French (FRE)

FRE 101. Elementary French. (4)

Emphasis on multiple skill acquisition, speaking, and writing, and how cultural difference affects experience of the world.
Prerequisite: Placement exam score.

FRE 102. Elementary French. (4)

Emphasis on multiple skill acquisition, speaking, and writing, and how cultural difference affects experience of the world.
Prerequisite: FRE 101 or placement exam score.

FRE 131. Masterpieces of French Culture in Translation. (3)

Accessible introduction to French culture through the study of selected examples of significant works in literature and the arts (understood in a broad sense). Works are examined in their social, historical, and ideological contexts and cover the period from the Middle Ages to the mid-20th century. All readings in English translation. IIB, IIIB. PA-3B, PA-4C. CAS-B-LIT.

FRE 177. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)

FRE 201. Intermediate French. (3)

Integrates intermediate-level language-skill development and study of cultural difference. Provides student to student interaction and addresses a broad range of cultural issues.
Prerequisite: FRE 102 or placement exam score.

FRE 202. Critical Analysis of French Culture. (3)

Second-semester, intermediate French course addresses literary and cultural issues through the study of short stories, poetry, film, journalism, and advertising. Works represent several French-speaking countries. Because texts, discussion, and compositions are in French, students continue to develop speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. IIB, IIIB. PA-3B, PA-4C. CAS-A.
Prerequisite: FRE 201 or placement exam score.

FRE 269. Global French Cinema. (3)

Critical survey of major directors, genres, and movements in French and Francophone cinema from the silent era to the digital age. The course focuses on diverse cultural, aesthetic, and historical contexts and invites reflection upon how French-speaking films intersect with global film culture. Emphasis on the formal and stylistic analysis of film language and on constructing interpretations and arguments about films that take into account the broader contexts including different cultural perspectives, film theory, and aesthetics. Taught in English. PA-3B, PA-4B. CAS-B.
Cross-listed with FST 269.

FRE 277. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)

FRE 301. Culture & Interpretation. (3)

Gateway to upper-level offerings in French. Organized around a theme developed by each professor (for example: modernity, desire, revolution, or voyages), this class initiates students into the work of original analysis and creative interpretation. The course will include works from a variety of media, voices, and historical moments, from films to comics, speeches to sonnets, Paris to Algiers, Versailles to the street. Students will explore the relationships between literature and culture while gaining exposure to a range of approaches to, and theories of, reading. Students will hone their ability to present their ideas in writing. IC. PA-4B, SI-04. CAS-B-LIT.
Prerequisite: FRE 202, or placement through Miami's French language placement exam.

FRE 302. Pre-Revolutionary Literature and Life. (3)

What is the relation between literature and life? How does life shape literature, and how does literature shape life? From the rowdy streets of Medieval Paris to the court of Versailles, from troubador love songs to the first modern novels, this introduction to French culture from the Middle Ages to the Revolution, explores literature as a live, engaged activity that provides a place to order, conceive, reimagine, and explore human and social experience. Course topics will change regularly, and can include issues such as ethics, space, bodies, medical discourses, legal discourses, trauma and witness, or insoluble problems. Alternatively, they may be organized around questions such as what is a subject? How are subjects related to collectivities? Systematic development of writing and speaking skills. CAS-B-LIT.
Prerequisite: FRE 301.

FRE 303. Modern and Contemporary Literature and Life. (3)

From the Revolution of 1789 to the current day, France has weathered an astonishing array of governments (five republics, two empires, monarchies, Vichy); expanded colonial projects and decolonized; and hotly debated issues such as public education, the role of women and minorities in society, and the tensions between universalism and individual human rights. This introduction to French and Francophone culture from the Revolution to the current moment explores literature as a live, engaged activity that provides a place to order, conceive, reimagine, and explore human and social experience. Course topics will change regularly, and can include issues such as colonialism, ethics, space, bodies, medical discourses, legal discourses, trauma and witness or insoluble problems. Alternatively, they may be organized around questions such as what is a subject? How are subjects related to collectivities? Systematic development of writing and speaking skills. ADVW. PA-1C. CAS-B-LIT.
Prerequisite: FRE 301.

FRE 310. Texts in Context. (3)

Examines ways creative texts (significant literary, historical, graphic, or architectural systems) are linked to various cultural contexts. Explores the ways in which cultural productions are interconnected to specific historical contexts in which they are created. Focuses on interrelations between cultural productions and their historical, sociological, scientific, or philosophical ramifications. Explains how French cultural discourse has regulated meaning of French texts and how these texts have changed institutions of cultural discourse. Systematic development of writing and speaking skills. ADVW. PA-1C.
Prerequisite: FRE 301.

FRE 340. Internship. (0-20)

FRE 341. Conversation and Current Events in France. (3)

Focuses on the development of speaking, writing, and presentation skills based on current social and political events in France. Viewing and discussions of SCOLA (International News Programming by Satellite) programming are an integral part of the course.

FRE 350. Topics in French Literature in Translation. (3)

Discussion of selected works that suggest particular thematic problems. For non-specialist with little or no background in French literary history. CAS-B-LIT.

FRE 361. French Pronunciation. (3)

Theoretical and practical study of French pronunciation. Corrective exercises, laboratory work.

