56 courses with the subject FRE, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
Instructor Staff Introductory French course developing basic proficiency in the four skills: oral comprehension, speaking, writing, and reading. Requires participation in AT sessions twice a week. Prerequisites & Notes Normally, for students with no previous instruction in French. (Fall)
Instructor s Beschea Continuing development of basic proficiency in the four skills. Requires participation in AT sessions twice a week. Prerequisites & Notes French 101 at Davidson, placement examination, or permission of the department. (Fall and Spring)
Instructor Beschea Beginning French. Learn conversational French quickly. Meets every day for 6 class-hours per week plus meetings with an assistant teacher (AT). Completes two semesters of French in one semester. Equivalent to French 101 and 102. Counts as two courses and prepares for French 201. Prerequisites & Notes (Fall)
Instructor Beschea Development of skills in spoken and written French, with extensive oral practice and grammar review. Requires participation in AT sessions twice a week. Satisfies language requirement Prerequisites & Notes Prerequisites French 102 or 103-104 at Davidson, or placement exam.
Instructor Staff This course advances students’ proficiency in existing language skills. Requires participation in AT sessions once per week. Prerequisites & Notes FRE 201 or above (placement test) with approval from the instructor.
Instructors Beschea Discussion, continuing oral practice, and corrective pronunciation. Requires participation in weekly AT session. Prerequisites & Notes French 201, placement examination, or permission of the instructor. (Fall and Spring)
Instructor Newman FRE 213 is a course designed to improve written expression and fluency through the study and practice of composition and systemic advanced grammar review. Students will be provided with a solid foundation in French syntax through the review of complex grammatical structures, tenses, idiomatic expressions, vocabulary enrichment, and film analysis. The various reading, writing exercises, and film syntax analysis executed in class and through homework will aim at helping students understand linguistic nuances while consolidating and extending their mastery of the French language at an advanced level. Satisfies French and Francophone Studies major and minor requirement. Prerequisites & Notes FRE 201 or 205
Instructor Vessier This course provides a foundation for students to pursue advanced courses in French and Francophone Studies. We will begin the course with a critical discussion of the concept of la francophonie along with the historical events that contributed to the foundation of the francophone world. Next, in an overview of five francophone regions, we will consider how these geopolitical forces have impacted different areas of the francophone world as well as how various thinkers, writers, artists, filmmakers, and activists have responded to them. Finally, the second half of the course will focus on one particular region determined by the instructor’s area of specialization in order to deepen students’ understanding of its unique cultural, aesthetic, and geopolitical position within this framework. Assignments are designed to build competence in the four language skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening) as well as critical textual analysis and research skills. They include short textual analysis papers, a group presentation, a midterm exam, and a digital research project. The course will also include two library visits and tutorials to guide students in their discovery of research methods within the field of French and Francophone Studies as well as digital scholarship methodologies. Satisfies requirement in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric Satisfies requirement in Cultural Diversity Satisfies requirement in Global Literary Theory Prerequisites & Notes French 201
Instructor Staff Written and visual works that imagine cities and their inhabitants. Discussion topics will include the ways in which urban modernity changes Western conceptions of art, the social geography of space, the treatment of class and race, and immigration. Typical authors include Balzac, Baudelaire, Zola, Maupassant, Apollinaire, Aragon, Pérec, and Beyala. Satisfies requirement in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric. Prerequisites & Notes French 210 or above. (Not offered 2016-17.)
Instructor Postoli S In this course we will explore examples of fully-fledged autobiographies, as well as other versions of autobiographical writing or films. Students will be invited to consider how autobiographical elements are conveyed in each work and, more importantly, how they differ from the model exemplified by Rousseau’s Confessions . These differences will then be analyzed in their relation with pertinent social, cultural, and political circumstances of the period, as well as with questions of identity as they become important, particularly otherness in the colonial context, gender, and sexuality. Students will be continuously asked to reflect not simply on what is being said, but also how and why it is being said in that way. Although material will mostly be presented chronologically so that we may trace the development of autobiography and its offshoots, students will also be expected to make connections across time and space in ways that relate seemingly disparate figures, periods, works, and circumstances. Satisfies requirement in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric. Prerequisites & Notes French 201 or above.
