Spring 2015 Undergraduate Courses

French 110 Elementary French I

Staff

French 110 is the first semester of the elementary level sequence designed to develop functional proficiency in the four skills and gain familiarity with French and Francophone culture. The primary emphasis is on the development of the oral-aural skills, speaking and listening. Readings on topics in French culture as well as frequent writing practice are also included in the course.

As in other French courses, class will be conducted entirely in French. You will be guided through a variety of communicative activities in class which will expose you to a rich input of spoken French and lead you from structured practice to free expression. You will be given frequent opportunity to practice your newly acquired vocabulary and grammatical structures in small group and pair work which simulate real-life situations. The course will introduce you to French and Francophone culture through authentic materials including written documents, simple articles, songs, films, videos, and taped conversations between native speakers. Out-of-class homework will require practice with CDs as well as regular writing practice. The course will also invite you to explore the Francophone world on the Internet.

French 120 Elementary French II

Staff

French 120 is the second semester continuation of the elementary level sequence designed to develop functional proficiency in the four skills and gain familiarity with French and Francophone culture. The primary emphasis is on the development of the oral-aural skills, speaking and listening. Readings on topics in French culture as well as frequent writing practice are also included in the course.

As in other French courses, class will be conducted entirely in French. You will be guided through a variety of communicative activities in class which will expose you to rich input of spoken French and lead you from structured practice to free expression. You will be given frequent opportunity to practice your newly acquired vocabulary and grammatical structures in small group and pair work which simulate real-life situations. The course will introduce you to French and Francophone culture through authentic materials including written documents, simple articles, songs, films, videos, and taped conversations between native speakers. Out-of-class homework will require practice with CDs as well as regular writing practice. The course will also invite you to explore the Francophone world on the Internet.

French 130 Intermediate French I

Staff

French 130 is the first half of a two-semester intermediate sequence designed to help you attain a level of proficiency that should allow you to function comfortably in a French-speaking environment. You are expected to have already learned the most basic grammatical structures in elementary French and you will review these on your own in the course workbook. This course will build on your existing skills in French, increase your confidence and ability to read, write, speak, and understand French, and introduce you to more refined lexical items, more complex grammatical structures, and more challenging cultural material.

As in other French courses at Penn, class will be conducted entirely in French. In addition to structured oral practice, work in class will include frequent communicative activities such as role-plays, problem-solving tasks, discussions, and debates, often carried out in pairs or small groups. Through the study of authentic materials such as articles, poems, songs, films, videos, you will deepen your knowledge of the French-speaking world. Daily homework will require listening practice with audio and video material, in addition to regular written exercises in the workbook and frequent composition practice.
Students having completed French 120, or with an SATII score of 450 - 540 or a placement score between 30 and 35 should enroll in this course.

French 134  Intermediate French: Accelerated

Staff

French 140 Intermediate French II

Staff

French 140 is the second half of a two-semester intermediate sequence designed to help you attain a level of proficiency that should allow you to function comfortably in a French-speaking environment. You are expected to have already learned the most basic grammatical structures in elementary French and will review these on your own in the course workbook. This course will build on your existing skills in French, increase your confidence and ability to read, write, speak, and understand French, and introduce you to more refined lexical items, more complex grammatical structures, and more challenging cultural material.

This course focuses on the culture of French-speaking countries beyond the borders of France. Along with your classmates, you will explore the cities of Dakar, Fort-de-France and Marrakesh, investigating the diversity of the francophone world through film, literature and music. As in other French courses at Penn, class is conducted entirely in French. In addition to structured oral practice, work in class will include frequent communicative activities such as problem-solving tasks, discussions, and debates, often carried out in pairs or small groups. Daily homework will require researching in the library and on the Internet, listening practice with video-clips, in addition to regular written exercises in the workbook.

French 180

Advanced French in Residence

Staff
Open only to residents in La Maison Francaise

French 202 Advanced French

Staff

French 202 is a one-semester third-year level French course. It is designed to prepare students for subsequent study in upper level courses in French and francophone literature, linguistics, civilization, cinema, etc. It is required for students who have completed 140 and recommended for those with an equivalent level, wishing to continue in more advanced French courses or preparing for study abroad. Exceptions can be made with permission of undergraduate chair.

