112 courses with the subject FREN, 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.
FREN 0080Laughter and Tricky Topics
This course takes a comparative approach to studying the philosophy and praxis of laughter in a variety of artistic media — texts, films, performances and memes. We will seek to develop a critical apparatus to answer the following questions: How does laughter unite us? How does it divide us? How does it contribute to identity and community formation? We will focus on humoristic expression produced in contexts considered too serious for lightheartedness, such as death, race and gender-related oppression, and disenfranchisement. Together, we will wonder whether everything can be a laughing matter, if irony is even funny (and what does it mean anyway?), and whether humor has the potential to effect meaningful sociopolitical change. Our theoretical corpus will include works by Bakhtin, Baudelaire, Bergson, and Freud, who conceptualized laughter in wildly different ways—respectively as carnivalesque, satanic, social, and as a coping mechanism. In the 1940s, René Ménil, a Franco- Caribbean philosopher, synthesized these early theories and further developed them into a means of resistance for colonial subjects. To see these concepts in action, we will engage with materials spanning three centuries, from a short story written by Jonathan Swift to contemporary French comedies (subtitled in English). Should laughter occur throughout the semester, its causes will be dutifully analyzed and presented in diverse oral and written assignments. Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: CIMS 0080, COML 0080 1 Course Unit
Wine and cheese, baguettes and croissants, multiple courses and fresh ingredients straight from the market—these are the internationally recognized hallmarks of French food. Yet, even as the practices surrounding the mythical French table have been deemed worthy of a place on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 2010, culinary traditions in France remain persistently rooted in legacies of colonialism that are invisible to many. In order to “decolonize” French food, this seminar turns to art, literature, and film, as well as archival documents such as advertisements, maps, and cookbooks. In what ways do writers and filmmakers use food to interrogate the human, environmental, and cultural toll that French colonialism has taken on the world? How do their references to food demonstrate the complex cultural creations, exchanges, and asymmetries that have arisen from legacies of colonialism? We will interpret artworks, read literature (in English or in translation), and watch films (subtitled in English) that span the twentieth and twenty-first centuries by authors and directors from across the Francosphere—from Haiti, Guadeloupe, and Martinique in the Caribbean; to Mauritius in the Indian Ocean; from the Vietnamese diaspora in France, Canada, and the United States; to North, Central, and West Africa. Just as food can be examined from many angles, our discussions will focus on art, literature, and film, but also take into account perspectives from the fields of history, anthropology, and environmental studies. Moreover, we will employ the theoretical tools supplied by food studies, feminist and gender studies, critical race studies, and postcolonial studies. Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: AFRC 0081, COML 0081 1 Course Unit
FREN 0090The Fantastic Voyage from Homer to Science Fiction
Tales of voyages to strange lands with strange inhabitants and even stranger customs have been a part of the Western literary tradition from its inception. What connects these tales is that their voyages are not only voyages of discovery, but voyages of self-discovery. By describing the effects these voyages have on the characters who undertake them, and by hinting at comparisons between the lands described in the story and their own society, authors use fantastic voyages as vehicles for incisive commentary on literary, social, political, and scientific issues. In this course, we will see how voyage narratives as seemingly distant as Homer’s Odyssey and Pierre Boulle’s Planet of the Apes fit into a bigger tradition of speculative fiction. We will determine what the common stylistic elements of speculative fiction are, such as the frame narrative, or story-within-a-story, and what purpose they serve in conveying the tale’s messages. We will see how voyagers attempt to understand and interact with the lands and peoples they encounter, and what these attempts tell us about both the voyagers and their newly discovered counterparts. Finally, we will ask ourselves what real-world issues are commented upon by these narratives, what lessons the narratives can teach about them, and how they impart these lessons to the reader. Readings for this course, all of which are in English or English translation, range from classics like the Odyssey and Gulliver’s Travels to predecessors of modern science fiction like Jules Verne and H. G. Wells to seminal works of modern science fiction like Pierre Boulle’s Planet of the Apes, Karel Čapek’s War with the Newts, and Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris. We will also look at how films like Planet of the Apes (1968) and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) or television shows like Star Trek and Futurama draw upon literary or cinematic models for their own purposes. Students will also have the opportunity to examine and present on pieces from the Mark B. Adams Science Fiction Collection at Penn’s Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts, which comprises over 2,000 volumes of science fiction, speculative fiction, and fantasy. This course is meant not only for SF fans who would like to become better acquainted with the precursors and classics of the genre, but for all those who wish to learn how great works of fiction, far from being intended solely for entertainment and escapism, attempt to improve upon the real world through the effect they have on the reader.
This course 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 cultures. 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. The course will introduce you to French and Francophone cultures through authentic materials including written documents, simple articles, songs, films, and videos. Out-of-class homework will require practice with the online component of the textbook (VHL), as well as regular writing practice. There will also be an emphasis on pronunciation with four recorded ‘pronunciation checks’ throughout the semester.
FREN 0120Intensive Elementary French for Beginners
This course is an intensive elementary language course for students who have not studied French, but who have met the language requirement in another foreign language. This course will provide an introduction of the basic structures of French, with intensive work on speaking and listening designed to prepare students to take Intermediate French. Due to the nature of the course, the first half will progress rapidly with the more difficult material presented after the midterm period. As in other French courses, class will be conducted entirely in French. You will be guided through a variety of communicative activities in class that will expose you to a rich input of spoken French and lead you from structured practice to free expression. You will have frequent opportunities to practice your newly acquired vocabulary and grammatical structures in small group and pair work that simulate real-life situations, so please prepare each day's lesson attentively. The course will introduce you to French and Francophone culture through authentic materials including written documents, simple articles, songs, films, videos, and conversations between native speakers. Homework will consist of aural comprehension exercises in the online workbook as well as regular writing practice. The course will also invite you to explore the Francophone world by completing an engaging, interactive project in the final stage of the semester. By the end of this course, you should be able to meet a variety of day-to-day needs in a French-speaking setting and to handle a range of basic travel transactions. You will be able to engage in simple conversations on familiar topics such as family, lodging, daily routines, leisure activities, etc. You will begin to be able to speak and write in the past, present and the future, make comparisons, and describe people and things in increasing detail. You will develop reading skills that should allow you to get the gist of simple articles and you will more readily discern information when you hear native speakers talking in a simple fashion about topics familiar to you. Permit required.
French 0150 covers the equivalent of FREN 0100 and FREN 0200 at Penn. This course is open to any student interested in learning French. No background in French is necessary.