FRE 377. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)

FRE 404/FRE 504. The French Renaissance. (3)

Study of major writers of prose and poetry in the French Renaissance, including Rabelais, Montaigne, Labe, Ronsard, and DuBellay. CAS-B-LIT.

FRE 411/FRE 511. Modern and Contemporary French Society. (3)

Issues in France from the twentieth century to the present. Topics will vary, and may include themes such as antiracism and the rise of the far right; climate change and ecological activism; colonialism and migration; critical thought; and social class. Guided independent research is included. Taught in French.
Prerequisite: FRE 301 or permission of the instructor.

FRE 420/FRE 520. Topics in French & Francophone Comic Art. (1-3; maximum 6)

Exploration of the history of French-language comics and related media, and analysis of form. Topics vary. Taught in French.

FRE 425. Senior Seminar. (3)

This capstone course is an intensive interdisciplinary seminar on a selected topic that explores the connections between the literatures and cultural systems linked to the Greek and Roman world, and to the French and Italian traditions. Taught in English, this course invites majors in French, Italian, and Classical Studies to strengthen their powers of critical thinking and synthesis through research, writing, and discussion. Required of all French, Italian, and Classical Studies majors in their senior year and open to qualified non-majors with permission of instructor. The capstone is taught on a rotating basis by faculty in French, Italian, and Classical Studies. SC. CAS-B, CAS-W.
Prerequisite: senior standing in the major; for other majors, permission of instructor.
Cross-listed with CLS 425 and ITL 425.

FRE 430/FRE 530. Topics in Early Modern French Literature. (1-3; maximum 6)

Thematic explorations of early modern French literature of all genres. Focus on critical and research methods and writing. CAS-B-LIT.
Prerequisite: FRE 301.

FRE 440/FRE 540. Gender, Sexuality, & Creativity. (3)

Exploration of issues of gender, sexuality, and identity in works by writers, filmmakers, and/or artists from the French-speaking world. Critical approaches may vary and could include major trends and perspectives in gender, race, and sexuality theories; cross-cultural and intersectional feminisms; and trans and queer theory.

FRE 443/FRE 543. French Medieval Literature. (3)

Introduction to the literature and society of Medieval France. Study of literary texts and works of art, and hands-on experience with medieval manuscripts and materials used to make them. Conducted in French. CAS-B.

FRE 451/FRE 551. Rebellions, Revolutions, and Avant-gardes. (3)

Analyzes the concept of revolution by examining one or more moments of upheaval and renewal, including political events such as the revolutions of 1789 and the nineteenth century, aesthetic avant-gardes such as romanticism or surrealism, scientific movements such as seventeenth-century optics or the rise of medicine, or technological discoveries such as the invention of the printing press and its implications for society. Taught in French. CAS-B-LIT.

FRE 452/FRE 552. The 19th Century. (3)

Nineteenth-century France was wracked by multiple revolutions and changes of government, but it also transformed many of the bases of social life and led to a flowering in many of the arts. The century began with the vast Napoleonic expansion across Europe and ended with searching introspections about the notions of decadence and decay. In literature, it gave rise to what are arguably the greatest achievements in French lyric poetry and the novel. It created modern medicine both as a practice and a social force. It invented large-scale speculative capitalism and the modern city. This course will focus on exemplary aspects of nineteenth-century cultural production in France and may include literary, aesthetic, political, scientific, and philosophical trends. CAS-B-LIT.

FRE 453/FRE 553. Poetry. (3)

Exploration of French poetry and poetics. The course examines techniques and formal aspects of poetry, prosody and rhetoric, by focusing on certain authors and historical movements. It also analyzes the notion of the poetic as a way of envisioning and making sense of the world. CAS-B-LIT.

FRE 454/FRE 554. Modernity: Crisis and Creation. (3)

Examines the relationship between major conceptual revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries and corresponding crises of representation in the arts. These two centuries were shaped by upheavals in the sciences and social sciences, and they bore witness to multiple revolutions, two world wars, the end of colonialism, industrial and technological change, the invention of psychoanalysis, and the elaboration of Marxist critique. This course will explore one or several interdisciplinary connections of the modern period such as: literature and science; literature, art, and medicine; film and philosophy; literature and law. Taught in French. CAS-B-LIT.
Prerequisite: FRE 301 or permission of the instructor.

FRE 462/FRE 562. 20th- and 21st-Century Literature, Art, and Thought. (3)

Exploration of 20th and 21st-century innovations in literary forms and styles, and of new currents of thought in the French-speaking world. The focus of the course will vary and may include avant-gardes, new developments in literary and aesthetic expression, connections between literature and other arts, and the broader significance of literary language. Taught in French. CAS-B-LIT.
Prerequisite: FRE 301 or permission of the instructor.

FRE 477. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)

FRE 480. Independent Reading for Departmental Honors. (1-6)

FRE 600. Seminar in French Literature. (1-4)

Intensive study of selected authors and critical perspectives. Offerings vary.

FRE 614. Introduction to French Literary Theory. (3)

Required of all French graduate students. An introduction to major movements and figures in French literary theory of the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries and to the practices of literary criticism.

FRE 677. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)

FRE 680. Independent Studies. (1-6; maximum 15)

Independent work in French literature or language.

FRE 700. Research for Master's Thesis. (1-12; maximum 12)