French Course Descriptions: 2012/2013

To view course descriptions simply click on a course number or scroll down.
For classes with a language focus (101-203) see the UO class schedule or the UofO Online Catalog

Only courses with active links will be offered during the 2012/2013 academic year

* There may be more than one course with this course number offered during the same term*
(ex: there are 2 different sections of FR 407 offered during the Spring 2012 term)

FALL 2012

FR 150 Cultural Legacies of France – Moore
French civilization in France and beyond. Possible topics are the Francophone world, premodern, early modern, and modern France; French film, architecture, and painting.     return to course list

FR 301: Culture et langage: la France contemporaine- Poizat-Newcomb
Training in language and culture of modern France using newspapers, short stories, poetry and film. Vocabulary enrichment activities. Conducted in French.     return to course list

FR 303: Culture et langage: identités francophones-  Djiffack & Mefoude
Language skills with emphasis on the global cultures of the French-speaking world. Grammar review.     return to course list

FR 317: French Survey: Medieval and Renaissance- Schachter
Introduction to major themes and ideas in French literature from the medieval and Renaissance periods through the reading of representative texts.     return to course list

FR 318: French Survey: Baroque and Enlightenment – Moore
Introduction to major themes and ideas in French literature from the 17th and 18th centuries through the reading of representative texts.     return to course list

FR 319: French Survey: 19th and 20th Centuries - McPherson
Representative literary works from the 19th and 20th centuries with attention to literary analysis and literary history.     return to course list

FR 320: Intensive French Grammar Review - Williams
This course promotes linguistic competency in French through intensive review and refinement of French grammar while introducing basic vocabulary and linguistic concepts.     return to course list

FR 333: Love and Intrigue in French Prose- Hester
This course follows the development of French prose, in various forms and genres, from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Short stories, tales, letters, and novels are the primary focus of the reading. Moving chronologically, the course takes love as its principal theme and explores how the representation of this universal topic can reflect different spiritual, political, philosophical, and poetic notions, not just of a particular historical period or literary movement, but also of an individual author. Readings can include stories of cruelty or wit from Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptaméron, intrigue from the court of Louis XIV in the letters of Madame de Sévigné, excerpts from the libertine epistolary novel Les liaisons dangereuses, and short stories by Guy de Maupassant and Albert Camus.      return to course list

FR 416: Advanced Writing In French- Poizat Newcomb
Class focuses on vocabulary development (Monday), creative writing (Wednesday) and essay writing (Friday). Step by step, students learn to write a coherent and interesting essay and think in a reader-oriented way. The class covers argumentative skills as well as academic research skills. Students learn how to choose appropriate and relevant topics, how to articulate and present a claim, how to identify and research reliable sources, and how to organize and support ideas and arguments. Conducted in French.         return to course list

FR 451/551: Painters and Writers- Albert-Galiter
In this class we will investigate the issue of literary representation, the interaction between visual artists and writers and the interdisciplinary topic of literary discourses on art through a close textual reading of descriptions of painting, portraits and art allegories included in poems, novels, and essays by writers as Molière, Corneille, La Fontaine, Madame de Lafayette and others.
We will analyze the emergence of art criticism during the seventeenth century(Du Fresnoy, Perrault, Roger de Piles, Félibien) and also the conditions under which a work of art has been received by an audience contemporary to the artist (Corneille, Molière, Perrault, La Fontaine, Scarron and Poussin).  M.A. Period 2          return to course list

FR 490: Roman Francophone et crise d’identité- Djiffack
Depuis la Négritude jusqu’à nos jours, les écrivains africains n’ont de cesse de souligner le malaise des Africains que ce soit dans le rapport avec l’autre ou même dans la société pré-coloniale ou post-indépendance. Différentes formes romanesques ont en leur centre le mal-être des personnages, un mal-être qui se traduit par une véritable crise d’identité. Le roman initiatique du Marocain  Tahar Ben Jelloun (LaPrière de l’absent) autant que le récit satirique du Congolais Henri Lopes(Le Pleurer-rire) illustrent bien cette crise d’identité. Il en est de même de L’Aventure ambiguë du Sénégalais Cheick Hamidou Kane ou du Devoir de violence du Malien Yambo Ouologuem . Le Vieux nègre et la médaille du Camerounais Ferdinand Oyono aussi bien que La Case du Commandeur d’Édouard Glissant s’inscrivent également dans cette mouvance.