Instructor Stern Is it possible to go home again? Through poetry, novel, graphic novel, and film, we examine how francophone authors try to answer this question. Readings and films from Césaire, Laferrière, Mabanckou, Teno, Gomis, Belkaïd, and Burton.
Instructor Staff Discussion of the theme of wealth and its place in a variety of literary forms and cultural contexts. Readings typically include plays, poetry, and fiction by French and Francophone authors such as Molière, La Bruyère, Balzac, Maupassant, Baudelaire, Proulx, Roy, and La Ferrière. Satisfies distribution requirement in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric. Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement. Prerequisites & Notes French 201 or above. (Fall)
Instructor Fache Desire is a passion that has driven men and women to build and destroy empires, and has thus been a topic and subject in French literature since medieval times. This course examines the various forms of desire, and maps the spaces and places in which it is expressed, from France to the confines of the colonial Empire and more recently the Francophone world. Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement. Satisfies a requirement in the Global Literary Theory major and interdisciplinary minor. Prerequisites & Notes FRE 201 or 212. FRE 226 is cross-listed with FRE 326. Students who have completed FRE 220 or above must enroll in FRE 326.
Instructor Staff No previous experience in reading French literature is required. Satisfies requirement in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric. Prerequisites & Notes French 201 or above.
Course in literature taught by the Davidson program director in Tours. Satisfies requirement in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric.
Courses in literature taught by the Davidson program director in Tours. Satisfies requirement in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric.
Instructor Vessier This class examines the history of France from the 20th to the 21st century (1960 to present) through various cultural productions, including literature, films, documentaries, newspapers, songs, and visual arts. It covers key historical moments since 1960, exploring themes such as post-colonial identities, immigration, social movements, environmental challenges, the women’s liberation movement, among others. In the second part of the semester, students will investigate current debates in France today, addressing topics such as universalism, laïcité, and Islamophobia, among others. Throughout the class, multimedia sources will help students develop a nuanced understanding of French society while enhancing their ability to interpret various media forms. This class will be taught in English, and primary sources will be in French with all translations available in English. Students majoring or minoring in French are strongly encouraged to complete readings and write assignments in French. Satisfies French and Francophone Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies Historical Thought requirement. Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement. Prerequisites & Notes French 201 or above.
Instructor Staff Reading and discussion of first-person narratives from a variety of periods. Typical authors: Diderot, Guillerargues, Graffigny, Camus, Gide, Duras. Satisfies requirement in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric. Prerequisites & Notes FRE 201 or FRE 212. Students who have completed FRE 220 or above must enroll in FRE 321.
Instructor Mohammed Haiti fascinates as much as it perplexes. Stunning the society at the time with its successful slave revolt to become the first black Republic in the New World in 1804, Haiti is now viewed as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere riddled with political instability, social injustices, and underdevelopment. Yet it boasts a diverse and dynamic cultural heritage expressed through various artistic media. This course introduces students to major events and conflicts (Haitian Revolution, dictatorships in the 20 th century, US interventions, and the 2010 earthquake) that have shaped Haitian history, politics, society, and culture, and analyzes them for the ways in which they contribute to the creation of Haitian cinematic traditions. Filmmakers include Noland Walker, Raoul Peck, Jonathan Demme, Arnold Antonin, and Maya Deren. Coursework will be done in French. All films will be subtitled in English. Satisfies French and Francophone Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts requirement. Satisfies Justice, Equality and Community requirement. Prerequisites & Notes This course is open to students who have completed FRE 201 or its equivalent.
