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This archived information is dated to the 2011-12 academic year only and may no longer be current.

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Bachelor of Arts in French

Up one level:

French and Italian

The French section offers a major and a minor in French. Students are encouraged to pursue a course of study tailored to their individual needs and interests. A degree in French serves as a stepping stone to entering international business, law, translation, and teaching, or as preparation for graduate studies in French, history, or comparative literature.

The French major allows students to combine their work in French with work from another field such as African studies, linguistics, art history, music, economics, history, education, medicine, international relations, political science, or other foreign languages and literatures. The literature and philosophy specialization offers students the opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary studies at the intersection of literature and philosophy in a structured manner and alongside similarly interested students from a variety of humanistic disciplines.

REQUIREMENTS

FRENCH

To graduate with a major in French, students must complete a minimum of 56 units of course work in the major. These 56 units may not be used towards any other major or minor. Courses applied to the major must be taken for a letter grade, and a grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 or better must be achieved in each course. Relevant courses from other departments or programs may also earn credit toward the major with the prior consent of the Chair of Undergraduate Studies. To enroll in all FRENLIT courses at or above 130, students must have successfully completed FRENLANG 124 or successfully tested above this level through the Language Center.

  1. Gateway Courses—Students are recommended to take two courses in the FRENLIT 120 sequence (8 units).
    • FRENLIT 120. Coffee and Cigarettes: The Making of French Intellectual Culture
    • FRENLIT 122. Nation in Motion: Film, Race and Immigration in Contemporary French Cinema
    • FRENLIT 124. Constructing the French
  2. Introductory Culture and Literature Courses—Students must take a minimum of three of the following core courses (12 units). Any one of these courses fulfills the Writing in the Major (WIM) requirement.
    • FRENLIT 130. Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance French Literature
    • FRENLIT 131. Absolutism, Enlightenment, and Revolution (17th and 18th c.)
    • FRENLIT 132. Literature, Revolutions, and Changes (19th and 20th c.)
    • FRENLIT 133. Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean
  3. Medieval/Early Modern Courses—Students must take two courses that concern the period before 1800 (8 units). Courses from the department must be at or above the 140 level. Courses chosen from outside the department must be pre-approved by the Chair of Undergraduate Studies.
  4. Capstone Course—Students must take at least one course of FRENLIT/GEN at or above the 200 level (4 units).
  5. Electives—A maximum of 28 elective units may be applied to the major. Prior approval from the Chair of Undergraduate Studies is required. The following courses have been pre-approved as electives:
    • FRENLANG 21C, 22C, 23C, 50, 120 and 124. French Language courses at the second year level and above (maximum of 15 units)
    • IHUM 2 and IHUM 3. Epic Journeys, Modern Quests (8-10 units)
    • OSPPARIS courses. Courses taken at the Bing Overseas Studies in Paris program (regardless of the language of instruction)
    • SLE 91, 92, and 93. Structured Liberal Education (10 units)
FRENCH AND PHILOSOPHY

The French and Philosophy major specialization requires a minimum of 16 courses, for a minimum total of 65 units, distributed as follows:

  1. Advanced Language (4 units)—All students must take FRENLANG 124. Advanced French Grammar.
  2. Introductory Series on French and Francophone Literature and Culture (12 units)—Three courses must be taken from the FRENLIT 130 sequence.
  3. Philosophy Writing in the Major (5 units)—PHIL 80. Prerequisite: introductory philosophy class.
  4. Philosophy and Literature Gateway Course (4 units)—FRENGEN 181 (same as PHIL 81). This course should be taken as early as possible in the student's career, normally in the sophomore year.
  5. Aesthetics, Ethics, Political Philosophy (ca. 4 units)—One course from the PHIL 170 series.
  6. Language, Mind, Metaphysics, and Epistemology (ca. 4 units)—One course from the PHIL 180 series.
  7. History of Philosophy (ca. 8 units)—Two courses in the history of philosophy, numbered above PHIL 100.
  8. Upper Division French Courses (ca. 12 units)—At least three courses numbered FRENLIT/FRENGEN 140 or higher.
  9. Related Courses (ca. 8 units)—Two upper division courses relevant to the student's chosen area of specialization. One course (4 units) may be FRENLIT 199, Individual Work.
  10. Capstone Seminar (ca. 4 units)—This year's capstone seminars are:
    • PHIL 194L. Montaigne
    • COMPLIT 199. Narrative and Ethics

One of these courses must be taken in the student's senior year.

