SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES

FRENCH

The Undergraduate Program in French offers a broad humanistic course of study designed for students in the liberal arts. The orientation of the program is multidisciplinary, where the study of literature is linked to critical, cultural, and historical concerns. Courses reflect the faculty's interest in the related disciplines of history, philosophy, anthropology, women's studies, cultural studies, and comparative literature, and express its conviction that the study of French literature and culture is enriched by pursuing its relations with other disciplines, fields, and cultures.

Lower-division language courses encourage students to participate in the creative process of language, to think in French as they learn to understand, speak, read, and write. These courses are taught entirely in French, and the approach to teaching stresses the interdependence of the four basic language skills and makes them mutually reinforcing. The Language Laboratory is used to complement classroom activity.

At the intermediate lower-division level, texts of contemporary literary and social interest provide the focus for advanced conversation, reading, and composition. After the second year, advanced courses in conversation and writing enable students to attain a greater degree of proficiency, preparing them for further study in the multidisciplinary upper-division program.

All upper-division offerings are taught in the seminar mode. Because classes are limited in size, they promote and encourage participation and discussion and facilitate direct contact with professors. In the introductory courses in literature, texts are studied in their historical context. The student learns to analyze and interpret different types of creative literature and is introduced to various critical concepts and vocabularies. At the more advanced level, the multidisciplinary courses bring together material and methodologies from the various disciplines in order to address interpretive problems of French literature, culture, and history. In recent years, courses have been offered in literature and political opposition, monsters and madness in Renaissance literature, cubism in painting and poetry, ethnography and literature, French cinema, autobiography, Francophone literature, and Albert Camus and Algeria. The content of courses changes yearly according to the interests of both faculty and students.

The great majority of students who major in French pursue careers in business and commerce, where they can take advantage not only of their proficiency in French language but also of their knowledge of French literature and culture. Many students also go on to law school, to medical school, and to careers in the diplomatic service. In recent years, graduates have entered the field of education in increasing numbers. The Department's multidisciplinary approach to the study of literature teaches students to think critically and develops analytical skills that can be applied to a wide range of problems. It also helps students to develop the interpretive and writing skills necessary to express their own ideas clearly and persuasively. Whether they enter business or professions such as law, education, or government, French majors acquire the intellectual and communicative skills requisite for success.

- From the 2007-2008 UCI General Catalogue