Courses on topics related to francophone civilization (e.g., culture, history, politics) taken at a university in a French-speaking country.
Courses on topics related to francophone civilization (e.g., culture, history, politics) taken at a university in a French-speaking country.
Instructor Beschea This course is an Independent study course offered to non-majors only. Instructor permission is required. Prerequisites & Notes Instructor permission required
Instructor Staff Black France is a course that provides an overview of France’s socio-historical relationship to Blackness within its borders and with migrants of African descent. Starting with colonial history and the exploitation of Africa and the post-colonial era, we study France’s complicated and problematic relationship to the concept of race, and to Blackness more specifically. The students in the course will gain knowledge and a critical understanding of how France has dealt with its Black population and what the current racial landscape looks like. While conservative factions argue for the preservation of France’s old social fabric, the course pays particular attention to the contributions of Black artists, politicians, and activists to the country’s well-being and development, and to the work of Black and anti-racist scholars and activists who bring to light the inequalities rooted in the Hexagon’s structural racism. Because the course is taught in situ , students will have the unique opportunity to visit sites that play a critical role in France’s racial history, and will also have access to resources that are dedicated to issues discussed in the course. Assignments are designed to impart historical knowledge of France’s racial and colonial history and to develop critical analysis of primary sources produced by artists, writers, and intellectuals of African descent. They include short analytical papers, a presentation, a midterm exam, and a final research project. Prerequisites & Notes The course is a dual listing that allows students to take the course in French or in English.
Instructor Staff Independent Study for Non-Majors Prerequisites & Notes Permission of instructor required.
Instructors Newman FRE313 will help develop their professional writing skills and their knowledge of the Francophone professional world. Written assignments will include technical translations, summaries of meetings and work documents, note-taking, creating a CV and a cover letter, designing a marketing campaign, email etiquette, etc. Each prompt will provide an opportunity to reflect on topics such as intercultural communication, marketing, sustainability, diplomacy, and economic development, through the lens of global French language and Francophone cultures. Prerequisites & Notes French 220 or above. (Spring)
Instructor Beschea In this course, we will investigate the French language from a very wide point of view, looking at its structure from a linguistic point of view (that is, descriptively and systematically). We will explore the way French was born historically to reach what we call “contemporary” French, not only the “standard” language, but also its diverse geographical and social varieties. Some of the questions we will grapple with are, but not limited to, how did French develop from spoken Latin into its form more than 1000 years ago? What were the factors that influenced the development of various regional (in France) and global dialects of French; in what ways are they unique? What is sociolinguistics and how does it apply in studying the evolution of language? Satisfies French and Francophone Studies major and minor requirement
Instructor Beschea Study of representations of female adultery in the 19th century French novel with emphasis on the social stereotypes and cultural myths at play in French fiction. Typical authors: Flaubert, Barbey d’Aurevilly, Balzac, Sand, Maupassant, Mérimée. Satisfies requirement in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric. Prerequisites & Notes Any course numbered French 220 or above, or permission of the instructor.
Instructor Staff Reading and discussion of first-person narratives from a variety of periods. Typical authors: Diderot, Guillerargues, Graffigny, Camus, Gide, Duras. Satisfies requirement in Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric. Prerequisites & Notes Any course numbered French 220 or above, or permission of the instructor. (Spring)
Instructor Vessier This seminar explores narratives of migration in the French-speaking world across various geographies in the 20 th and 21 st centuries, including Senegal, Martinique, Algeria, France, Canada, Tunisia, and Vietnam. Throughout the semester, and drawing on a variety of multimedia sources, such as movies, films, podcasts, and novels, students will examine how migration offers a unique lens on borders and nations, exile, language, and gender, among other topics.