French 0200 is the second semester in the elementary-level sequence, designed to develop functional proficiency in the four language skills— listening, speaking, reading, and writing—while fostering familiarity with French and Francophone cultures. The course places primary emphasis on developing oral and aural skills, with additional focus on cultural readings and frequent writing practice. As with other French courses, this class will be conducted entirely in French. Through a variety of communicative activities, you will be exposed to rich spoken French and guided from structured practice to free expression. Small-group and pair work will provide frequent opportunities to practice newly acquired vocabulary and grammatical structures in real-life contexts. The course incorporates authentic materials—including written texts, articles, songs, films, and videos—to deepen your understanding of French and Francophone cultures. You will also explore the Francophone world through online resources.
FREN 0210Accelerated Elementary French for False Beginners
This course is an intensive one-semester language course for students who have had some French before but who can benefit from a complete review of elementary French. This course will provide a re-introduction of the basic structures of French, with intensive work on speaking and listening designed to prepare students to take Intermediate French. Due to the nature of the course, the first half of the semester will progress rapidly, with much more difficult material being presented after the midterm period. As in other French courses, class will be conducted entirely in French. You will be guided through a variety of communicative activities in class that 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 activities that simulate real-life situations, so please prepare each day's lesson attentively. The course will introduce you to French and Francophone culture through authentic materials including written documents, simple articles, songs, films, videos, and conversations between native speakers. Out-of-class homework will consist of aural comprehension exercises in the online workbook as well as regular writing practice. The course will also invite you to explore the Francophone world by completing an engaging, interactive project in the final stage of the semester. By the end of this course, you should be able to meet a variety of day-to-day needs in a French-speaking setting and to handle a range of basic travel transactions. You will be able to engage in simple conversations on familiar topics such as family, lodging, daily routines, leisure activities, etc. You will begin to be able to speak and write in the past, present, and the future, make comparisons, and describe people and things in increasing detail. You will develop reading skills that should allow you to get the gist of simple articles and you will more readily discern information when you hear native speakers talking in a simple fashion about topics familiar to you.
French 0300 simulates a semester of life in Paris. Homework assignments and in-class activities require you to perform authentic tasks such as renting an apartment, ordering at a restaurant, planning weekend activities, and exploring a specific Parisian neighborhood. Through role-play activities, problem-solving tasks, discussions, debates, writing assignments, and video recordings, you and your classmates will share your experiences and discoveries. This collaborative and cumulative approach will allow us to deepen our collective knowledge of the City of Light and French culture. Along the way, we confront universal issues such as stereotypes, immigration, and cultural connotations by adopting a posture of respectful inquisitiveness. Conducted entirely in French (like other French courses at Penn), French 0300 helps you attain a level of proficiency that should allow you to function comfortably in a French-speaking environment. In this first half of a two-semester intermediate sequence, we build on your existing skills, 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 you continue to learn how to learn French, you will develop the practice of studying and reviewing grammatical structures on your own.
An intensive two-credit course covering the first and second semester of the intermediate year. See descriptions of French 0300 and 0400. Students must have a departmental permit to register. Also offered in the summer Penn-in-Tours program in France.
FREN 0400 is the second half of a two-semester intermediate sequence designed to help you attain a level of proficiency to 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. This course invites you to listen to the stories of the French- speaking population outside the borders of France. The figure of the griot, the West African storyteller and guardian of cultural heritage, will be our guide as we learn about the history and traditions of Senegal and Martinique. We will explore the cities of Dakar and Fort-de-France, investigating the diverse perspectives and voices reflected in historical sites, folktales, poetry, film, art, and music. These authentic materials will introduce you to important values and customs, and engage you to consider issues related to identity, the role of education, the influence of Western ideas on non-Western cultures, and the use of oral tradition to preserve cultural heritage. This course is specifically designed to develop your communicative competence as well as your writing and reading skills through the in-depth review and practice of essential grammatical points (past tenses, subjunctive, passive voice, and the passé simple). Finally, as you listen to the stories from this part of the world, you will have the opportunity to participate in a storytelling project to recount your own personal experiences and preserve the stories that have helped shape the person you are!
Open only to residents in La Maison Francaise. Participants earn 1/2 c.u. per semester. Course can be taken twice for credit. Two Term Class, Student may enter either term; credit given for either 0.5 Course Units
In FREN 1000, we will take our cue from a famous line by the revolutionary 19th-century poet Arthur Rimbaud (“On n’est pas sérieux, quand on a dix-sept ans”) as we immerse ourselves in dreams of youth and ask what it means to be young. Is youth a number? a phase? a mindset? And is it really true that no-one’s serious when they’re seventeen? Our investigations will lead us through a wide array of French and Francophone materials, from films, images, songs and literary texts to sociological studies, that imagine youth in all its various guises. We will be attentive to individual experiences and representations of youth in France – school and family, desire and professional ambition, class divisions and social (im)mobility – but we will also study youth as a collective phenomenon, one that is culturally and historically determined, as we ask what makes a generation and how a new generation inherits from those that have gone before. In considering the commonalities and differences between Penn students and their French and Francophone counterparts, the course will be a process of self-reflection. Likewise, it will be one of linguistic exploration, embracing the parallel between discovering a language and (re)discovering one's youth. FREN 1000 is both a springboard to the advanced-level curriculum and an excellent preparation for study abroad in a French-speaking region. Prerequisite: Open to students who have completed the language requirement. Students who are continuing from French 0340 or 0400 should take French 1000 before moving on to more advanced French courses.
In this class we will study the emergence of the Modernist concept of the "new" as a term also understood as "new fashion." We will move back and forth in time so as to analyze today’s changing scene with a view to identify contemporary accounts of the "new" in the context of the fashion industry. Our texts will include poetry, novels, and films. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings. Also Offered As: ARTH 2889, COML 1072, ENGL 1071, GRMN 1065 1 Course Unit
Intensive review of grammar integrated into writing practice. A good knowledge of basic French grammar is a prerequisite (French 1000 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.
FREN 1214Advanced French Conversation and Composition
This course is intended to improve communicative skills through extensive practice in a variety of styles and forms. It aims to enhance student understanding of contemporary French culture, thought and modes of expression by promoting both cross-cultural understanding and critical thinking and developing students' communicative abilities (in the presentational, interpretive, and interpersonal modes). The specific language functions we will focus on are: narration; description; offering and soliciting advice and opinions; expressing feelings; critique and analysis; argumentation. It is organized around the themes of current events, 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). The oral work include video blogs and group presentations on selected topics and current events. Written practice will comprise reflective journals, essays and collaborative work on Web projects. On completing this course, students will feel more confident and be able to speak and write effectively on a range of contemporary issues. Recommended for students who are planning to study abroad in France.