Prescribed books: Édouard Glissant, La Case du commandeur, Ferdinand Oyono, Le Vieux nègre et la médaille, Yambo Ouologuem, Le Devoir de violence, Cheick Hamidou Kane, L’Aventure ambiguë, Tahar Ben Jelloun, La Prière de l’absent, Henri Lopes, Le Pleureur-rire, Fatou Diome, La Préférence nationale      return to course list

FR 490/590: 20th Century Literature: Autobiographical Writings- McPherson
This course will focus on life writings, memoirs and autofictions by 20th- and 21st-century French and francophone women writers. We will be looking at autobiography as a genre and considering such topics as the relationship between memory and “truth” ; the narration of childhood and adolescence; the construction of identities across time; the gendering of autobiographical narratives; and the social, psychological, political and cultural contexts of individuals’ life stories. Readings may include works or excerpts of works by some of the following authors: Beauvoir, Colette, Duras, Sarraute, Ernaux, Bouraoui, Roy, Pineau, Blais, Brossard. Period 3 or 4          return to course list

RL 407/507: Travel Literature in the Age of Curiosity- Hester
For centuries travel and travel writing have been parallel endeavors. In the early modern period, prescriptions concerning the art of travel also addressed how to properly chronicle a journey. However, as curiosity became an acceptable motive for travel, European travelers took greater individual liberties not only in choosing an itinerary but also in narrating their travels. In this course we will read from English, French, Italian, and Spanish travel accounts in order to consider a broad range of issues and questions, including: taxonomies of travel writing, travel narrative as theoretical discourse, and the construction of local and global identities through the representation of travel. Readings will include the travel writing of humanists, navigators, conquistadores, Grand Tourists, adventurers, and fugitives.
This course is taught in English. Romance languages students will read the primary texts and complete written work in their target language to receive credit in French, Italian, or Spanish. M.A. periods: Spanish 1,2; French 1, 2; Italian 2,3.           return to course list

RL 607: Doctoral Workshop- Taylor
Course description currently not available.            return to course list

RL 608: Workshop on Teaching Methodology -Davis
This course is an introduction to the basic principles of second language acquisition and their application in classroom settings. Topics covered include instructional techniques for developing the three language modes (presentational, interpretive, interpersonal), standards for foreign language learning, proficiency assessment, content-based instruction (CBI), techniques for addressing learner variables, and the role of culture in the L2 classroom. In addition to the theoretical readings and discussions, students will develop a portfolio of teaching materials ready for classroom use. (All lectures and readings are in English; individual projects are prepared in your target language.)     return to course list

WINTER 2013

FR 301: Culture et langage: la France contemporaine - Moore
Training in language and culture of modern France using newspapers, short stories, poetry and film. Vocabulary enrichment activities. Conducted in French.     return to course list

FR 303: Culture et langage: identités francophones - Poizat Newcomb
Language skills with emphasis on the global cultures of the French-speaking world. Grammar review.     return to course list

FR 307: Oral Skills- Williams
Practice in improving oral, comprehension, and listening skills in French. Communicative activities in class in addition to language laboratory work.     return to course list

FR 317: French Survey: Medieval and Renaissance- Hester
Introduction to major themes and ideas in French literature from the medieval and Renaissance periods through the reading of representative texts.     return to course list

FR 318: French Survey: Baroque and Enlightenment- Albert-Galtier
Introduction to major themes and ideas in French literature from the 17th and 18th centuries through the reading of representative texts.     return to course list

FR 319: French Survey: 19th and 20th Centuries- Djiffack
Representative literary works (poetry, drama and prose) from the 19th and 20th centuries with attention to literary history and literary analysis. Authors include Lamartine, Hugo, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Apollinaire, Eluard, Musset, Beckett, Maupassant, Camus, Aude and Duras.     return to course list

FR 320: Intensive French Grammar Review - Williams
This course promotes linguistic competency in French through intensive review and refinement of French grammar while introducing basic vocabulary and linguistic concepts.     return to course list