It is also the appropriate course for those students who have time for only one more French course and wish to solidify their knowledge of the language by continuing to work on all four skills - speaking, listening, reading and writing. Students’ work will be evaluated both in terms of progress in language skills and of ability to handle and engage in the content areas.

This course does not include a systematic review of French grammar (that is done in French 212). Nevertheless, through the diverse writing assessments (e.g. creative writing; essays), the various textual and visual references (e.g. novels; articles; films; clips), the communicative approach, the students will play an active role in their learning process and consequently will be led to consolidate and deepen their grammatical competence.

The class studies two thematic units dealing with a wide variety of magazine articles, literary texts, historical documents, movies, songs, etc. In the first dossier, students get a chance to expand their knowledge of French history, with one major focus on World War II and the German occupation of France. In the second dossier, students study contemporary France focusing on issues such as the modern family, education, pop culture. While touching upon issues of identity in France, the class engages the students into an intercultural dialogue which enables them to be more aware of the differences and similarities between the two countries.

French 211 French for Professions I

Prof. Ciesco

This content-based language course, taught in French, introduces economic, business, and professional terminology through the study of the following topics: financial institutions (banking, stock market and insurance); business practices (business letters and resumes); trade and advertising; the internal structure and legal forms of French companies.

The course also emphasizes verbal communication through three components:

  • In-class activities such as problem-solving tasks, discussions and debates.
  • The study of authentic materials such as newspapers and magazines’ articles, video clips, and radio shows.
  • A series of students’ presentations.

Finally, in order to use and practice the new economic and business terminology studied in this course, and to also further explore the structure, the management, and the operations of the French companies, students will work in pairs on a research project about a major French company of their choice.

One of the other goals of this course is to also prepare the students to take one of the exams offered by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry: the Diplôme de Français Professionnel, Affaires, C1. This exam will be held on campus in April.
Prerequisite: FREN 202 highly recommended. No business background necessary.

French 212 Advanced French Grammar & Composition

Staff

Intensive review of grammar integrated into writing practice. A good knowledge of basic French grammar is a prerequisite (French 202 or equivalent is recommended). Conducted entirely in French, the course will study selected grammatical difficulties of the French verbal and nominal systems including colloquial usage. Frequent oral and written assignments with opportunity for rewrites.
Articles from French newspapers and magazines, literary excerpts, and a novel or short stories will be used as supplementary materials in order to prepare students to take content courses in French in disciplines other than French.

French 214 Advanced French Composition and Conversation

Prof. Philippon-Daniel


Entitled Contemporary French society through its media, this course is intended to improve speaking and writing skills by offering extensive practice in a variety of styles and forms. It will also help students better understand contemporary French culture, thought and modes of expression. The content is organized around current events and the themes of identity and art. Activities include the study, analysis and emulation of model texts as well as discussion and debates about events and social issues as covered by the French news media (television, print, internet sources). Students will practice oral skills in a variety of ways, including video blogs and group presentations on selected current events. Written practice will comprise reflective journals, essays and collaborative work on Web projects.

The goal of this course is to help students attain the Advanced level of proficiency in speaking and writing (by ACTFL standards). The specific language functions we will work on are narration, description, offering and soliciting advice and opinions, expressing feelings, critique and analysis, argumentation.

(Recommended for students who are planning to study abroad in France)

French 217 French Phonetics

Prof. Edelstein

French 217 is a course designed to provide students with a foundation in French phonetics and phonology.  It will be devoted to both learning how to produce discourse with native-like pronunciation, rhythm and intonation as well as improving aural comprehension by examining stylistic and dialectal differences in spoken French.

French 222-401 Perspectives in French Literature: The Individual and Society

Prof. Francis

One of the basic types of conflict around which narratives often revolve is that of “man against society,” which pits individuals against the agendas, desires, beliefs, and expectations of those around them. As such, French cultural production often centers on conflicts between the individual and society, and by examining these conflicts, we can raise a number of questions about the values and priorities of the French-speaking world. What happens when an exceptional individual’s personal goals conflict with those of his or her society? How do individuals conform to or resist expectations for masculine or feminine behavior? How do poets define themselves and their poetry against the society in which they live? How do misfits or outcasts call our attention to social injustices? How are immigrants and their sons and daughters perceived in France, and how do they react to this perception?