FREN 1215Advanced French: Introduction to Translation
What is translation, after all? How is it conceived, performed, received, and enjoyed, and what characterizes the translational connections between the French and English languages in particular? These are among the questions that will guide our initiatory journey into the theory and practice of translation, with French serving as both a source and a target language. We will pay special attention to forms of translation that are inherently experimental and (re)creative. Students will engage in – and comment on – translations of a wide range of materials (literary fiction, poetry, graphic novels, songs, children’s literature, and more) and reflect on practical and ethical issues in the contemporary translation world, from the role of generative AI to debates surrounding identity politics and translator representation. We will also come to understand translation as a unique mode of close reading. The course thereby aims to deepen students’ French proficiency and broaden their idiom, but also to enhance their interpretative and critical skills in both French and English. 1 Course Unit
This civilization course presents the fabric/fabrication of the so-called national memory through its places of memory (lieux de memoire), as well as its places of non-memory (lieux de non-memoire), going from the Gauls to the Enlightenment. As the course tells the story of the rise and fall of the French monarchy, one is encouraged to envision it as a palimpsest and to become aware of the roles played by myths and legends. It helps see how French history has been manipulated by the collective memory, how retrospection often redefines, fabricates events and people depending on the needs of the moment. This course is taught in French.
This civilization course presents the creation of modern France from 1789 to 1945 through the omnipresence of the myth of Perseus and Medusa in the historical narrative. The objective of the course is to introduce students to a period in France's history that begins with the French Revolution and ends with Maréchal Pétain's National Revolution. It also helps them discover the intricacies of the slow construction of modern France. In this course, students are led to reflect on contemporary French culture and society that are the result and the remnants of the Revolution, and to make connections with American history. This course is taught in French.
Where and how is French spoken in the world? Which variety (or varieties) of French represents “good” or standard language use? What does it mean to have an accent or to experience linguistic insecurity? To what extent have political forces and movements historically affected the evolution of French? How do language attitudes differ among French- and English-speaking regions of the world and what is the status of French in an era of globalization? In what ways does language shape our identities? Le Français dans le monde / French in the World examines these questions by providing a survey of the sociolinguistics of the French language in the contemporary world. We will explore 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 Europe (Belgium, Switzerland), New World (Quebec, Caribbean, Louisiana), Africa (North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa), etc. Readings and class discussions will be conducted in French.
FREN 1231Perspectives in French Literature: Love and Passion
This basic course in literature provides an overview of French literature and acquaints students with major literary trends through the study of representative works from each period. Students are expected to take an active part in class discussion in French. French 1231 has as its theme the presentation of love and passion in French literature.
FREN 1232Perspectives in French Literature: The Individual and Society
This basic course in literature provides an overview of French literature and acquaints students with major literary trends through the study of representative works from each period. Special emphasis is placed on close reading of texts in order to familiarize students with major authors and their characteristics and with methods of interpretation. Students are expected to take an active part in class discussion in French. French 1232 has as its theme the Individual and Society.
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: 1) In-class activities such as problem-solving tasks, discussions and debates. 2) The study of authentic materials such as newspapers and magazines' articles, video clips, and radio shows. 3) 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 Diplome de Francais Professionnel, Affaires, C1. This exam will be held on campus in April.
The course, conducted entirely in French, emphasizes verbal communication in business professional situations through three components. First, a series of student's presentations, in-class activities (using newspapers' articles, technical readings, radio shows and films), and debates on the following topics (list not exhaustive) related to France's economy and society: The role of the State in France's economy; the French fiscal system; Labor (impact of the 35-hour work week, "conges," women in the workplace, etc.); Regions of France (production); major French industries/companies/brands; France's major imports/ exports; "Green business"; Business of pop culture. Second, as effective communication is based not only on linguistic proficiency but also on cultural proficiency, cultural differences mostly between Americans and French will be explored. Finally, throughout the semester, students will work in groups on the creation of their own business, association, or other organization and will be invited to present their project to the clas at the end of the semester. On completion of the course, students will also have the opportunity to take the Diplome de Francais Professionnel- DFP Affaires (C1) administered by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
How do healthcare systems and approaches to wellness differ across cultural and linguistic contexts? This course, conducted entirely in French, equips students with essential vocabulary and communicative skills—both written and oral—needed to navigate medical environments effectively. Designed for those entering the healthcare field, working with French-speaking patients, volunteering in francophone medical settings, or simply exploring health-related topics, this course is open to anyone with an interest in health. Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
FREN 2461Women’s Writing in French: 19th-21st Centuries
This course will focus on both canonical and lesser-studied French women’s writing (prose, theater and poetry) from the mid-nineteenth to the twenty-first century. In addition, when relevant, you will also view theatrical or cinematic adaptations. Questions to be addressed include but are not limited to gender-based oppression, gender ambiguity, the importance of social class, the portrayal of love, bodily autonomy and memory. Brief, in-class lectures will provide details on the author and literary movement or trend to which she belongs, but the primary objective of our discussions will be the exchange of ideas and interpretations of each work. All readings discussions, lectures and other assessments will be entirely in French.
