; not offered 2007-08
Reading and analysis of selected novels, poems, and plays from across the Francophone literary tradition, with a focus on the literatures of North and West Africa and the Caribbean. This course examines the major movements, issues, and critical approaches marking Francophone literatures, including Négritude, nationalism, postcolonialism, Créolité, and feminism. Conducted in French. Prerequisites: at least two 300-level French classes or consent of instructor.

487, 488 Special Topics in World Literature
4, 4
This course focuses on one or more authors, movements, historical periods, or genres in French literature. Conducted in French or English. May be repeated for credit if topics differ. Prerequisite: none, if taught in English. If taught in French, two 300-level French courses or consent of instructor

487 The Pursuit of Happiness and the French Enlightenment
4, x     Iverson
Eighteenth-century writers placed new emphasis on the desires and wellbeing of human individuals, even as they struggled to articulate revolutionary social and governmental structures that would promote collective harmony. This course will analyze how the authors of the French Enlightenment broke with the traditions of the Old Regime to define a radically new vision of happiness, grounded in secular principles. Readings will include literary, philosophical and political texts, by authors including Beaumarchais, Diderot, Du Châtelet, Graffigny, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Sade and Voltaire. Short essays, class presentations and a multi-media project. Taught in English. May be elected as WLIT 389.

488 From Realism to Naturalism: The Second Empire in France (1852-1870)
x, 4     Hurlburt
1853: Haussman begins work on the great boulevards of Paris, demolishing the old neighborhoods. 1857: Flaubert and Baudelaire are brought to trial on charges of obscenity for Madame Bovary and Flowers of Evil. 1863: the “Salon des refusés” displays paintings by Monet, Manet & Pissaro to a disbelieving public. In fact, much of what we today consider to be quintessentially French dates to this turbulent period in French history and culture. In this course we will study the realist and naturalist movements in France, the birth of impressionism and the marriage of science and literature in the study of society through authors such as Flaubert, Baudelaire, Nerval, Daudet and Zola. In English. May be elected as WLIT 390.

491, 492 Independent Study
1-3, 1-3     Staff
Directed readings of topics or works selected to complement, but not substitute for, the regular period offerings of the French program. The proposal for independent study must be approved by the tenure-track staff. The number of students accepted for the course will depend on the availability of the staff. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

498 Honors Thesis
4, 4     Staff
Designed to further independent research projects leading to the preparation of an undergraduate thesis or a project report. Required of and limited to senior honors candidates in French. Prerequisite: admission to honors candidacy.