Current Course Offerings

Spring 2023 Upper-Division Courses

FREN 364 – Love & War in Medieval France

MW 12:30 – 1:45 PM, Walsh 499

This seminar will offer an introduction to the world of medieval French literature through the lens of its two most important themes and driving forces: love and war. The territory of medieval France played host to some of the most influential and highly regarded love poetry ever composed; it also inspired
stories of war and cruelty that were unspeakably violent.

No prior experience studying the Middle Ages is required; texts will be read in modern French translation. In case of any questions, contact Prof. Joseph Johnson: jj892@georgetown.edu.

FREN 437 – Food, Race, and the French Empire

TTh 8:00am – 9:15am, ICC 223B

Because food is never just food.

This course explores how the production, consumption, and circulation of specific crops, foodstuffs, food technology, cuisines, and recipes were essential to the establishment and maintenance of empire in France and its colonies, from early colonization to the post-independence era.

Via branding and marketing, the racializing of food contributed to how race itself continues to be socially constructed through food.

Because eating is an intimate act of boundary-crossing, ingestion is fraught with societal, political, and racial anxieties, yet it also opens up the possibility for sharing, commensality, companionship, and communion.

Questions discussed in this class include:

Food and power: how did the French colonial empire help determine the global distribution and control of foodstuff and crops?
What is a cuisine? How is “French gastronomy” used as a tool for cultural hegemony and diplomatic influence? How and why did UNESCO grant intangible world heritage status to the “gastronomic meal of the French” (2010)?
How do cookbooks and recipes shape not only foodways but social hierarchies?
Food, nation, migration: How can we source and eat the food from so-called “ethnic” cultures responsibly? Why are kebab and couscous popular yet considered “cheap eats”? Why are African-born chefs and restaurants enjoying renewed interest?
Why are meat and animals at the core of political controversies about halal foods, vegetarian menus in school cafeteria, and debates on veganism, masculinity and barbecue in the Anthropocene?

Contact: Professor Durmelat – sylvie.durmelat@georgetown.edu

FREN 464 – Francophone Feminist Thought

MW 9:30am – 10:45am, ICC 216

In this discussion-based course, the focus will be on individuals and movements central to understanding the history and arguments of feminist thought, from the French Revolution to the contemporary Francophone world. The struggle to achieve greater justice and equality for women has taken many forms and has emerged repeatedly in the past two centuries. This seminar will give students the opportunity to discover French and Francophone voices and tendencies that can help inform and even inspire us in our current historical moment, because they offer tools and strategies for thinking through and tackling situations of injustice experienced by women and a variety of other marginalized groups in Europe, North America and Africa. While focused on feminist thought specifically, this course will also include fiction, non-fiction, and cinematic texts that explore Afrofeminisms, Quebec feminisms, intersectional theory, and reactions to feminism’s gains. Experiential learning and a museum field trip are being planned, and students will be encouraged to pursue individual interests and research topics.

First-time course offering by Professor Miléna Santoro, milena.santoro@georgetown.edu. For the
syllabus, please visit GU360.

FREN 467 – 20th Century French Literature and Photography

MWF 2:00pm – 2:50pm, WGR 403A

In this course, we will study the relationship between 20th Century French literature and photography. We will start by stressing the historical role played by Surrealism in a new definition of photography that questioned its realist tradition and developed instead a magical and supernatural esthetics.

Through this course, we will read, view, and discuss works by André Breton, Roland Barthes, Denis Roche, and Michelangelo Antonioni that will allow us to discuss themes such as love, madness, memory, death, crime and evil.

Contact: Professor Taminiaux taminiap@georgetown.edu

Fall 2022

FREN 001 Introductory French I
N. Erradi, A. Emmitte, P. Janssens

FREN 002 Introductory French II
A. Emmitte

FREN 011 Intensive Basic French
S. Cohen-Scali

FREN 021 Intermediate French I
S. Cohen-Scali , N. Erradi, C. Grand Favre, Z. Mirsharif

FREN 022 Intermediate French II
S. Cohen-Scali, N. Erradi, M. Haffaf, I. Smorodinsky, A. Webel

FREN 032 Intensive Intermediate French
A. Webel, J. Sanderson

FREN 101 Advanced French I
A. Andrade, G. Daumas, C. Grand Favre, S.A. Madjlessi

FREN 102 Advanced French II
A. Andrade, P. Taminiaux

FREN 111 Intensive Advanced French I
E. Twohig & I. Smorodinsky

FREN 112 Intensive Advanced French II
M. Santoro & A. Webel

FREN 151 Advanced Grammar and Writing
G. Daumas, S.A. Madjlessi, P. Young

FREN 161 Topics for Oral Proficiency
B. Bridaa

FREN 250 Rdg Txts/Fr-Speak World: Cultures
A. O’Neil-Henry, G. Spielmann, P. Taminiaux, P. Young

FREN 251 Rdg Txts/Fr-Speak World: Lits
J. Johnson, M. Santoro

FREN 263 Theater Workshop: Moliere
G. Spielmann

FREN 293 Business French
B. Bridaa

FREN 295 French Phonetics
I. Smorodinsky

FREN 336 Football and Francophonie
E. Twohig

FREN 337 Women in 19th-Century France
A. O’Neil-Henry

FREN 469 Desire/Gndr/Lyric Early Mod Fr
D. Lesko Baker

Spring 2023

FREN 001 Introductory French I
P. Taminiaux

FREN 002 Introductory French II
A. Emmitte, N. Erradi, P. Janssens

FREN 009 French for Spanish Speakers
J. Sanderson

FREN 011 Intensive Basic French
S. Cohen-Scali

FREN 021 Intermediate French I
S. Cohen-Scali , N. Erradi, Z. Mirsharif

FREN 022 Intermediate French II
G. Daumas, N. Erradi, I. Smorodinsky,

FREN 032 Intensive Intermediate French
A. Webel

FREN 101 Advanced French I
A. Andrade, C. Grand Favre, Z. Mirsharif

FREN 102 Advanced French II
A. Andrade, G. Spielmann

FREN 111 Intensive Advanced French I
J. Johnson & I. Smorodinsky

FREN 112 Intensive Advanced French II
P. Taminiaux & A. Webel

FREN 151 Advanced Grammar and Writing
S. Cohen-Scali, G. Daumas

FREN 161 Topics for Oral Proficiency
B. Bridaa, A. Sobanet

FREN 162 Topics for Oral Proficiency: Frc Africa
B. Bridaa

FREN 250 Rdg Txts/Fr-Speak World: Cultures
J. Boum Make, S. Durmelat

FREN 251 Rdg Txts/Fr-Speak World: Lits
S. Lee, M. Santoro

FREN 264 18th Cent Comedy Theater Workshop
G. Spielmann

FREN 290 Louisiana: Language/History/Culture
A. Emmitte

FREN 293 Business French
B. Bridaa

FREN 294 French for Politics
A. Webel

FREN 334 Comics: Fr Lang Bande Dessinee
G. Spielmann

FREN 364 Love & War in Medieval France
J. Johnson

FREN 437 Food, Race & the French Empire
S. Durmelat

FREN 464 Francophone Feminist Thought
M. Santoro

FREN 465 Caring in Crisis
J. Boum Make

FREN 467 20th Cen Fren Arts: Photography
P. Taminiaux