The capstone seminar and the two related courses must be approved by both the undergraduate advisor of French and the undergraduate advisor of the initiative in philosophical and literary thought administered through the DLCL. Substitutions, including transfer credit, are not normally permitted for items 5, 6, and 7, and are not permitted under any circumstances for items 3, 4, and 10. Up to 10 units of courses taken in the Philosophy department may be taken CR/NC or S/NC; the remainder must be taken for a letter grade.

EXTENDED MAJORS

Requirements for both extended majors are essentially identical to those of the French major with a concentration in French literature.

French and English Literatures—In addition to the requirements for the B.A. in French, candidates complete four English literature courses numbered 100 and above related to their French program.

French and Italian Literatures—In addition to the requirements for the B.A. in French, students complete four Italian courses numbered 200 and above related to their concentration in French.

FRENCH AND LINGUISTICS

Linguistics majors may elect to specialize in the French language. In addition to 50 units in Linguistics, of which two courses (LINGUIST 110 and 160) may be replaced by comparable courses in French, students opting for a French Language specialization must take three courses in the introductory series devoted to French and Francophone literature and culture (FRENLIT 130-133). For details, contact the Department of Linguistics.

MINOR IN FRENCH

To earn a minor in French, students must complete a minimum of 24 units of course work in the department. These 24 units may not be used towards any other major or minor. Courses applied to the minor must be taken for a letter grade, and a grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 or better must be achieved in each course. Before enrolling in all FRENLIT courses at or above 130, students must have successfully completed FRENLANG 124 or successfully tested above this level through the Language Center.

  1. Core French Courses—Students must take a minimum of three FRENLIT or FRENGEN courses. Two must be from the FRENLIT 130 sequence (8 units):
    • FRENLIT 130. Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance French Literature
    • FRENLIT 131. Absolutism, Enlightenment, and Revolution (17th and 18th c.)
    • FRENLIT 132. Literature, Revolutions, and Changes (19th and 20th c.)
    • FRENLIT 133. Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean
  2. Electives—A maximum of 12 elective units may be applied to the minor. Prior approval from the Chair of Undergraduate Studies is required. The following courses have been pre-approved as electives:
    • FRENLANG 21C, 22C, 23C, 50, 120 and 124. French Language courses at the second year level and above (maximum of 12 units)
    • IHUM 2 and IHUM 3. Epic Journeys, Modern Quests (4 units)
    • OSPPARIS courses taught in French at Bing Overseas Studies in Paris program
    • SLE 91, 92, and 93. Structured Liberal Education (5 units)

HONORS PROGRAM

Majors are eligible to apply to the honors program if they have maintained an average grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 in all French courses. The honors program candidate must fulfill all regular requirements for the major, as well as the writing of a research paper no shorter than 50 pages in length, written in French or English, on a specialized topic.

No later than the end of Spring Quarter of the junior year, the student must submit to the Chair of Undergraduate Studies an Application for Honors, the central portion of which must contain an outline of the proposed honors essay. If it is in need of revisions, the Chair of Undergraduate Studies helps the student through the revision process until the proposal is granted his or her approval. The Chair of Undergraduate Studies also helps the student identify an appropriate advisor for the essay.

Students may enroll for 2 units of credit in FRENLIT 189B for the drafting or revision of the thesis proposal in Spring Quarter of the junior year. In Autumn Quarter of the senior year, honors students must enroll in DLCL 189, a 5-unit seminar that focuses on researching and writing the honors thesis. Students then enroll for 5 units of credit in FRENLIT 189A while composing the thesis during Winter Quarter. Students who did not enroll in a 189B course in the junior year may enroll in FRENLIT 189B in Spring Quarter of the senior year while revising the thesis, if approved by the thesis advisor.

A total of 10-12 units are awarded for completion of honors course work, independent study, and the finished thesis. Honors essays are due to the thesis advisor no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 15 of the terminal year. If an essay is found deserving of a grade of 'A-' or better by the thesis advisor, honors are granted at the time of graduation.

Honors College—The Department of French and Italian encourages honors students to enroll in the honors college run by the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages (DLCL). The college meets at the end of every summer, during the weeks directly preceding the start of the academic year, and is designed to help students develop their honors thesis projects. Applications must be submitted by Spring Quarter of the same calendar year. For more information, contact the undergraduate student services officer in the DLCL.

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