Instructor Fache Desire is a passion that has driven men and women to build and destroy empires, and has thus been a topic and subject in French literature since medieval times. This course examines the various forms of desire, and maps the spaces and places in which it is expressed, from France to the confines of the colonial Empire and more recently the Francophone world. Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement. Satisfies a requirement in the Global Literary Theory major and interdisciplinary minor. Prerequisites & Notes Any French course numbered 220 or above. Cross-listed with FRE 226.
Instructor Postoli This course will give an overview of the lives, thought, writings, and political engagement of three important literary and intellectual figures of 20 th -century France: Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir, and Jean-Paul Sartre. As contemporaries, these figures contended with similar waves of thought and social or geopolitical changes in France and more broadly. As individuals from different backgrounds, however, their varying concerns before questions surrounding these changes and events often led them to different or even opposing positions. By looking at a selection of their autobiographical, literary, and philosophical works, students will acquire a general understanding of these writers’ thinking, motivations, and contributions to important intellectual and moral debates concerning contemporaneous ideologies, geopolitics, conflicts, and the role of violence in shaping history. During classroom discussions, students will be expected to engage with the material at hand, but also step back in order to define moments of congruence or contradiction within each writer’s corpus, as well as across their separate bodies of work. Because of the historically situated nature of the debates these writers engaged in, significant events such as World War II, German Occupation, the Cold War, and the Algerian War will function as important backdrops to our discussions. By the end of this course, students will be able to define, distinguish, utilize, or provide context and nuance to important terms and phrases like existentialism , absurdity , feminism , radical freedom , rebellion/revolt/revolution , bad faith , responsibility , engagement/commitment , colonialism and anti-colonialism , concentrationary universe , justice/Justice , etc.
Instructor Mohammed In this course, we study classic works of literature and film produced during the twentieth century on the Francophone Caribbean by some of its most prominent writers and filmmakers. Sharing a common history involving French colonial rule, the Francophone Caribbean comprises primarily of the French Départements d’outre mer (DOMs) of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana, and the Republic of Haiti, which has been independent since 1804. However, these territories also diverge economically, culturally, and in terms of their political status. This course introduces students to the Francophone Caribbean’s complex history as well as its fascinating and dynamic culture in novels by Jacques Roumain, Marie Vieux Chauvet, Dany Laferrière, and Maryse Condé, poems by Aimé Césaire, and films by Raoul Peck and Euzhan Palcy. We also extend our exploration in the Francophone Caribbean world to other artistic expressions, such as paintings by Edouard Duval-Carrié and Frankétienne. In examining these cultural productions, we analyze representations of race, class, identity, gender, sexuality, politics, and exile. We additionally learn about crucial theoretical movements that have shaped the Francophone Caribbean intellectual thought, which begins with Césaire’s Négritude , moves through Glissant’s Antillanité , and leads to Créolité . Prerequisites & Notes This course is taught in French and is open to advanced undergraduate students.
Instructor Vessier What insights can Mediterranean ecologies offer in the context of today’s ecological and migration “crises”? In this course, students will explore how Mediterranean environments are represented in literature and visual art from Morocco, Algeria, and Southern France. Rather than emphasizing borders and national frameworks, the class will investigate how ecologies and nonhuman agents such as the sea, the desert, plants, stones, and the subterranean world intersect with gender, migration, and social justice in the region. Through a variety of media (literature, film, photographs, paintings, podcasts), students will examine how the environment is not neutral and think collectively and creatively about the environment in the Mediterranean. Satisfies French and Francophone Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies Arab Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement. Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement. Prerequisites & Notes One French coruse numbered 220 or above.
