French and Romance Philology

Prerequisites: None.

Eligibility: This course is open to undergraduates, graduate students, and visiting students.

Based on a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, the city diplomacy course is designed to offer a general introduction to the international role of cities.

With its century-old history, city diplomacy represents a relatively recent dynamics in international relations. City diplomacy is generally considered to start in 1913 with the creation, at the Universal Exposition in the Belgian city of Ghent, of the first global city network, the Union Internationale des Villes.

Since its beginning, city diplomacy emerged as a field where cities’ values and idealism are implemented through a pragmatic and cooperative approach that progressively expanded its scope. The rise of such practice was driven by the desire to foster reconciliation among former enemies of the Second World War through direct interaction between residents in the framework of twinning agreements. A few years later, city diplomacy accompanied the process of decolonization by creating a solid bond of friendship between cities in former colonizing and colonized countries. In the 90s, city diplomacy widened its scope to include enhancing the city’s positioning in the global economy. Today, city diplomacy is best known for its impact in addressing the main transnational challenges (including climate change, migration, violent extremism, and urbanization) through a methodology featuring horizontal partnerships with cities from all over the world and a vertical, participatory approach engaging and empowering residents and local stakeholders.

Through an innovative approach cutting cuts across the boundaries of traditional disciplines (international relations, urban sociology, area studies, history, geography),  the course will combine the emerging scholarly literature with a comparative accent linked to the analysis of primary sources from cities and international actors from all regions of the world. As a result, students will learn to connect global and regional macro-dynamics with micro-transformations at the local level, while gaining an in-depth understanding of city diplomacy's core features, management, tangible impact, and evolution.

To enroll in this course, you must apply to the Columbia Summer in Paris Program through the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE). Tuition charges apply; scholarships available.

Please note the program dates are different from the Summer Term A & B dates. 

One cannot read Proust, one can only reread him. As a matter of fact, who has not heard of the legendary “Madeleine” before opening the book? However, we will try to read Proust’s novel, as far as possible, before rereading it, to read it afresh, with the naivety of the innocent readers who discovered Swann’s Way in 1913, and fell in love. Proust is a classic, but also an innovator, a follower of Balzac and Baudelaire, and a precursor of Barthes and Blanchot. This is why there is so much pleasure – complexity and contradiction – in reading and rereading the Recherche, betwixt and between, connecting centuries, coupling genres.

Our goal will be to closely read together at least four of the seven volumes of the Recherche, the first and last, Swann’s Way and Time regained, and two or three from in-between, Within a Budding Grove, Sodom and Gomorrah and The Fugitive.

Major literary critics will be introduced starting week 3.

One cannot read Proust, one can only reread him. As a matter of fact, who has not heard of the legendary “Madeleine” before opening the book? However, we will try to read Proust’s novel, as far as possible, before rereading it, to read it afresh, with the naivety of the innocent readers who discovered Swann’s Way in 1913, and fell in love. Proust is a classic, but also an innovator, a follower of Balzac and Baudelaire, and a precursor of Barthes and Blanchot. This is why there is so much pleasure – complexity and contradiction – in reading and rereading the Recherche, betwixt and between, connecting centuries, coupling genres.

Our goal will be to closely read together at least four of the seven volumes of the Recherche, the first and last, Swann’s Way and Time regained, and two or three from in-between, Within a Budding Grove, Sodom and Gomorrah and The Fugitive.

Major literary critics will be introduced starting week 3.

What did it mean to be queer in the francophone Middle Ages? Was there such a thing? The term ‘sodomy’ was used in the period to describe a wide variety of acts (not all sexual), and the term would seem to foreclose the possibility of female same-sex eroticism. In an era in which all non-procreative sex was conceived as sinful, does the opposition between homosexual and heterosexual still hold? Was male and female homosexuality conceived symmetrically? Topics include the construction of gender (binary vs. spectral, natural vs. cultural), gender variance (transgender and nonbinary people), sodomy and the contours of “sex,” and sadomasochism. Our readings will take us through a broad range of genres—from penance manuals to lyric poetry to romance. Texts include selected lais by Marie de France, troubadour songs, Alan of Lille’s Plaint of Nature, the Roman d’Enéas (a medieval French rewriting of the Aeneid that makes Aeneas gay), Heldris of Cornwall’s Le Roman de Silence and selected saints’ lives. Class taught in English, although some readings may be available only in modern French translation (reading knowledge of French required).