FR 331: French Theater- Albert-Galtier
Explores important aspects of French theater. Reading plays from different periods. Emphasizes formal aspects and critical reading.     return to course list

FR 407: Joan of Arc: From Maid of Orléans to Mother of France- Schachter
How did a cross-dressing peasant girl buck religious authority and change the course of an interminable war before being put to death and subsequently becoming a powerful and contested symbol? In this course, we will consider the historical Jeanne d’Arc in the fifteenth century as well as the legendary figure she subsequently became. We will begin by considering her role in the 100 Years War rallying the French and helping Charles VII to the throne, her trial for heresy which led to her being burned at the stake at the age of 19, and a posthumous retrial some 25 years later that cleared her of the earlier accusations of heterodoxy and declared her a martyr of the Church. We will then consider her role as a contested figure in French politics, where for example she is appropriated as a nationalist symbol by the far right and used as a subversive example by the left. In addition to works providing historical context and original trial documents, our readings will include literary works by authors such as Voltaire and Anouilh. We will also watch movies such as Carl Theodor Dreyer’s astonishing The Passion of Jeanne d’Arc, a silent film in which Renée Jeanne Falconetti playing Jeanne offers a performance considered to be one of the greatest in cinema history, (1928) and Luc Besson’s populist Jeanne d’Arc, starring Milla Jovovich and Dustin Hoffman (1999). Students will be encouraged to develop final projects focusing on Jeanne d’Arc in contexts of their own choosing.       return to course list

FR 407/507: Renaissance France: Identity and Alterity- Schachter
In this course on the French Renaissance, we will address a series of often-interrelated topics related to the general theme “identity and alterity.” These include gender roles and relationships between the sexes (as well early modern understandings of sex!), cannibals and monsters, and perhaps less spectacularly but no less importantly evolving notions of what we might call the “self.” Our readings will include works by Marguerite de Navarre, Rabelais, Montaigne and Jean de Léry as well as secondary literature. We will also watch at least two films: Nelson Pereira dos Santos’ How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês in the original Portuguese) and Daniel Vigne’s Le retour de Martin Guerre. Room will be made in the syllabus near the end of the quarter for participants to suggest additional readings (for example, poetry or works around the wars of religion). Written work will include weekly postings to Blackboard, a mid-quarter essay and a final research paper (potentially developed out of the mid-quarter essay). Graduate students preparing their exams will have the option of writing a series of short papers in lieu of a final project. M.A. Period: 1      return to course list

FR 425: French / English Translation- Poizat Newcomb
This class offers an overview of translation theory, as well as in-class and at home practice of translation, both written and oral, from English to French and French to English. Students will learn about the different styles of translation and how to match them with different types of texts, from commercial jingles to classical literature. The class also offers a comparative review of syntactic differences, word definitions, punctuation use, false cognates and commonly used idioms.
Readings in French and English, discussions in French..     return to course list

FR 460/560: Révolutions et Romantismes- Moore
Nous interrogerons les liens entre révolutions et les débuts du romantisme français.
Après une étude approfondie des "Rêveries du promeneur solitaire" posthumes de Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1782) pour dégager l’importance de sa pensée et son esthétique au début du dix-neuvième siècle, nous analyserons des fictions héritières des conflits révolutionnaires et impériaux, "Atala" et "René" (1802) de Chateaubriand, "Corinne ou l’Italie" (1807) de Germaine de Staël. Puis, nous découvrirons les héroïnes et héros éponymes de Marceline Desbordes-Vlamore ("Sarah" 1821), Claire de Duras ("Ourika" 1823) et Victor Hugo, ("Bug Jargal" 1826) et la mise en scène des questions coloniales sous le règne de Napoléon. Les "Mémoires d’outre-tombe" de Chateaubriand, commencées en 1811, dont nous lirons les premiers livres, nous permettront d’étudier un témoignage capital sur les renversements sociopolitiques déclenchés par la Révolution française de 1789 mais aussi d’entendre une parole poétique bouleversée sous le choc de la Terreur méditant sur la mort, l’exil, la nature face à l’Histoire, les beautés de la religion, et le passage du temps... comme Rousseau, certes, mais à partir d’une rive bien différente, l’après-1789 qui verra la montée et la chute de Napoléon Bonaparte. Period 2            return to course list