The content of the course will vary from semester to semester. All works read in English. Please check the department's website for a description. https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 2500, ENGL 0575, ENGL 2799, HIST 0722 1 Course Unit
FREN 3020Literary Translation: Theory and Practice
In this course, we will be guided by the principle that translation is a practice that requires both carefulness and care, by the belief that it is an art form unto its own, and by the understanding that it is a practice steeped in ideological and political power. We will study several trends, theories and philosophical approaches in the field, and we will also attend to more technical concerns, such as copyright, machine translation, etc. We will compare different translations of same works (such as the ones of Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin White Masks) to think through the complex relationship between author, translator and their publishing contexts. We will welcome several accomplished translators who will share their process and explain the importance of building a translation community. Students will also work on their own translations (into English), which we will workshop together. Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 3020 Mutually Exclusive: FREN 5250 1 Course Unit
FREN 3030Humor and Comedy in French and Francophone Culture
This course will trace the prominent role played by humor and comedy in French and Francophone literature and culture from the Middle Ages to the contemporary era in a variety of genres and media, including theater, novels, cartoons, comics, films, and stand-up comedy. Through our exploration of this broad sampling, we will learn how humorous and comedic works reflect their historical circumstances, and we will also arrive at a deeper theoretical understanding of different kinds of humor and comedy and how they function. In particular, we will try to answer the following questions: - Do humor and comedy inherently depend upon a sense of superiority? In other words, if we laugh, is it always at someone else’s expense? - Do comedy and humor simply reinforce established social hierarchies based on race, gender, and class, or can it provide a way to challenge them? - What makes French and Francophone humor culturally specific? For example, how is a French comedy different from an American one, and how can we trace the evolution of comedic tropes from the earliest known French comedic works to contemporary ones? - Why do scatology and body humor play such a prominent role in French comedic works? - What are some of the different modes of satire, and are they meant to change society or keep it static? - What can comedic works tell us about French republican universalism and its potential shortcomings? All primary readings, discussions, and assignments will be in French. Some secondary readings will be in English. Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit 2026-27 Catalog | Generated 08/03/26
FREN 3040Religious Conflict in France from Past to Present
French history, culture, and politics have all been shaped by centuries of religious conflict, theological controversy, and civil strife. In many ways, Frenchness has always been defined against some kind of religious and/ or ethnic Other: heretics, protestants, Jews, or Muslims. At the same time, however, France’s unique religious environment has given rise to some of the most important thought on tolerance. What gave rise to these conflicting tendencies, and how can understanding the history of French religious conflict give us perspective on issues in contemporary France? In this course, we will attempt to answer these questions by studying a series of key historical events and episodes from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century and the present day: the Seventh and Eighth Crusades under Louis IX in the thirteenth century, the travels of Jean de Mandeville in the mid-fourteenth century, the Wars of Religion and French encounters with indigenous peoples in the Americas during the sixteenth century, Molière’s Tartuffe and conflict between free-thinking and religious orthodoxy enforced by Catholic confraternities and their prominent role in politics and society under Louis XIV in the seventeenth century, Voltaire’s conception of religious tolerance in the wake of the “Affaire Calas” in the 1760’s, the “Affaire Dreyfus” (1894-1906) and antisemitism in modern France, and contemporary controversies over religion (particularly Islam) and the public sphere. In addition to discussion-based class meetings, the course will feature visits from specialists working on the materials to be studied as well as visits to the Kislak Center for Rare Books, Special Collections, and Manuscripts to examine original materials, including the Lorraine Beitler Collection of the Dreyfus Affair. This course is conducted entirely in French. Also Offered As: COML 3040 Mutually Exclusive: FREN 6040 1 Course Unit
In American academia, French thought after May '68 is often referred to as "French Theory," a heterogeneous corpus of philosophical and critical texts compacted into a set of poststructuralist premises, first introduced by and grew within humanities departments, then identified as a luxury by-product of the "literary" people. This course proposes to unpack the notion of "French Theory" and re-anchor it into its original social/historical background. We will read some of the most influential texts of its key figures, study how a post May 68 revolutionary energy is transformed into various innovative but also destabilizing ways of rethinking power relations, gender, language and subjectivity, and finally, consider in what capacities and limits these diverse critical approaches go beyond the simple label of "post-structuralism" and relate to our own epoch and personal experiences. The readings and discussions will be divided into four axes: 1. Philosophy of Desire (Lacan, Deleuze/Guattari); 2. Sexual Revolt and Body Politics (Foucault, Hocquenghem, Barthes); 3. Deconstruction and Its Impact on Feminism (Derrida, Cixous, Irigaray); 4. Consumer Society and Society of the Spectacle (Lipovetsky, Baudrillard, Debord). Several documentaries and feature films will be shown outside class time. Taught in English. Reading knowledge of French is welcome but not required.
This course aims to provide an understanding of the European Union as a complex entity: its history, institutions, challenges and future. After reviewing the history of European integration and learning about the Community's institutions, common programs and market, we will consider a wide variety of themes important to Europe: economics, education, immigration, the environment, social issues, national and European identities, the debate over a Federal Europe vs. a Europe of nations, European social/cultural models vs. American liberalism, relations between the EU and the rest of the world. Considering the acute and ongoing challenges facing the European community, we will focus on current events and discuss issues that are critical to the EU in general and to France in particular. Students will be responsible for pursuing substantive research on these and other topics and participating actively in debates. This class will be conducted entirely in French and is designed to improve cross-cultural understanding and communicative skills in the presentational, interpretive and interpersonal modes.
An introductory course to the literature of the French Middle Ages. French literature began in the 11th and 12th centuries. This course examines the extraordinary period during which the French literary tradition was first established by looking at a number of key generative themes: Identity, Heroism, Love, Gender. All readings and discussions in French. Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
Topics vary. For current course description, please see the department's webpage: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
Edgar Allan Poe was considered a vulgar hack by many of his fellow Americans, but in 19th-century France, he was touted as a misunderstood poetic genius, the original poete maudit. Through the translations of Charles Baudelaire, who found in Poe a kindred spirit in the "gout de l'infini," French intellectuals came to know the American writer as a fount of aesthetic wisdom, diabolical sensibility, and mystic mastery. In this course, we will study Baudelaire's poetry as well as the many literary and artistic movements in France that were directly inspired by Poe's uncanny mix of the macabre and the methodical: Symbolist poetry (Valery, Mallarme), the Scientific Fantastic (Maupassant, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam), fin-de-siecle Decadence (Huysmanns, Odilon Redon), Science Fiction (Verne), the detective novel (Gaboriau), and 20th-century Surrealism (Breton, Max Ernst). Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