This course will answer these questions while introducing students to a range of genres and authors, both male and female, starting with the late eleventh-century Chanson de Roland and ending with an open letter to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy from Nadir Dendoune, a son of Algerian immigrants. We will also watch and discuss Jacques Tati’s film Playtime.We will situate works in their historical context while considering how they convey their message through literary or cinematographic techniques. Students will acquire the critical tools to analyze, discuss, and write about texts and films while perfecting their oral and written expression in French.

French 222-402 The Individual & Society

Prof. Richman

This course proposes a historical survey of the interface between individual and social identities from the Middle Ages to the present. Aimed as an introduction to classics that have marked Western civilization, it enlists a variety of texts and films in order to critique as well as to illuminate the constants of French culture.

French 222-403 Perspectives in French Literature: The Individual and Society

Staff

This basic course in literature acquaints students with major French literary trends through the study of representative works from each period. Students learn to situate and analyze literary texts. They are expected to take an active part in class discussion in French. French 222 has as its theme the Individual and Society.

French 222-404 Perspectives in French Literature

Prof. Prince

This basic course in literature acquaints students with major French literary trends through the study of representative works from each period. Students learn to situate and analyze literary texts. They are expected to take an active part in class discussion in French. French 222 has as its theme the Individual and Society.

French 227 Modern France: 1789-1945

Prof. Peron

French cultural and social history from the Revolution of 1789 to the liberation of Paris in 1944. Readings in primary and secondary sources. Movies include Danton, Les Fragments d'Antonin, L'Armee des Ombres.

Required for majors, also of particular interest to majors in History, International Relations. The course is taught is French.

French 229 Le Français dans le monde / French in the World 

Prof. Friesner

Le Français dans le monde
 / French in the World provides a survey of the sociolinguistics of the French language in the contemporary world in order to elucidate how societal changes influence the manner and the contexts in which the French language is spoken. Case studies focus on various parts of the Francophone world, including Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Americas. The course considers questions such as the following: What effect does contact with other languages have on the way French is spoken? Which variety (or varieties) of French represents “good” or standard language use? How do political forces and movements affect the evolution of French? What is the present and future role of the French language in the face of globalization? How are language attitudes similar and different among French-speaking and English-speaking regions of the world? In what ways does the language we speak and the way we speak it shape our identities? Readings and class discussion are in French.

French 300 The Making of Modern Paris

Prof. Goulet

Paris, Ville-Lumière, has long been renowned for its urbanity, architecture, and city design.  This class will trace the people, ideas, and projects that contributed to this reputation, through an exploration of the city's built environment as expressed in literature and urban planning projects of the 19th and 20th centuries.  Literary readings, including texts by Hugo, Baudelaire, Zola, and Breton, will be studied in conjunction with historical writings and projects ranging from works by Napoleon III and Haussmann to Mitterrand and Sarkozy.  The course includes a field trip to France's capital city during Penn's Spring Break.  Co-taught by Professors Eugenie Birch (Department of City and Regional Planning) and Andrea Goulet (Department of Romance Languages).  Subsidized by the Mellon Foundation-sponsored Humanities + Urbanism + Design Project.  REGISTRATION CLOSED.

French 308 Religious Conflict in France from the Crusades to the Headscarf Ban

Prof. Francis

How did France go from a nation with a monarch styled the “Most Christian King” to a nation where old ladies politely remind missionaries on the Métro that France is a lay country? This course will attempt to answer this question by tracing how religious conflicts have shaped French politics, nationhood, and literature over time. We will focus in particular on the Crusades in the Middle Ages, the Wars of Religion in the Renaissance, Voltaire and the “Affaire Calas” in the 1760’s, the “Affaire Dreyfus” (1894-1906), and the contemporary headscarf ban in schools. By examining both literary works and historical documents, we will get a sense not only of the religious stakes of each historical moment (Catholicism versus Protestantism, anticlericalism versus anti-Semitism, etc.), but also of how the impact of prolonged and violent religious conflicts influenced the evolution of France from a religious to a secular state and the development of the concept of laïcité, as well as how this historical context influences such modern developments as the headscarf ban. All readings and discussions are in French.