FR 480/580: Baudelaire/Rimbaud– Gould
Baudelaire et Rimbaud, deux des plus grands poètes mages du 19e siècle, sont associés et dissociés, liés et déliés. Le premier se présente comme père de la poésie moderne, le deuxième, comme son enfant terrible; le premier est célébré par les Symbolistes et les écrivains de la décadence, le deuxième, par les Surréalistes, révolutionnaires et marxistes. Nous allons étudier l’éclosion de leur trajectoires poétiques respectifs, leur recherche de l’inconnu dans le mondain, leur réalisme crue et souvent cruel, leurs expériences hallucinatoires et leurs proses musicales. Chacun dans son temps, voix de sa génération. Des critiques, peintres et musiciens de l’époque vont élucider notre chemin. M.A. Period 3          return to course list

FR 490: 20th Century Literature: Contemporary French Novel- McPherson
This course is about reading. We will be doing it and we will be thinking about it. In our study of selected works of 20th- and 21st-century French literature we will focus on the different ways in which these novels and essays incorporate reflections on books and reading. We will look at how they articulate, thematize and problematize the relationship between author and reader. We will consider links between books and childhood memories, the figure of the translator as reader/writer, the pleasures of the physical act of reading, relationships between reading and time, collaborations and tensions between storytelling and the written text. Readings may include works or excerpts of works by some of the following authors: Proust, Gide, Beauvoir, Duras, Perec, Djebar, Chamoiseau, Poulin, Pineau, Warren, Dupré, Brossard.         return to course list

RL 407/507: Music Wandering the Medieval Romance-Speaking Mediterranean- Wilhite
This course on lyrics composed in Arabic, Hebrew, proto-Spanish, Occitan, Catalan, French, and Italian will be conducted in English. Our objective as regards understanding the geography of the region will be twofold: First we will examine the unique abundance of cultural activity that benefits the region due to its situation along the Mediterranean coast. The historical documents will lead our journey so that we may attempt to recreate the itineraries of medieval musicians. By the end of the course we should be capable of mapping the movements of musical traditions crisscrossing the coasts of the Mediterranean as well as the Sea itself. Second, in so doing we will carefully watch how our study of historical relationships transforms our understanding of a particular region so that we are able to break free from anachronistically viewing the region as divided according to its current national boundaries.

We will focus on the lyrical traditions that move from Baghdad to the Califate of Cordoba which then push upwards towards the Pyrenees where the lyrics of fin' amors composed by troubadours dominate on both sides of the mountain range until the Albigensian Crusade sends its songs into the safety of Catalonia and the Apennine Peninsula. Current scholarship will ground us in the relatively new discipline of Mediterranean Studies. The primary texts will be largely lyrical with examples coming from the Arabic and Hebraic traditions of Al-Andalus, the fin' amors cansos and political sirventès of the troubadours, and the Sicilian school to the dolce stil nuovo. However, the course must also address the travels that take place after the joglars and trobadors fell still in silence; the very characteristics of uniquely Mediterranean cultural confrontations and exchanges is what explains the strange transmission of these lyrical cultural legacies.  M.A. Period: 1      return to course list

RL 407/507: Auteurs and Authorship in French and Italian Cinema: Rigoletto
Internationally famous thanks to canonical directors such as Visconti, Fellini, and Renoir, Italian and French cinema are often defined against Hollywood’s system of mass production, distribution and exhibition. This understanding largely relies on the significance that film auteurism as a critical and cultural practice has had in these two countries. Emerging in France in the 1950s, the politique des auteurs propounded a romantic vision of the film director as supreme creative force. It established the idea that cinema could achieve the status of art only when a film was the expression of a single artist successfully struggling against an industrial system to assert his/her creative autonomy. In Italy, this notion was especially influential in the 1960s thanks to the work of directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni, who reached international fame for his distinctive stylistic approach and his ability to resist mainstream modes of film narration.

