French
Professors: Ibrahima Wade, Michael O’Riley; Associate Professors: Alistaire Tallent (Chair), Nene Diop; Instructor in Hebrew: Kobi Chumash
Students who have taken French, Italian, or Spanish in high school must take a computerized placement test before enrolling in a language or literature course in the Department of French. We strongly recommend that they take the 20-minute test on-line upon their arrival at the college.
Major Requirements
French
A student majoring in French has two French major options:
- French and Francophone Studies
- all required courses: 305, 306, 431 and 432
- six literature or culture courses at the 300-level
TOTAL: 10 units
- Romance Languages (French Major; Second language focus in Spanish, Italian or Portuguese)
- all required courses: 305, 306, 431 and 432
- three literature or culture courses at the 300-level;
Courses for second language focus in SPANISH:
- 305 and two Spanish culture or literature courses.
- elementary or more advanced Italian, Portuguese, or Latin.
Courses for second language focus in ITALIAN:
- 305 and two additional Italian courses from 304, 306, 309, 315, 316, 320, 321.
- elementary or more advanced Spanish, Portuguese, or Latin.
Courses for second language focus in PORTUGUESE:
305 and two additional culture or literature courses
Third Language focus
202 level in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese or Latin
TOTAL: 11–12 units.
The department confers distinction based on senior thesis (432) and department work.
Students who study abroad on programs other than Colorado College’s must take at least two courses beyond 306, in addition to 431 and 432 at Colorado College, as well as completing the detailed major requirements described above, to receive a French degree from the college. Only two credits from any unaffiliated program abroad will be accepted into the major.
Transferring students and students who have taken the Advanced Placement (AP) examination should contact the department before taking any language or literature course, since some of the requirements for the major may be waived.
Minor Requirements
The French Language Minor (6 units beyond FR102)
The prerequisite for admission to the minor is 101 and 102 (2 units) or equivalent. Students must complete a minimum of six units, including the following: 201, 202, 305, and three courses at the 300 level. Students who initially place at the 300 level as a result of previous French must complete four CC French courses at the 300 level. College transfer credit will be accepted, but at least three 300-level French courses must be completed at Colorado College. Only one credit from an unaffiliated program will be accepted into the minor.
Study Abroad in Nice with C.C.: Students who have completed French 202 or the equivalent may complete the minor by participating in C.C’s semester program in Nice.
Courses
French
This course is designed as an introduction to the language and cultures of French-speaking (Francophone) regions of the world. In a simulated immersive environment enhanced with texts, audio-visual and internet resources, students will begin to develop competencies in listening, speaking, reading, and writing about self-generated information related to their daily lives and to life in different foreign cultural settings. Emphasis on the acquisition of basic communicative skills, i.e. naming and describing people, places, and objects in Francophone and non-Francophone cultural settings. Meets the Language Requirement requirement.
This course is designed to build on skills acquired in FR101. In a simulated immersive environment enhanced with texts, audio-visual and internet resources, students will continue to develop competencies in listening, speaking, reading, and writing about self-generated information related to their daily lives and to life in different foreign cultural settings. Students will use language to complete simple tasks in specified Francophone as well as non-Francophone contexts. Prerequisite: FR101 or COI. (We strongly recommend that students take 102 within 8 blocks of 101.) 1 unit. Meets the Language Requirement requirement.
Review of Elementary French. A lower-level maintenance course. Review of grammar with supervised oral practice.
Review of Elementary French. A lower-level maintenance course. Review of grammar with supervised oral practice.
This course will retrace the most important aspects of French culture from the 'entre-deux-guerres' period to the present through fiction, film , essays and plays. We will study the cultural life of this period and will explore the German Occupation, the Vichy government ideology, the Shoah, the politics of immigration. Readings will include works from Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Marguerite Duras, Patrick Modiano, Eugene Ionesco. (Not offered 2025-26).
This course will examine the historical narratives of Haiti’s past and how they seek to explain the themes of exploitation and corruption that have characterized the country’s present. We will read about the individuals and events of Haitian history and explore the often catastrophic effects that the cultural forces of colonialism, racism, and imperialism have had on the nation’s development. From plays recounting the Haitian revolution and Toussaint l’Ouverture, to prose fiction depicting daily life before, during, and after the 2010 earthquake, we will identify how literary works—through their language and themes—speak forcefully against the dominant narratives depicting the Haitian people as willing victims of their own history. Taught entirely in English, but with some basic French and Haitian Creole language instruction where appropriate. May meet either the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures or Social Inequality requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).
This course is designed to build on the communication skills acquired in elementary French courses. In a simulated immersive environment enhanced with French/Francophone texts, films, and Internet resources, students focus on developing reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills as well as increasing their knowledge and understanding of French/Francophone cultures. Prerequisite: French 102 or equivalent. Meets the Language Requirement requirement.
202 Intermediate French II. This course is designed to build on the communication skills acquired in FR 201. In a simulated immersive environment enhanced with French/Francophone texts, films, and internet resources, students focus on developing reading, writing, speaking and listening skills as well as increasing their knowledge and understanding of French/Francophone cultures. Prerequisite: French 201 or COI. 1 unit. Meets the Language Requirement requirement.