Prerequisites: Primarily for students who need further instruction to qualify for the intermediate course. Credit cannot be granted for both FREN BC1002 and BC1102 (or its equivalent). Enrollment limited to 20 students per section. Oral and written review of basic grammar and syntax. Readings in modern French and Francophone literature.

Advanced work in language skills. Readings in French literature. Prerequisites: FREN BC1203 or an appropriate score on the placement test.

NOTE: This course does not fulfill the Columbia College and GS language requirement.

Advanced work in language skills. Readings in French literature. Prerequisites: FREN BC1203 or an appropriate score on the placement test.

NOTE: This course does not fulfill the Columbia College and GS language requirement.

Translation of French texts--both critical and literary, focusing on particular questions or themes.  FREN BC1204: French Intermediate II or the equivalent level is required.

An exploration of the early periods of French literary creation (Medieval-17th century) through works of fiction, poetry, and theatre. Special attention is given to texts that use tradition to bring about change, to provoke, to contest social norms, and to test the expected parameters of literary expression. 

Dans ce cours, nous examinerons le phénomène qui domine—et révolutionne—le discours philosophique, religieux, sociologique et politique au 18e siècle en Occident: les Lumières. Visant les dogmes jusque-là incontestables d'un Etat monarchique et d'une Eglise catholique autoritaires, ce mouvement réclame la liberté de la pensée et du culte; condamne l'intolérance religieuse, l’iniquité politique et le préjugé culturel; expose et déplore l’inégalité sociale; examine les bases de l’autorité politique; et subvertit par ses propos l'idéo. A l'exception d'un texte de l'Allemand Immanuel Kant, nous nous bornerons à lire des écrits des principaux philosophes francophones des Lumières (Voltaire, Diderot, et Rousseau), aussi bien que deux romans "dystopiques” (Charrière et de Sade), et deux textes politiques parus durant la Révolution française.

Since the last decades of the twentieth century there has been a dramatic increase in the number of women writers from the Middle East and North Africa. This advanced course, which will be taught mainly in French, provides a window into this rich and largely neglected branch of world literature. Students will encounter the breadth and creativity of contemporary Middle Eastern and North African women’s literature by reading a range of twentieth- and twenty-first-century novels, short stories, memoirs and poetry available in French or in translation, and by viewing films that are from or about Iran, Lebanon, Algeria, and Egypt. How do Middle Eastern women authors address women’s oppression – both social and physical – and enunciate issues such as the tension between tradition and modernity, sexuality, identity and class from a female perspective? What literary traditions and models do they draw on? How different are those texts written in French for a global audience, as opposed to those written in Persian or Arabic? What are the effects of reading them in translation? Authors will include Marjane Satrapi, Shahrnush Parsipur, Assia Djebar, Maïssa Bey and Nawal El Saadawi.

What are French people actually saying to each other? You’ve taken French for 3+ years, have been reading literature, watching films and writing about them in sophisticated analyses. Yet, conversations among native speakers may still elude you. This course is designed to help you bridge that gap, and gain a better understanding of the slang (argot) and the pop culture references that contribute to French’s vibrancy. Together we will review a variety of contemporary French popular art forms, from music, film and graphic novels to street art, film, and food culture. We will explore the history of these genres, and the ways in which French identity is continuously (re)-established in its popular culture with and against the influences of decolonization, Americanization and globalization. The course is conducted in French.

The course is an introduction to visual arts and art professions in the context of French and francophone arts and cultural institutions. Students will experience arts through presentations, workshops, discussions with art professionals, guest visits, and visits to art museums and galleries. Students who take the class can apply for unpaid internships in an art institution in the spring following the class. In these internships, students will use some of the French language skills they have acquired in the class.

Prerequisites: FREN UN3405 must be taken before FREN UN3333/4 unless the student has an AP score of 5 or the director of undergraduate studies permission. The goal of FREN UN3405 is to help students improve their grammar and perfect their writing and reading skills, especially as a preparation for taking literature or civilization courses, or spending a semester in a francophone country. Through the study of two full-length works of literature and a number of short texts representative of different genres, periods, and styles, they will become more aware of stylistic nuances, and will be introduced to the vocabulary and methods of literary analysis. Working on the advanced grammar points covered in this course will further strengthen their mastery of French syntax. They will also be practicing writing through a variety of exercises, including pastiches and creative pieces, as well as typically French forms of academic writing such as “résumé,” “explication de texte,” and “dissertation.