In this course, we will learn to recognize distinctive authorial markers (e.g. stylistic signature, idiosyncratic modes of narration etc.) in a number of films including A bout de souffle (dir. Godard, 1960), Les quatre cents coups (dir. Truffaut, 1959), L’avventura (dir. Antonioni, 1960), Il conformista (dir. Bertolucci, 1970) and Caché (dir. Haneke, 2005). We will also consider some of the problems that film auteurism raises. For example, we will test the usefulness of this critical approach in light of the largely collaborative nature of film production (the role of scriptwriters, actors, cinematographers etc.) and of the hierarchies and exclusions that this approach tends to produce.  M.A. Period: 4     return to course list

RL 620: Graduate Study in Romance Languages- Herrmann
Discussion of purposes, problems, and methods of graduate study in Romance languages. Elements of critical method, research techniques, scholarly writing, and professional development.  M.A. Period: 4     return to course list

SPRING 2013

FR 199: 1st Year Oral Skills - Wood
no descritpion available

FR 301: Culture et langage: la France contemporaine - Various
Training in language and culture of modern France using newspapers, short stories, poetry and film. Vocabulary enrichment activities. Conducted in French.     return to course list

FR 303: Culture et langage: identités francophones - Djiffack
Language skills with emphasis on the global cultures of the French-speaking world. Grammar review.     return to course list

FR 307: Oral Skills- Mefoude
Practice in improving oral, comprehension, and listening skills in French. Communicative activities in class in addition to language laboratory work.     return to course list

FR 317: French Survey: Medieval and Renaissance- Poizat-Newcomb
Introduction to major themes and ideas in French literature from the medieval and Renaissance periods through the reading of representative texts.     return to course list

FR 318: French Survey: Baroque and Enlightenment- Albert-Galtier
Introduction to major themes and ideas in French literature from the 17th and 18th centuries through the reading of representative texts.     return to course list

FR 319: French Survey: 19th and 20th Centuries- M'Enesti
Representative literary works (poetry, drama and prose) from the 19th and 20th centuries with attention to literary history and literary analysis. Authors include Lamartine, Hugo, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Apollinaire, Eluard, Musset, Beckett, Maupassant, Camus, Aude and Duras.     return to course list

FR 333: French Narrative: Introduction à la narration- McPherson
Dans ce cours nous allons étudier le genre narratif dans la littérature française en nous concentrant sur le thème de la transformation. En faisant un survol à travers plusieurs siècles, ce cours vous aidera à approfondir votre connaissance de la littérature française ainsi qu’à améliorer votre français écrit et parlé. Nous allons considérer les différents éléments qui constituent un récit (voix narrative, point de vue, développement de l’intrigue et des personnages, aspects thématiques, figures rhétoriques, ton et style) afin de développer vos compétences en analyse littéraire. Nous lirons des nouvelles, des contes et des extraits de textes narratifs par: Perrault, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Maupassant, Flaubert, Proust, Sarraute, Hébert, Yourcenar, Robbe-Grillet, Tournier, Queneau, Belleau, et Brossard.          return to course list

FR 362: Paris: The Cultural Capital- Gould
Ce cours entreprend d’examiner “Paris” comme une idée puissante mais quasi imaginaire qui influence notre vue de la France et même de toute l’Europe. A travers une série d’images cinématographiques et littéraires, notre but sera de découvrir et de déconstruire le comment et le pourquoi de ces images. Dès qu’un capital n’est plus strictement géographique mais s’impose comme une idée de « culture, » il faut se démander de quelle idée de culture part-on ? Qui est ce “on” voyageur imaginaire du cinéma ? et où part-on?.    return to course list

FR 407: Les Essais de Montaigne: une rencontre entre l’Orient et l’Occident- Géraldine Poizat- Newcomb
This class examines Montaigne’s thoughts on human nature, the relation between humans and animals, ego, the intellect, aging and death, and the best way to live your life – questions we still debate today. The texts are excerpts from his famous Essais, written during the Renaissance. Montaigne’s texts will be contrasted with Buddhist and Taoist texts and articles on similar topics. Readings, writing and discussion in French.      return to course list