FREN 3720Crime and Punishment: Hugo’s Les Misérables in Context
Long before the revolutionary ardor of Marius and the innocent longing of Cosette graced Broadway stages and Hollywood screens, the characters of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables (1862) tugged at the heartstrings of readers all over the world. Through this blockbuster novel, Hugo combined his Romantic aesthetics with political critique by exposing the ways in which French society oppressed its downtrodden members, the “misérables” of the title; he also called for a recognition that a noble spirit could inhabit unlikely figures like the prostitute and the ex-convict. In this class, we will read Les Misérables in its entirety, along with a few related texts on crime and punishment. We will ask questions such as these: how can literature contribute to debates about penal reform and the death penalty? What is divine justice? How does crime connect (or not) to political, collective forms of violence? How can we map the urban topographies of hygiene and violence in post-Revolutionary Paris? How does Hugo’s novel relate to the sordid faits divers, gazette entries, and criminal memoirs whose lurid illustrations and sensationalism fascinated the nation’s “respectable” citizens? Students will also be given the opportunity for guided original research on criminality and the popular press of 19th-century France, using online resources and the holdings of Penn's Rare Books and Manuscript library. [All readings, course discussion, and assignments in French]
Paris, the "City of Light" and "capital of the nineteenth century," exists as much as an imaginary space as a real one. How have urbanism, modernity, and war contributed to literary representations of France's capital city? How did 19th-century Hausmannization lead to the emergence of 20th-century Surrealist and Situationist practices? In what ways can studying the city through fictional perambulations allow for a "writing" and re-writing of urban space? In this seminar (taught entirely in French), students will engage in the practices of literary and cultural analysis through the theoretical prisms of thinkers like Barthes, De Certeau, Lefebvre, and Serres. Primary readings will include Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris (1831), Emile Zola's Au Bonheur des dames (1863), Charles Baudelaire's Le Spleen de Paris (1831), Louis Aragon's Le Paysan de Paris (1926), André Breton's Nadja (1928), Perec's Tentative d'épuisement d'un lieu Parisien (1975), and Patrick Modiano's Dora Bruder (1997). Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit University of Pennsylvania Catalog 1899
This advanced undergraduate seminar will study French representations of modern America from the Revolutionary Age through the 20th century, with an eye to what images of the transatlantic Other say about France’s own cultural, political, and literary shifts. From Alexis de Tocqueville’s 1830’s observations on religious freedom and penal institutions in the new democracy to Jean Baudrillard’s 1986 musings on America as the site of the “hyper-real,” French writers have displayed an ambivalent fascination with their “brother nation” across the sea. The 19th century in particular set a template of stereotypes that contrasted the dynamism of capitalist growth and technological invention in American cities with their underside of materialist corruption and cultural lack of sophistication. In addition to reading Voltaire, Tocqueville, and Baudrillard, we will explore the nuanced range of literary representations of the United States through post-revolutionary ruralism (Chateaubriand, René), 19th- century vaudeville theatre (Sardou, L’Oncle Sam), comic journalism (Allais, “Supériorité de la Vie américaine sur la nôtre”), the scientific fantastic (Villiers, Contes cruels), 20th-century experimentalism (Céline, Voyage au bout de la nuit), and travel writing (Duhamel, Scènes de la vie future; Beauvoir, Amérique au jour le jour). Secondary works will include chapters from Extrême-Occident (Mathy), Posthumous America (Hoffmann), Fascination and Misgivings (Portes), The American Enemy (Roger), L’Amérique au tournant (Dubosson et Geinoz), and Frères Ennemis (Cloonan). 1 Course Unit
This course, the theme of which changes from semester to semester, provides an introduction to important trends in twentieth-century literature. Please check the department's website for the course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit 2026-27 Catalog | Generated 08/03/26
The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to the history and main themes of the supernatural/horror film from a comparative perspective. Films considered will include: the German expressionists masterworks of the silent era, the Universal classics of the 30's and the low-budget horror films produced by Val Lewton in the 40's for RKO in the US, the 1950's color films of sex and violence by Hammer studios in England, Italian Gothic horror or giallo (Mario Brava) and French lyrical macabre (Georges Franju) in the 60's, and on to contemporary gore. In an effort to better understand how the horror film makes us confront our worst fears and our most secret desires alike, we will look at the genre's main iconic figures (Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, etc.) as well as issues of ethics, gender, sexuality, violence, spectatorship through a variety of critical lenses (psychoanalysis, socio-historial and cultural context, aesthetics...). Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: CIMS 3820 1 Course Unit 2026-27 Catalog | Generated 08/03/26
This course will consider the horror genre within the specific context of two national cinemas: France and Italy. For France, the focus will be almost exclusively on the contemporary period which has been witnessing an unprecedented revival in horror. For Italy, there will be a marked emphasis on the 1960s-1970s, i.e. the Golden Age of Gothic horror and the giallo craze initiated by the likes of Mario Bava and Dario Argento. Various subgenres will be examined: supernatural horror, ghost story, slasher, zombie film, body horror, cannibalism, etc. Issues of ethics, gender, sexuality, violence, spectatorship will be examined through a variety of critical lenses (psychoanalysis, socio-historical and cultural context, aesthetics, politics, gender, etc.).
FREN 3840The French Novel of the Twentieth Century
Topics vary. Please check the department's website for the course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
Latter-day examples like Christophe Honore's Dans Paris, Cedric 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! For French credit: Please register for both FREN 3860-401 (lecture) and FREN 3860-402 (recitation). The FREN 3860-402 recitation is conducted in French. For Cinema and Media Studies credit: Please register for CIMS 3860-401 (lecture) and CIMS 3860-403 (recitation). Both lecture and recitation are taught in English.
A historical appreciation of the impact of the exploration, colonization, and immigration of other peoples on French national consciousness, from the 16th century to the present. Emphasis is on the role of the Other in fostering critiques of French culture and society. Readings include travel literature, anthropological treatises, novels, and historical documents. Oral presentations and several short papers are included in the course. Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
A brief introduction about the stages of French colonialism and its continuing political and cultural consequences, and then reading in various major works -- novels, plays, poems -- in French by authors from Quebec, the Caribbean, Africa (including the Maghreb), etc. Of interest to majors in International Relations, Anthropology and African Studies, as well as majors in French. Taught in French. Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
Courses taught in French at approved study abroad programs Major-related courses in FIGS or other departments Coursework in another foreign language relevant to the student's interests Total Course Units 32 You may count no more than one course toward both a Major and a Sector requirement. For Exceptions, check the Policy Statement (http:// www.college.upenn.edu/sectors-policy/). The remaining 3 c.u. of electives can be any combination of: • Additional courses taught in French at the 1000-level or higher. • Courses taught in French at approved study abroad programs. • FREN 3999: Independent Study. • FREN 4000: Honors Research Project. • Major-related courses taught in English, either in FIGS or in other departments. • Coursework in another foreign language relevant to the student’s interests. • First-Year Seminars counted retroactively.