Instructor Vredenburgh This course will explore the relationship between immigration and identity in cultures across the Francophone world, with a particular focus on the Mediterranean route to Europe. We will start by critically examining the European discourse surrounding the 2015 “migrant crisis” that continues to impact policies related to immigration. We will then challenge the narrative of the “migrant crisis” by examining different aspects of the migration journey through texts and films that represent travel across borders, refugee camps, detention centers, and the experience of women. Finally, in order to further complexify our understanding of the subject, we will consider the “dream” of life in France that leads many to undertake such a perilous journey along with the disappointment they encounter when faced with roadblocks to integration. Assignments will include an oral presentation, weekly discussion board postings, analytical papers, and a community engagement-based final project. Satisfies the Literary Thought, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement
Instructor Fache In 1998 when “Les Bleus,” the French National Team won the world cup, the world (re)discovered the complexity of the society. Again in 2018, when the media claimed that 87% of the players were immigrants or children of immigrants, or when Trevor Noah joked that “Africa won the World Cup,” soccer revealed once more that its history, the French National Team’s history (men and women), and the history of French colonialism are intimately intertwined. In “France: The Soccer Empire,” students will study the fascinating and problematic intersection of French history, culture, and soccer, using documentaries, newspapers and other media coverage, as well as artifacts, and archival materials. As they study the structures of the French professional soccer leagues for men and women, the accredited youth training centers, the selection processes for the national teams, the World Cup organization, students will examine historical and contemporary manifestations of inequalities and injustice between Western countries and the Global South, between former colonizers and former colonized countries, and understand the power dynamics at stake in these new postcolonial relationships.
Instructor Vessier This course examines the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962), focusing on how the land played a central role in both the assertion of colonial power and the pursuit of Independence. Engaging with environmental history, indigenous studies, and postcolonial theory, the course investigates how desert, mountains, soils, and borders, among others, became crucial terrains of conflict. With a primary corpus focusing on 20th-century Algerian literature, visual art, films, and other media, students will learn how colonial powers reshaped the land and governed the population through mapping, settlement, and resource extraction, and how Algerians reclaimed that land in the Liberation. By the end of the semester, students will understand the multiple political, social, and cultural stakes of ecologies in the Algerian Revolution and comprehend how the environmental transformations of this period continue to shape Algeria today. Satisfies French and Francophone major and minor requirement. Satisfies a History major and minor requirement. Satisfies Environmental Studies (Humanities track) major and minor requirement. Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement. Satisfies Cultural Diversity requirement. Prerequisites & Notes FRE 220
Instructor Staff From rebellious feminist zines to queer coming-of-age stories and biting satire, la bande dessinée has become a powerful space for rethinking gender and sexuality. Beginning with its Franco-Belgian roots, this course focuses on the vibrant Québec comics scene to explore how artists use image and text to challenge stereotypes, resist oppression, and imagine new possibilities for identity and community. Students will gain tools for both visual and textual analysis while engaging with feminist and queer theory, cultural history, and the politics of language. We will examine how creators represent gender identities and sexual orientations, and how their work reimagines the world through aesthetic innovation and critical storytelling. By working across form and content, text and context, the course develops a theoretical framework at the intersection of Comics and Gender Studies. Students will practice close reading and visual interpretation, articulate their responses with clarity and nuance, and consider how Québec’s linguistic diversity-from regional idioms to experimental registers-shapes meaning and cultural expression. Satisfies French and Francophone Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies Gender and Sexuality Studies major requirement. Satisfies Film and Media Studies minor requirement. Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing and Rhetoric requirement. Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement. Prerequisites & Notes FRE 220
Instructor Staff This course will focus on the formation and the representation of LGBTQIA2S+ epistemologies and identities in Québec. Students will explore literary and cinematographic accounts of queerness and will be introduced to key themes and critical frameworks through theoretical readings. This will give them a historical and cultural understanding of the Québec’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and Two-Spirit + scene. Taking an interdisciplinary approach and an intersectional perspective, in this class we will look at diverse expressions of sexuality, LGBTQIA2S+ activism, and community, while giving students a comprehensive and broad understanding of the many forms of Queer(ing) Québec. Assignments will include weekly response postings, analytical papers, and oral presentation. Readings, films, discussions, and assignments are all in French. Satisfies French and Francophone Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies Global Literary Theory major and minor requirement. Satisfies Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing and Rhetoric requirement. Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.