FR 407: La Louisiane francophone- Barnett
Dans ce cours, nous lirons, étudierons et discuterons plusieurs genres de textes : articles scolaires, poèmes, manuels pédagogiques, recettes, bandes dessinées, pièces de théâtre, livres pour enfant, contes, et légendes. Nous regarderons aussi une représentation d’une pièce de théâtre et un documentaire. Le français en Louisiane sera le thème global qui liera toutes ces activités. Cet État américain au Sud des États-Unis abrite plusieurs communautés franco-louisianaises. Nous commencerons notre voyage à l’époque coloniale mais les siècles défileront vite et nous nous retrouverons rapidement dans la vie actuelle.            return to course list

FR 407/507: Resistance and Collaboration- Schachter
The first half of this course focuses on resistance and collaboration in their most proper French setting by analyzing works emerging from and subsequently considering France during World War II. We will read fables by Charles Perrault of Mother Goose fame as well as repugnant propagandistic retellings of them that circulated during the war (“Le petit chaperon rouge” for example becomes “Doulce France et Grojuif”); study pro- and anti-Vichy visual propaganda; and analyze sections of Joseph Kessel’s book L’armée des ombres along with Jean-Pierre Melville’s film version and Louis Malle’s Lacombe Lucien. The second half of the course considers the themes of resistance and collaboration in post-colonial contexts through works such as Maryse Condé’s novel Moi, Tituba sorcière, Aimé Césaire’s play Une tempête and Gillo Pontecorvo’s film La bataille d’Alger. (Note that this is a representative and not exhaustive list of works to be considered—and there may well be some substitutions.) Graduate students will have the option of writing a final paper directly focusing on material considered in the course or one exploring questions of resistance and collaboration in another context more directly linked to their research interests. M.A. Period: 3 & 4          return to course list

FR 416: Advanced Writing In French- Williams
In this course, students learn to write coherent and interesting essays in a reader-oriented way. The class covers argumentative skills as well as academic research skills. Students learn how to choose appropriate and relevant topics, how to articulate and present a claim, how to identify and research reliable sources, and how to organize and support ideas and arguments. Conducted in French.            return to course list

FR 451: Moliére: 17 C Poetry- Albert-Galtier
From the early farces to the great comedies, Molière’s theater provides an insightful look into seventeenth century French society. This class offers a reading of Molière’s most important plays. We will discuss the different functions of Molière: actor, writer, director and producer. The program may include: Les Précieuses ridicules, L'Ecole des femmes, La Critique de L'Ecole des femmes, L'Impromptu de Versailles, Tartuffe, Dom Juan, Le Misanthrope, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, Les Femmes savantes.           return to course list

FR 490/590: Migrations et Traumatismes Postcoloniales- Djiffack
Ce séminaire se propose d’analyser le traumatisme postcolonial à partir des écrivains de divers horizons (Afrique noire, Maghreb, Congo, Martinique, Amérique noire). La Sénégalaise Fatou Diome (Le Ventre de l’Atlantique) parle de l’impératif de maintenir la jeunesse africaine au bercail, une idée qui va à contre-courant de la vague migratoire de l’Afrique noire vers l’Europe. Tahar Ben Jelloun quant à lui (Au Pays) examine la hantise de retour au pays natal qui obsède la diaspora marocaine après toute une carrière professionnelle en France. Achille Ngoye (Sorcellerie à bout portant) décrit, dans une écriture caustique, les traumatismes de l’ancien exil de retour au pays natal (dans le cas d’espèce, le Zaïre en décrépitude de l’ancien dictateur du Zaïre Mobutu).

Prescribed books: Fatou Diome, Le Ventre de l’Atlantique, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Au Pays, Achille Ngoye, Sorcellerie à bout portant, Aimé Césaire, Cahier d’un retour au pays natal, Chester Himes, La croisade de Lee Gordon,Jean Marie Essomba, Les Lanceurs de foudre
Jean-Marie Adiafi, La Carte d’identité.  M.A. Period: 4       return to course list