Review of Intermediate French. A maintenance course for students who have taken French 201 or have an intermediate level of competence in French. A systematic review of grammar with supervised oral practice.
Review of Intermediate French. A maintenance course for students who have taken French 201 or have an intermediate level of competence in French. A systematic review of grammar with supervised oral practice.
(Summer only 2025-26).
(Summer only 2025-26).
(Summer only 2025-26).
In a fully immersive francophone environment enhanced with French/Francophone texts, films, and internet resources, students focus on developing reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills as well as increasing their knowledge and understanding of French/Francophone cultures. This course is taught in France as a part of the CC semester in France program. The level of instruction will vary with each student, and the 2-block course may be counted as FR102 and FR201, FR201 and FR202, FR202 and a 300-level elective, or two blocks of 300-level French courses, in each case satisfying the language requirement for graduation. Meets the Language Requirement requirement.
Taught in France. (Not offered 2025-26).
A maintenance course for students who have taken a 300-level course or have an advanced level of competence in French. Significant supervised conversation, reading and writing practice.
A maintenance course for students who have taken a 300-level course or have an advanced level of competence in French. Significant supervised conversation, reading and writing practice.
Bridge course between intermediate-level and advanced language courses. Students will develop higher levels of listening comprehension, oral competence, and communicative proficiency and will acquire oral strategies of expression through the study of written and recorded cultural material dealing with a variety of aspects, issues, and realities of the Francophone world. Student activities in the course will include interactive oral presentations of selected web-based materials, of reading and recordings from targeted cultures such as: comic strips, articles, magazines, film clips, songs, etc. Meets the Language Requirement requirement.
Advanced composition and conversation practice through the study of literary and cultural texts of France and the Francophone world. Meets the Language Requirement requirement.
Continues the acquisition of the French language and trains students in the most important methods of critical analysis through readings in different genres. Meets the Critical Learning: AIM requirement. Meets the Language Requirement requirement.
The history, art, music, and literature of French-speaking regions (outside of France), such as Quebec, French Africa, French Latin America, and parts of Asia. Taught in French. (Not offered 2025-26).
Introduction to theories of translation and a focus on techniques of translating technical, commercial, scientific, and literary texts from English into French and vice versa. Seeks to increase students’ international communication skills while building up their cultural competence in French and Francophone worlds. Meets the Language Requirement requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).
Study of an aspect of French culture not represented in the regular curriculum. Topics may include various aspects of French culture such as France’s history and its political and economic structures, as well as their interaction with art, music, film, language and literature. Students wishing to obtain credit towards the French major or minor must consult the instructor at the beginning of the course. For such students, all possible readings must be read, and all papers must be written, in French. Note: This course does NOT fulfill the all-college language requirement for graduation.
(Taught in English). Study of an aspect of Francophone culture not represented in the regular curriculum. Areas of study may include the Caribbean, the Maghreb, Sub-Saharan Africa, or Quebec. Topics may include various aspects of these cultures such as their history and their political and economic structures, as well as their interaction with art, music, film, language and literature. Students wishing to obtain credit towards the French major or minor must consult the instructor at the beginning of the course. For those students, all possible readings must be read and all papers must be written in French. Note: This course does NOT fulfill the all-college language requirement for graduation
A critical examination of professional cultures in the Francophone world, through the study of employment opportunities in the fields of business, global health, sustainable development, and diplomacy. Includes practical communicative skills such as appropriate vocabulary for professional contexts, preparing a CV and formal correspondence in French, professional presentations, and articulating the value of a liberal arts education in a professional context.
Study of an aspect of French culture not represented in the regular curriculum. Topics may include various aspects of French culture such as France’s history and its political and economic structures, as well as their interaction with art, music, film, language and literature. Meets the Language Requirement requirement.
Study of an aspect of Francophone culture not represented in the regular curriculum. Areas of study may include the Caribbean, the Maghreb, Sub-Saharan Africa, or Quebec. Topics may include various aspects of these cultures such as their history and their political and economic structures, as well as their interaction with art, music, film, language and literature. Meets the Equity and Power: EPG requirement.
Examines the questions of identity and revolution in French and Francophone cultures. Topics may include the French Revolution, anti-colonial struggle, feminist theory, philosophical issues in relation to French/Francophone culture. Questions of individual, collective, and national identity examined through film, literature, new media and other sources. (Not offered 2025-26).
Meets the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures requirement. (Summer only 2025-26).
This course will introduce students to various aspects of the Parisian world. May include 20th-century theater, prose and poetry, theater as a genre, film, the manner in which the French understand questions of gender, race and the environment; the intersection of low and high culture; the relationship of popular texts to ideology. Meets the Critical Learning: CP requirement. Meets the Language Requirement requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).
Senior majors only.
Methods of analysis and theories of literature and culture. Training in research methodology; selection of topic for senior project, portfolio, or senior thesis; research and presentation of work in progress. Required of all majors. (Not offered 2025-26).
A final project, portfolio, or thesis (pending department approval), based on the research and preparation conducted in FR431. All students will present their finished products in a formal presentation in French.