Please see the department's website for current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: CIMS 5110 1 Course Unit University of Pennsylvania Catalog 1901
Topics vary. Please see the department's website for the current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: CIMS 5120, COML 5120 1 Course Unit
FREN 5250Literary Translation: Theory and Practice
In this course, we will be guided by the principle that translation is a practice that requires both carefulness and care, by the belief that it is an art form unto its own, and by the understanding that it is a practice steeped in ideological and political power. We will study several trends, theories and philosophical approaches in the field, and we will also attend to more technical concerns, such as copyright, machine translation, etc. We will compare different translations of same works (such as the ones of Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin White Masks) to think through the complex relationship between author, translator and their publishing contexts. We will welcome several accomplished translators who will share their process and explain the importance of building a translation community. Students will also work on their own translations (into English), which we will workshop together. This course is open to graduate students and to advanced undergraduate students, with permission from the instructor. Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 5251, FIGS 5250 Mutually Exclusive: FREN 3020 1 Course Unit
In this course, we will examine a representative sample of premodern women’s writing in French, beginning in the Middle Ages and concluding in the Revolutionary Era. The authors studied come from differing walks of life, social classes, and religious and political identifications, and they express themselves in a wide variety of genres, including short stories, fairy tales, lyric poetry, letters, plays, and novels. Despite their many differences, these authors are united by a common tendency to question a centuries-old tradition of misogynistic discourse, patriarchal social order, and gender normativity. Authors to be studied include: - Marie de France (ca. 1160), a brilliant storyteller and poet attached to the court of Henry II of England whose fabulous tales, arguably an early form of speculative fiction, imagine alternatives to the rigidity of arranged marriages and the heterosexual couple. - Christine de Pizan (1364–ca. 1430), a court writer for Charles VI of France and several other powerful patrons who is often considered France’s first professional female writer. Her Livre de la Cité des Dames (Book of the City of Ladies) systematically refutes the misogynistic pronouncements of learned male authors and holds up devotion and religious life as alternatives to accepting the assigned role of wife and mother. - Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549), the sister of Francis I of France and a prolific author of devotional poetry, plays, and the Heptaméron, a collection of tales modeled on Boccaccio’s Decameron and known for its often shocking subject matter. Throughout her oeuvre, she calls into question the social perception of women rooted in misogynistic discourse, as well as the tendency to blame sexual violence on women, while at the same time revealing the potential danger of masculinity for men and women alike and envisioning Pauline Christianity as a means of radical equality. - Pernette du Guillet (1520– 1545), Louise Labé (c. 1524–1566), and Anne de Marquets (1533–1588), three poets who respond to and write against the male-centered tradition of Petrarchan love poetry. Guillet and Labé stand out for their frank and often sensual depictions of female desire and sexuality in spite of taboos against their public expression, while Marquets, a Dominican nun at the convent of Poissy, combines Petrarchan, devotional, and mystic tropes to envision religious life as an alternative to the heteronormativity of lay French society and the Protestant Reformation. - Madame de Lafayette (1634–1693) and Madame de Sévigné (1626–1696), whose writings are of monumental importance in the history of literature in French as well as invaluable testimonies to the role played by women in the intellectual developments of the early modern period, including salons, Jansenism, and free-thinking (libertinism). - Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve (1685– 1755), author of the first known version of La belle et la bête (Beauty and the Beast), who, along with other female authors of fairy tales, used the conventions of the genre to challenge social conventions and criticize the treatment of women. - Claire de Duras (1777–1828), whose novel Ourika, much like Villeneuve’s La belle et la bête, shows how feminist concerns might intersect with colonialism and race; a bestseller in its day, it is one of the first works in French to feature a complex and articulate black narrator and what many scholars consider to be a modern outlook on race and identity. To provide historical and theoretical context, these readings will be supplemented with relevant primary and secondary sources, as well as with modern and contemporary adaptations, such as illustrations and films. The course is open to graduate students and to advanced undergraduates with permission of the instructor. Discussions will be in English. Readings will be made available both in the original French and in English translation, and final papers may be written in English or in French. Also Offered As: COML 5460, GSWS 5460 1 Course Unit 2026-27 Catalog | Generated 08/03/26
The specific topics of the seminar vary from semester to semester, depending on the instructor and his/her choice. Among the topics previously covered, and likely to be offered again, are the following: The Theatre of Jean Racine, Fiction of Mme de Lafayette, The Moralists (La Bruyere, La Rochefoucauld, Perrault ), Realistic Novels (Sorel's Francion, Scarron's Le Roman Comique, Furetiere's Le Roman Bourgeois). Students give oral and written reports, and write a term paper. Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 5500, GSWS 5500 1 Course Unit
Since several years, the societal and cultural reality of multilingualism has become an important research field in linguistics and literary studies, as in cultural studies more generally. This graduate course will investigate how multilingual poetics challenge and resist paradigms and ideologies of innate monolingualism, linguistic mastery, absolute translatability and monocultural nationalism. To begin with, the course will introduce central aspects of scholarship on literature and multilingualism, covering concepts such as heteroglossia, code switching, translingualism and macaronic language, and debates such as those on world literature, global English, foreignization, (un)translatability and non-translation, including their political and ethical importance. After a brief historical overview, glancing at western literary multilingualism in the Middle Ages, Romanticism and the avantgarde, the course will mainly focus on literature of the late 20th and 21st centuries taken from Germanic and Romance linguistic contexts. Using an exemplary selection, the course will cover prose, poetry and drama, and include excerpts of texts by authors such as Andrea Camilleri, Gino Chiellino, Fikry El Azzouzi, Ernst Jandl, Jackie Kay, Çağlar Köseoğlu, Monique Mojica, Melinda Nadj Abonji, Emine Sevgi Özdamar, Olivier Rolin, Yoko Tawada, Nicoline van Harskamp, and others. Reading these texts, we will try to determine how multilingualism manifests itself (linguistically, discursively, rhetorically, thematically, contextually etc.) and how the texts engage with linguistic, cultural and social pluralities. The course will conclude with a focus on the translator as a central character in fictional prose and movies. Classes will take place in an interactive format that stimulates discussion and exchange. Students will get the respective excerpts – both in the original version and in English translation – one week at a time so that they can prepare themselves each week for the discussion. Theoretical and contextual information will be provided via Power Point presentations. Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 5710, DTCH 5710, GRMN 5710, ITAL 5710 1 Course Unit