Instructor Staff This course explores the rich and diverse storytelling traditions of Indigenous peoples in Francophone Canada. Through an examination of oral histories, literature, film, and contemporary media, students will gain an understanding of how Indigenous narratives have shaped, and continue to shape, Francophone culture and identity. The course will focus on key themes such as land, language, resistance, and reconciliation, while highlighting the voices of Métis, Inuit, and First Nations storytellers. By studying both historical and modern works, students will engage critically with the intersections of colonialism, survivance, and the complexities of bilingualism in Indigenous communities. The course will encourage reflection on the role of storytelling as a means of preserving cultural heritage, fostering social justice, and promoting Indigenous sovereignty. Through discussions, readings, and creative projects, students will develop a deeper appreciation for the power of Indigenous stories to challenge dominant narratives and inspire change. Satisfies French and Francophone Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies Film, Media, and Digistal Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement. Satisfies Cultural Diversity requirement. Prerequisites & Notes FRE 220
Instructor Mohammed Haiti fascinates as much as it perplexes. Stunning the society at the time with its successful slave revolt to become the first black Republic in the New World in 1804, Haiti is now viewed as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere riddled with political instability, social injustices, and underdevelopment. Yet it boasts a diverse and dynamic cultural heritage expressed through various artistic media. This course introduces students to major events and conflicts (Haitian Revolution, dictatorships in the 20 th century, US interventions, and the 2010 earthquake) that have shaped Haitian history, politics, society, and culture, and analyzes them for the ways in which they contribute to the creation of Haitian cinematic traditions. Filmmakers include Noland Walker, Raoul Peck, Jonathan Demme, Arnold Antonin, and Maya Deren. Coursework will be done in French. All films will be subtitled in English. Satisfies French and Francophone Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts requirement. Satisfies Justice, Equality and Community requirement. Prerequisites & Notes Students who have completed 220 or above must enroll in FRE 359.
Instructor Bedecarre Coming Soon Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Instructor Bedecarre This course explores the current and long-standing debates over the restitution of African art work and the decolonization of museums. Coursework focuses on how museums shape discourses around colonization and influence the reception and circulation of African cultural productions. Students study literature, film, and artwork that take up the history of ethnographic collecting practices, colonial exhibitions, the creation of a foreign market for African art in France, and the postcolonial politics of contemporary museums such as the Quai Branly. They work closely with the College Art Galleries and meet with activists, artists, and curators. In the process, students will become more informed and critical readers of museum spaces. Satisfies French and Francophone Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies Global Literary Theory major and minor requirement. Satisfies Justice, Equality and Community requirement. Prerequisites & Notes
Instructor Bedecarre This course explores award-winning and popular African novels written in French and the sociological phenomena of the literary prize and the bestseller. Students study the complicated relationship between literature, economics and (geo)politics. Case studies interrogate the category of “African literature”- looking at the controversial reception of certain writers and delve into debates over intertextuality and plagiarism. Students develop a new interdisciplinary approach to understanding literary texts through a sociological lens, by reading scholarship on prizes, bestsellers, literary genres, reading publics, and celebrity. Over the course of the semester students come to think of themselves as critics and writers- publishing book reviews, creating booktube or booktok videos, and authoring a short story. As part of their final project students also participate as jury members for a literary prize. Satisfies French and Francophone Studies major and minor requirement Satisfies Africana Studies major and minor requirement Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement. Satisfies Cultural Diversity requirement. Prerequisites & Notes FRE 220
Instructor Fache Africa Shoots Back examines West African cinema from its beginnings in the early 1960s to today. The selection of films exposes students to new voices, perspectives and representations of Francophone West Africa from a West African perspective. We will discuss issues of decolonization and post-colonial cultural economy, as well as analyze traditional African narrative strategies and new and unconventional images. Counts towards the French & Francophone Studies major and minor. Fulfills a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Africa). Fulfills a requirement in the Film & Media Studies interdisciplinary minor. Satisfies requirement in Visual and Performing Arts. Prerequisites & Notes FRE 220
Instructor Stern An active, project-based course, organized around different cities of the francophone world: Dakar, Montreal, Paris, Algiers. Through cultural events, newspapers, music, film, and literary texts from each city, students will produce cultural critiques for our course site, in written, video and audio formats. Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement. Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement. Prerequisites & Notes Any course numbered French 220 or above.
