Course Offerings by term

A bilingual survey of linguistics conducted in French and English. Combines theory and practice to introduce students to the basic concepts in phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Focuses on the study of the human language as a system, the forms and functions of words and sentence elements, the creativity inherent in language systems, and language varieties. Prepares students to further investigate areas such as Historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, language pathologies and first/second language acquisition.

This course reviews basic and complex sentence patterns in greater depth through discussions on students experience in Paris. Cultural and historical aspects of the French life are introduced. Students will learn additional vocabulary to express opinions, beliefs, doubts and emotions, and are shown various language registers (formal/informal vocabulary and structures) and intonations. Examples are taken from real life situations, film, television, newspaper articles, etc.The four language skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing) will be reinforced.

(formerly FR307 and FR2055)This course is designed for highly motivated students who plan to enroll in advanced French courses on campus or abroad. Heavy emphasis will be placed on individual work based on customized programs of study in chosen textbooks. Special attention will be given training on various forms of written French as well to a strengthening of the coherent structure of these writings.Class time will be devoted to analyzing the students’ trials and errors, through group discussions, review and quizzes. Taught in French.

From the early Romantic period to the end of the XIXth Century, women’s folie furieuse or melancholia have been the subject of fascination and depicted in numerous literary works, from the French novelist Balzac’s Adieu to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre or the American Charlotte Perkins’ The Yellow Wallpaper.

The lives and works of French women artists such as Camille Claudel, the sculptress Louise Bourgeois, the writers Marguerite Duras or Chloé Delaume, the recent legitimization and recognition of the bodies of work of Séraphine de Senlis, of Aloïse Corbaz, are testimonies of a drastic evolution in the way French society views women’s contributions to art history and culture but also to mental health and imagination: not only has the social gaze drastically changed its judgment of women, but madness and reason, “Art brut” and “official Art” have appeared closer to each other, certainly not the polar opposites our “enlightened” ancestors had made them to be. By including the study of Art Brut (Outsider Art) in particular, the course thus aims at bringing students to questions their views of art, and their judgement on complex, sometimes intricate personalities.
Visits to the Halle Saint-Pierre in Montmartre and the Collection ABCD in Montreuil, study trips to the Lausanne Collection de l’Art brut and/or to Villeneuve d’Asq’s LAM museum will allow students to visualize the disconcerting works created by rebellious, marginal and often solitary artists, experience the complexities of human expressions and the therapeutic value of art.