RL 407/507: The Idea of Europe- Gould & Hester
The Idea of Europe is a team-taught, multi-disciplinary course that explores the meaning(s) of Europe past and present, and the conundrum that is European identity. Guest faculty from a variety of disciplines on campus (humanities, social sciences and the arts) lecture weekly on the European legacy as we explore cultural, historical, political and social institutions that continue to inform our ideas of Europe today. While the overall framework is historical, the course is a creative investigation into different perspectives, texts, issues, and disciplinary assumptions--often incompatible or competing--that shape “Europe” as an object of study. Each lecture and selected readings open an aspect of Europe from antiquity to the present. While the course is taught in English, it may bear credit for all degree programs in Romance Languages. Individual exploration of original materials in the European languages is encouraged. Students will be required to keep a reaction journal and to complete a term paper or project on some aspect of Europe. (Can qualify for any M.A. period depending on the final project).           return to course list

RL 407/507: Preforming Pilgrimage- Psaki
The basis of this course will be the writing associated with pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. We will read the pilgrimage guides and lyric song of men and women traveling for religious purposes, to Rome, to the Holy Land, to Conques, to Santiago de Compostela, to Canterbury. The culmination of the course will be a public performance, with Lori Kruckenberg’s MUS 4/507, of an array of high and late medieval songs composed for pilgrimage.

Our readings will emphasize how medieval pilgrims received, preserved, and interpreted their journey and their spirituality in musical form—and also how modern people receive, preserve, and interpret these songs of the Middle Ages. Our primary sources will lead into several other areas: related literature from medieval France, Provence, Iberia, and Italy; the scripts, compilation practices, purposes, and value of medieval manuscripts (as opposed to modern critical editions); the ethos and values of mysticism, communal worship, penitence, armed pilgrimage (what we call Crusade), and formal religion; and the musical landscape of medieval France, Italy, and Iberia.

Our class sessions will be divided among short lectures, discussions (open class and in small groups), structured listening, and reading. Reading for class, participating in class discussion, and contributing to the collective project are as important as writing assignments. We’ll usually be meeting with the students in MUS 4/507 for the 5-6 p.m. hour. Performance-friendly participants will be encouraged to deepen their understanding of medieval lyric through a personal performance, including song, accompaniment, recitation, or a combination of these. However, no specialized background is necessary for this course: all students will contribute to mounting the performance, though not all will be performing in it.  Period 1     return to course list

RL 623: Literary Translation: A Workshop in Theory and Practice- Gladhart & McPherson
In this course, we begin with the premise that the practices and theories of literary translation are profoundly interconnected and that they can most productively be explored together. The questions and challenges we encounter in literary translation have vital implications for our work as literary scholars. Engaging in (and thinking about) translation gives us insight into the rich complexities of what we are doing as readers of texts. Translation is also about the promises of and obstacles to cross-cultural communication and understanding. The work for this course will include close readings and analysis of selected literary texts alongside their translations; critical readings of translators’ introductions and notes; and readings of seminal texts in translation history and theory. Students will also participate in language-specific translation workshops. Visiting speakers will include: Québec feminist Nicole Brossard whose literary and theoretical work offers a vital and profound engagement with translation as a feminist practice; Susanne de Lotbinière-Harwood, one of Brossard’s translators; and Professor Gary Racz, specialist in translation studies, translator of poetry and drama from Spanish into English, and current president of the American Literary Translators Association. While the course is taught in English, students may make arrangements to earn credit for Period 3 or Period 4 in French or Spanish. May be taken for 2 or 4 credits.            return to course list

*SUMMER 2013*

FR 101, 102, 103: 1st Year French
Introduction to French stressing the development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through a communicative approach. Sequence. Conducted in French.      return to course list

FR 201, 202, 203: 2nd Year French
Development of reading, writing, and speaking skills; study of short literary and cultural texts; considerable attention paid to oral use of the language. Sequence.     return to course list

FR 307 Oral Skills -  Instructor Barnett (2)  June 24-July 19
Practice in improving oral, comprehension, and listening skills in French. Communicative activities in class in addition to language laboratory work.

FR 320 Intensive French Grammar Review - Instructor: Bennett (4) June 24 – July 19
Promotes linguistic competency in French through intensive review and refinement of French grammar while introducing basic vocabulary and linguistic concepts. Prereq: FR 203.

FR 410/510 French for Reading Knowledge - Instructor: Bayerl (4) July 22 – August 16
Intended for students who need French as a research language, with emphasis on reading, grammar, and translation. No credit given toward a French major or minor.