Instructor Muzart On the 60th anniversary of the Algerian independence, this course will give particular attention to key French-language cultural contributions that participated in the representation and memorialization of the decolonization process in Algeria. As the largest settlement of the French colonial empire and the stage of a brutal and traumatic war, Algeria constitutes a microcosm of choice to examine the historical and political impact of colonization in the past and in the current Francophone World. By comparing works produced during the war and its aftermath with more recent ones, students will engage in contrapuntal dialogues that reveal the multifaceted aspects of memory about the Algerian revolution. In addition to reflections on the use of particular creative genres, such as novels, comic books, films, poems, or paintings, students will explore this historical event from diverse critical frameworks, including ecology, gender, race, and sexuality. Satisfies a major requirement in French and Francophone Studies Satisfies a minor requirement in French and Francophone Studies Satisfies the Literary Thought, Creative Writing, & Rhetoric requirement Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement Prerequisites & Notes FRE 220
Courses on topics related to francophone civilization (e.g., culture, history, politics) taken at a university in a French-speaking country. European Union Politics counts an an elective for the Political Science major.
Instructor Beschea This course is an Independent study course offered to majors only. Instructor permission is required.
Instructor Staff France Noire is a course that provides an overview of France’s socio-historical relationship to Blackness within its borders and with migrants of African descent. Starting with colonial history and the exploitation of Africa and the post-colonial era, we study France’s complicated and problematic relationship to the concept of race, and to Blackness more specifically. The students in the course will gain knowledge and a critical understanding of how France has dealt with its Black population and what the current racial landscape looks like. While conservative factions argue for the preservation of France’s old social fabric, the course pays particular attention to the contributions of Black artists, politicians, and activists to the country’s well-being and development, and to the work of Black and anti-racist scholars and activists who bring to light the inequalities rooted in the Hexagon’s structural racism. Because the course is taught in situ , students will have the unique opportunity to visit sites that play a critical role in France’s racial history, and will also have access to resources that are dedicated to issues discussed in the course. Assignments are designed to impart historical knowledge of France’s racial and colonial history and to develop critical analysis of primary sources produced by artists, writers, and intellectuals of African descent. They include short analytical papers, a presentation, a midterm exam, and a final research project.
Instructor Staff Independenty Study for Majors Prerequisites & Notes Permission of instructor required.
Instructor Beschea Topics in Francophone Literature Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing and Rhetoric requirement Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Instructor Vessier This seminar explores narratives of migration in the French-speaking world across various geographies in the 20 th and 21 st centuries, including Senegal, Martinique, Algeria, France, Canada, Tunisia, and Vietnam. Throughout the semester, and drawing on a variety of multimedia sources, such as movies, films, podcasts, and novels, students will examine how migration offers a unique lens on borders and nations, exile, language, and gender, among other topics. Prerequisites & Notes Required of all senior majors in the fall semester, except those students enrolling in 499 Senior Honors Thesis.
Independent study for majors; Permission required
Independent study for majors; Permission required
Instructor Beschea Seniors who satisfy requirements for admission to the departmental honors program enroll in 499. A written request containing a brief description of the thesis project and a working bibliography is submitted to the department for consideration no later than the fifth week of the fall semester of the senior year. Approval of project proposal constitutes permission to enroll in 499. An oral defense of the thesis is required. Prerequisites & Notes FRE 498
Source: Davidson College's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 61