French 313 French for Professions II

Staff

French 325 Advanced French Translation

Prof. Philippon-Daniel

This course provides an introduction to the theory and practice of translation and is designed to help foster a critical understanding of differences between French and English syntactical and lexical patterns. It will introduce students to theoretical concepts and problems of translation, with the ultimate goal being to improve their ability to communicate in more authentic-sounding French. Students will have the opportunity to practice translation individually and to work with their peers on a variety of projects (advertising, journalistic and literary texts, movie and broadcast news subtitling) and to engage in critique and discussion of others’ translations. This course will help students refine their language skills and navigate more proficiently between these cultures and language systems.

(Designed for students who already have a solid foundation in French and English grammar)

French 386 Paris in Film

Prof. Met

Latter-day examples like Christophe Honoré’s Dans Paris, Cédric Klapisch’s Paris or the international omnibus Paris, je t’aime (with each director paying homage to a distinctive “arrondissement” of the capital), not to mention American blockbusters like The Da Vinci Code and Inception or Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, are there to remind us that there is something special – indeed, a special kind of magic – about Paris in and on film. Despite the extreme polarization between Paris and provincial France in both cultural and socio-economic terms, cultural historians have argued that Paris is a symbol of France (as a centralized nation), more than Rome is of Italy and much more than Madrid is of Spain or Berlin of Germany, for example. The prevalence of the City of Lights on our screens, Gallic and otherwise, should therefore come as no surprise, be it as a mere backdrop or as a character in its own right. But how exactly are the French capital and its variegated people captured on celluloid? Can we find significant differences between French and non-French approaches, or between films shot on location that have the ring of “authenticity” and studio-bound productions using reconstructed sets? Do these representations vary through time and perhaps reflect specific historical periods or zeitgeists? Do they conform to genre-based formulas and perpetuate age-old stereotypes, or do they provide new, original insights while revisiting cinematic conventions? Do some (sub)urban areas and/or segments of the Parisian population (in terms of gender, race or class, for example) receive special attention or treatment? These are some of the many questions that we will seek to address… with a view to offering the next best thing to catching the next non-stop flight to Paris!

Please note:  This course follows a Lecture/Recitation format.  The Lecture (FREN/CINE 386-401) is taught in English.  For French credit:  please register for both FREN 386-401 (lecture) and FREN 386-402 (recitation); the FREN 386-402 recitation section is conducted in French.  For Cinema Studies credit:  please register for CINE 386-401 (lecture) and CINE 386-403 (recitation); both are taught in English. 

French 389 France and the New World

Prof. Richman

Why are we speaking English instead of French? Did you know that French contact with the New World pre-dates the voyages of Christopher Columbus? Or that French Huguenots attempted to settle in Florida as early as 1562? These intriguing questions and the fascinating record of French relations with the New World are the impetus for this course. Whether inspired by real voyages, personal encounters, or philosophical speculation, the texts we have included trace the ways in which alternative lifestyles and values have provoked self-reflection among French thinkers. Selections from Montaigne, Voltaire, Rousseau, Graffigny, and Lévi-Strauss, will demonstrate why “even a little travel can be a dangerous thing.” Indeed, our texts and films span a host of controversial issues including cannibalism and early feminism, religious intolerance, the nature of penal institutions, slavery, colonialism and genocide. In conjunction with our reading of Tocqueville’s celebrated 1839 account of democracy in America, as well as more contemporary retracing of his steps, we visit the Eastern State Penitentiary, just minutes away from campus. Two daringly innovative films are also included: “How Tasty was my little Frenchman,” and “Black Robe.”

We complete our survey through French intellectual and cultural history by considering the continued relevance of the “ethnographic detour.” Does it currently exist in either France or America? Should it? If so, then how do we envisage its conceptual and practical contours?

Requirements: at least one advanced 200 level course. Conducted entirely in French, requires written comments on texts as well as oral participation and one exam in class.