FREN 5800Studies in 20th-Century French Literature
Topics vary. For current course description, please see the department's webpage: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
This course will explore fantasy and the fantastic in short tales of 19th- and 20th-century French literature. A variety of approaches -- thematic, psychoanalytic, cultural, narratological -- will be used in an attempt to test their viability and define the subversive force of a literary mode that contributes to shedding light on the dark side of the human psyche by interrogating the "real," making visible the unseen and articulating the unsaid. Such broad categories as distortions of space and time, reason and madness, order and disorder, sexual transgressions, self and other will be considered. Readings will include "recits fantastiques" by Merimee, Gautier, Nerval, Maupassant, Breton, Pieyre de Mandiargues, Jean Ray and others. Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: CIMS 5821, COML 5840 1 Course Unit
An introduction to major literary movements and authors from five areas of Francophonie: the Maghreb, West Africa, Central Africa, the Caribbean and Quebec. Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: AFRC 5900, COML 5900 1 Course Unit
Please see the department's website for current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: AFRC 5910, COML 5910 1 Course Unit
In the last few decades, Haiti has been known on the global stage for its repeated calamities: earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts followed by floods and vice versa, dictatorships, cholera, civil unrest, etc. These media representations, which foreground trauma and failure, tend to overshadow a momentous revolutionary past as well as a long tradition of thriving avant-garde literary and artistic movements. These negative representations are part and parcel of a centuries-long practice of epistemic violence against Haiti that began well before it declared its independence from France in 1804, at the end of a bloody revolution. In this course, we will seek a more nuanced understanding of Haiti by exploring the concepts of life, death, and revolution in a selection of literary texts, essays, articles, documents, and films. Our interdisciplinary approach will allow us to discuss voodoo, the figure of the zombi, gender, the environment, modernity, and the relationship between politics and poetics. This course is taught in French and is open to advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 5920 1 Course Unit University of Pennsylvania Catalog 1903
Within the context of the ill-defined, heterogeneous genre of the travelogue and of today's age of globalization, CNN and the Internet, this seminar will examine the poetics of travel writing based largely albeit not exclusively on travel notebooks, or journaux/carnets de voyage, spanning the 20th century from beginning to end. One of the principal specificities of the texts studied is that they all evince to a lesser or greater degree a paradoxical resistance both to the very idea of travel(ing) as such and to the mimetic rhetoric of traditional travel narratives. We will therefore look at how modern or postmodern texts question, revisit, subvert or reject such key notions of travel literature as exoticism, nostalgia, exile, nomadism, otherness or foreignness vs. selfhood, ethnology and autobiography, etc. Authors considered will include Segalen, Morand, Michaux, Leiris, Levi-Strauss, Butor, Le Clezio, Baudrillard, Bouvier, Jouanard, Leuwers. Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 5950 1 Course Unit
This seminar engages a variety of topics in the lived experience of Black people in France, as well as other countries and spaces where it has exerted or continues to exert influence, often (but not always) through colonial and neocolonial practices (the Caribbean, Africa, America, etc.). Topics vary from year to year and might include questions of identity formation and Afropeanism; various and nuanced definitions of diaspora and belonging; explorations of how Blackness intersects with gender, sexuality, class, origin, ability and other identity markers; reflections on the complex relationship between colorblind French Republicanism and French Blackness; and/or study of transatlantic exchanges between Black French and African-Americans and the emergence of panafricanism. These lines of investigations will be followed via analyses of cultural products such as film, art, music, media, texts as physical objects, literature and theory. Taught in English. Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
Please see the department's website for current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 6030 1 Course Unit 2026-27 Catalog | Generated 08/03/26
FREN 6040Religious Conflict in France from Past to Present
French history, culture, and politics have all been shaped by centuries of religious conflict, theological controversy, and civil strife. In many ways, Frenchness has always been defined against some kind of religious and/ or ethnic Other: heretics, protestants, Jews, or Muslims. At the same time, however, France’s unique religious environment has given rise to some of the most important thought on tolerance. What gave rise to these conflicting tendencies, and how can understanding the history of French religious conflict give us perspective on issues in contemporary France? In this course, we will attempt to answer these questions by studying a series of key historical events and episodes from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century and the present day: the Seventh and Eighth Crusades under Louis IX in the thirteenth century, the travels of Jean de Mandeville in the mid-fourteenth century, the Wars of Religion and French encounters with indigenous peoples in the Americas during the sixteenth century, Molière’s Tartuffe and conflict between free-thinking and religious orthodoxy enforced by Catholic confraternities and their prominent role in politics and society under Louis XIV in the seventeenth century, Voltaire’s conception of religious tolerance in the wake of the “Affaire Calas” in the 1760’s, the “Affaire Dreyfus” (1894-1906) and antisemitism in modern France, and contemporary controversies over religion (particularly Islam) and the public sphere. In addition to discussion-based class meetings, the course will feature visits from specialists working on the materials to be studied as well as visits to the Kislak Center for Rare Books, Special Collections, and Manuscripts to examine original materials, including the Lorraine Beitler Collection of the Dreyfus Affair. This course is conducted entirely in French. Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 6040 Mutually Exclusive: FREN 3040 1 Course Unit
This class examines various theories of and methods for archival research. Reflecting on the so-called archival turn in a number of disciplines, we will consider “the archive” as a philosophical, historiographic, and political problematic. We will also attend to specific, material archives as changing political, economic, and ideological sites. The 17th- to 19th-century Americas will be our center of gravity, but students are encouraged to bring questions, interests, and expertise in other periods and regions to our collective efforts. We will begin by reading some foundational philosophical and historiographic texts, and then turn to a series of thematic units, such as: black lives, indigeneity, and catastrophe.
