Current Course Offerings

Upper-division offerings:

FREN 3706 – French for Global Health

This course is intended for those with a strong command of French, seeking to improve cultural and linguistic proficiency through the lens of global health. Using authentic documents, in a variety of media—text, images, and audiovisual content—students will deepen their understanding of historical and current issues within Francophone communities, from France to Canada, Africa, and beyond. They will also build specialized vocabulary, strengthen grammar, and develop communication strategies through active, task-based learning activities based on real-world scenarios in the fields of medicine and public health. Through both targeted and open-ended exercises in speaking, listening, reading, and writing, students will acquire the tools necessary to engage meaningfully with health-related topics in a range of settings, including personal, local, national, and international contexts. Themes explored will include individual health, mental health, preventative health, nutrition and food systems, access to care, humanitarian initiatives, and more. No prior study of public health, medicine, or related fields is required. Prerequisite: successful completion of FREN 3350 or 3351.

FREN 4381 – Immigration and Cinema

How are the mobility and experiences of migrants and their descendants represented and shaped by cinema? Filmmaking by and about migrants and their descendants in hexagonal France has expanded from the documentary and socio-realist vein to encompass increasingly diverse subjects and genres, such as comedy, historical drama, road movies, police movies, coming-of-age films, romance, “banlieue films,” ghost movies, and even science fiction. This cinematic production has gained visibility, commercial viability, mainstream recognition, and critical acclaim, signaling that filmmakers and actors of immigrant descent have gained an undeniable degree of access in the film industry. How can the social and cultural impact of these productions be assessed in light of continued police brutality in the banlieues, overt racism and implicit bias, as well as anti-immigrant sentiment in public discourses? As cultural representations, commercial commodities, and cinematic works, these films perform cultural interventions through storytelling; we will explore them together to examine the strategies and aesthetic choices these films and their makers adopt to make their voice heard, establish their place in the national narrative, and potentially reframe it.

FREN 4538 – 19th Century Paris Underworlds

This course will take as its focus the urban underworld of 19th century Paris, in both the literal and figurative meanings of “under world.” Divided into three units – crime; prostitution, and public works – this class will explore literary and sociological representations of nineteenth-century France’s urban underbelly, as well as the public works projects below Paris that shaped the city and its inhabitants above. Using a literary and cultural studies approach to the topic, we will examine canonical and popular works of fiction alongside nineteenth-century social studies as well as visual representations of the underground. On occasion these primary readings will be supplemented with twentieth and twenty-first century historical and literary criticism on relevant topics.

Fall 2026 Courses

FREN 1001 Introductory French I
A. Emmitte, N. Erradi, Z. Mirsharif, F. Nkundikije

FREN 1002 Introductory French II
A. Emmitt e, F. Nkundikije

FREN 1009 French for Spanish Speakers
J. Sanderson

FREN 1011 Intensive Basic French
I. Smorodinsky

FREN 1501 Intermediate French I
H. Anaye, N. Erradi, E. Robinson

FREN 1502 Intermediate French II
G. Daumas, L. Iber, E. Robinson

FREN 1511 Intensive Intermediate French
S.A. Madjlessi, N. Erradi

FREN 2001 Advanced French I
T. Din

FREN 2002 Advanced French II
J. Boum Make, T. Din

FREN 2011 Intensive Advanced French
G. Daumas, I. Smorodinsky, E. Twohig

FREN 2551 Composition & Style
S. Durmelat, J. Johnson, A. O’Neil-Henry

FREN 2761 Topics for Oral Proficiency
O. Dat, M. Haffaf

FREN 2762 Topics for French Oral Proficiency: Francophone Africa
J. Le Guelte

FREN 3001 Coffee, News, & Conversation
O. Dat

FREN 3350 Gateway: Text, Image, Culture
S. Lee, J. Le Guelte, M. Santoro

FREN 3701 Business French
O. Dat

FREN 3703 French Phonetics
I. Smorodinsky

FREN 3706 French for Global Health
L. Iber

FREN 4381 Immigration and Cinema
S. Durmelat

FREN 4538 19th Century Paris Underworlds
A. O’Neil-Henry