The purpose of this course is to examine the various modalities of interaction between anthropology and literature in modern French culture. Our guiding thesis is that the turn toward other cultures has functioned as a revitalizing element in the production of cultural artifacts while providing an alternative vantage point from which to examine the development of French culture and society in the contemporary period. The extraordinary innovations of "ethnosurrealism" in the twenties and thirties by such key figures of the avant-garde as Breton, Artaud, Bataille, Caillois, and Leiris, have become acknowledged models for the postwar critical thought of Barthes, Derrida, and Foucault, as well as inspiring a renewal of "anthropology as cultural critique in the United States." Besides the authors just indicated, key texts by Durkheim, Mauss and Levi-Strauss will be considered both on their own terms and in relation to their obvious influence. The institutional fate of these intellectual crossovers and their correlative disciplinary conflicts will provide the overarching historical frame for the course, from the turn of the century to the most recent debates. Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 6090 1 Course Unit
FREN 6300Introduction to Medieval French Literature
Topics vary. Previous topics include The Grail and the Rose, Literary Genres and Transformations, and Readings in Old French Texts. Please see the department's website for current course description: https:// www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 6300 1 Course Unit
Topics will vary. Please see department's website for current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
‘Troubadour’ is a term whose meaning has evolved from the eleventh century to our day. In the Middle Ages, a troubadour was a singer- songwriter (male or female) who composed in a language called Occitan, the language spoken in northern Italy, across southern France, and into today’s Catalonia. Medieval works in this language include epic poetry, didactic texts, lengthy romances, and love poetry. Renowned and imitated throughout medieval Europe – by authors from today’s Italy, Austria, Germany, France, Spain, and Portugal – the Occitan literary heritage cannot be ignored. Though sometimes presented as a dead language, Occitan is very much alive, and one purpose of this course is to introduce students to it and to its broad importance in European literary history. This course will present the literary and cultural history of the Occitan region, writ large, from the Middle Ages to the modern day. By the end of the course, students will be able to read Occitan with the aid of a dictionary; they will understand the culture of the French Midi as distinct from that of France; they will know something of the distinctive cultural elements of Occitania. They will also have a profound knowledge of at least one Occitan author, medieval, modern, or contemporary. The course will be taught in English. In addition to learning the material covered in the course, students will gain expertise in producing professional presentations and research papers. Also Offered As: COML 6381, GRMN 6381, ITAL 6381 1 Course Unit
Topics vary. Previous topics have included Rabelais and M. de Navarre, Montaigne, and Renaissance and Counter-Renaissance. Please see the department's website for the current course description: https:// www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 6400, GSWS 6400 1 Course Unit
Topics of discussion will vary from semester to semester. One possible topic is "The Royal Machine: Louis XIV and the Versailles Era." We will examine certain key texts of what is known as the Golden Age of French literature in tandem with a number of recent theoretical texts that could be described as historical. Our goal will be to explore the basis of "the new historicism," a term that is designed to cover a variety of critical systems that try to account for the historical specificity and referentiality of literary texts. Please see department's website for current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit University of Pennsylvania Catalog 1905
Topics of discussion will vary from semester to semester. One possible topic is "Masterpieces of the Enlightenment." We will read the most influential texts of the Enlightenment, texts that shaped the social and political consciousness characteristic of the Enlightenment--for example, the meditations on freedom of religious expression that Voltaire contributed to "affaires" such as the "affaire Calas." We will also discuss different monuments of the spirit of the age--its corruption (Les Liaisons dangereuses), its libertine excesses and philosophy (La Philosophie dans le boudoir). We will define the specificity of 18th-century prose (fiction), guided by a central question: What was the Enlightenment? Please see department's website for current course description: https:// www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 6600 1 Course Unit
Topics will vary. Please see department's website for current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
Topics will vary. Please see department's website for current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: COML 6750 1 Course Unit
Topics will vary. Please see the French department's website for current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: ENGL 6800 1 Course Unit
How does one approach the modern poetic text which ever since the Mallarmean "crise de vers" appears to have cut loose from all referential anchoring and traditional markers (prosody, versification, etc.)? This course will present an array of possible methodological answers to this question, focusing on poetic forms and manifestations of brevity and fragmentation. In addition to being submitted to precise formal and textual inquiries, each text or work will be the point of departure for the analysis of a specific theoretical issue and/or an original practice - e.g., genetic criticism, translation theory, the poetic "diary", aphoristic modes of writing, quoting and rewriting practices, etc. Texts by key modern poets (Ponge, Chazal, Du Bouchet, Jourdan, Jabes, Michaux). Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
Topics vary. Please check the French department's website for the course description. https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year Also Offered As: ENGL 6840 1 Course Unit
Topics vary. For current course description, please see French Department's webpage: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit 2026-27 Catalog | Generated 08/03/26
Topics will vary. Please see department's website for current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
FREN 6910Transatlantic Black Feminisms in Francophone Literatures
This course explores the evolution of representations of the Black femme body in French and francophone imaginaries, tracing a chronological arc that begins with early colonial imagery and ends with the rise of a 2018 movement spearheaded by a collective of Black comediennes, denouncing exclusionary practices in the French entertainment industry. We will first focus on the male gaze — European, Caribbean and African — and the way it constructed the Black femme body, to better understand how Black female authors undermine, resist, parody, or continue to bear the weight of these early images when they take control of their own representation. While our primary readings will be authored by French- writing women, including Mayotte Capecia (Martinique), Marie Vieux- Chauvet (Haiti), Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe), Mariama Bâ (Senegal) and Marie Ndiaye (France), our theoretical foundation will include anglophone thinkers, such as bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Saidiya Hartman, and others. Readings and discussions will be in English. Also Offered As: AFRC 6910, COML 6910, GSWS 6910 1 Course Unit
Topics vary. For current course description, please see French Department's webpage: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
Topics will vary. Please see French department's website for current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/french/pc Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit 2026-27 Catalog | Generated 08/03/26
FREN 7770Francophone, Italian and Germanic Proseminar
This proseminar will introduce first-year FIGS graduate students to doctoral studies in the humanities. It is organized into four parts. Part I, “Scholarly Habits and Resources,” introduces students to a variety of resources at Penn, discusses the scholarly habits that graduate students should develop, and covers strategies for promoting mental and physical well-being as a graduate student. Part II, “Intervening in the Field,” introduces students to the processes of conference participation and article publication. Part III, “The Dissertation,” covers the ins-and- outs of writing the dissertation. Part IV, “Awards, Networking, and Jobs,” addresses the importance of awards and networking as well as the academic and non-academic job markets. While DEI issues are constantly addresses throughout the course, also in the form of assignments, there are also bridge sessions to other courses, especially on pedagogy and recent research trends. In addition to weekly discussions and activities, this course will include a number of guest speakers who will share their expertise and give guidance on the how-tos of the field. Students will be given pre- as well as post-class activities to reflect on each week’s topic and begin to prepare a dossier for later use in their graduate studies. Much of the information in this proseminar becomes particularly relevant during the final years of coursework and your dissertation writing years, but it is important to be introduced to these topics and to begin to think about them now. This course is designed for PhD students in Francophone, Italian, and Germanic Studies. Many of the topics apply to all three fields; however, students will also have the opportunity to work on areas that are specific to their language for certain topics. They will also be able to add to the course materials for future graduate students in FIGS.
The student will work with his or her advisor to prepare a proposal of at least 10-15 pages. The proposal should set forth the following as clearly as possible: 1) the dissertation topic and its presumed value within the field of study, 2) the critical instrument(s) chosen to approach the topic, 3) existing scholarship on the topic as well as scholarship relevant to it, and 4) some indication of how the dissertation arguments will be structured, along with a tentative table of contents. Not Offered Every Year 1 Course Unit