Prerequisites: FREN UN3405 must be taken before FREN UN3333/4 unless the student has an AP score of 5 or the director of undergraduate studies permission. The goal of FREN UN3405 is to help students improve their grammar and perfect their writing and reading skills, especially as a preparation for taking literature or civilization courses, or spending a semester in a francophone country. Through the study of two full-length works of literature and a number of short texts representative of different genres, periods, and styles, they will become more aware of stylistic nuances, and will be introduced to the vocabulary and methods of literary analysis. Working on the advanced grammar points covered in this course will further strengthen their mastery of French syntax. They will also be practicing writing through a variety of exercises, including pastiches and creative pieces, as well as typically French forms of academic writing such as “résumé,” “explication de texte,” and “dissertation.

This class provides an introduction to the history of France and of the francophone world since the Middle Ages. It initiates students to the major events and themes that have shaped politics, society, and culture in France and its former colonies, paying special attention to questions of identity and diversity in a national and imperial context. Modules include a combination of lecture and seminar-style discussion of documents (in French).

This course is part of a two-course sequence and is a core requirement the French and Francophone Studies major.  

This class provides an introduction to the history of France and of the francophone world since the Middle Ages. It initiates students to the major events and themes that have shaped politics, society, and culture in France and its former colonies, paying special attention to questions of identity and diversity in a national and imperial context. Modules include a combination of lecture and seminar-style discussion of documents (in French).

This course is part of a two-course sequence and is a core requirement the French and Francophone Studies major.  

This class offers a survey of major works of French and francophone literature from the Middle Ages to the present. Emphasis will be placed on formal and stylistic elements of the works read and on developing the critical skills necessary for literary analysis. Works will be placed in their historical context.

Based on a historical and sociological approach, this course provides an introduction to the analysis of inequalities by focusing on the social justification of privileges and social boundaries.

Economic and social inequalities are a structuring dimension of societies and are at the center of many analyses in history, economics and sociology. This course offers an in-depth analysis of how inequalities in access to economic resources, political power, and knowledge are justified in different societies by articulating barriers of class, gender, or race. Drawing on works on different historical configurations in Europe but also in America, Africa and Asia, the course encourages an epistemological reflection on the production of social barriers and the social construction of « elites ». Against an approach that naturalizes the concept of « elite », this course will put forward the idea that the very notion of elite is the product of a work of delimitation, of construction of social borders whose analysis can be made by mobilizing the classical tools of social sciences.

The course intends to highlight the fact that there is no natural superiority of an "elite" but rather variable justifications of unequal access to power and economic resources. If inequalities are produced by structural economic logics, the course will pay attention to the fact that the activation of social boundaries always supposes an active work of universalization of their own values. These forms of justification of privilege over time vary in their lexicon but often include elements that are stable from one historical configuration to another, whether it is the way in which the European aristocracy closed the door to the rising bourgeoisie within court societies or the way in which British elites in the nineteenth century, for example, justified their closure to women or to colonized peoples through the building of an elite masculinity (in class, we will refer for instance to the book Oxbridge Men by Paul R. Deslandes). The course invites to focus on the manufacture of social boundaries, on the way in which privileges find forms of justification, including in societies that claim to put merit or talent first, as opposed to inheritance or dynastic tradition. The course will also give space to the moments when these social boundaries are criticized, fought and challenged to the point of forcing actors in positions of power to update the justification of their privileges or to leave their place to others.

In this course, students will learn to link documents excerpts from a variety of historical contexts and to analyze them based on concepts precisely defined in class (inequality, social stratification, discrimination, etc.).

Asylum/Asile is an experiential learning class conducted in collaboration with Project Rousseau, a holistic non-profit organization that helps young people in communities with the greatest need.  

Since migrant youth and families began arriving in New York by bus from the southern border, Project Rousseau has been on the frontlines serving them. A large proportion of these migrants are Francophone asylum seekers who need support with their application. This class will teach the theory and practice of asylum law, the specific sociohistorical, cultural, and political contexts that motivates Francophone asylum seekers, especially in the case of Mauritania and Guinea, and the ways in which translation is critical to this process. The class will culminate in students assisting Project Rousseau’s Francophone clients with their asylum applications. 

The class is offered in the Fall. Interested students will be able to apply for internships with Project Rousseau in the Spring Semester. 

This course is designed as an introduction to the 19th-century French novel, taught in English. We will read and discuss some of the greatest hits of 19th-century French fiction: Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame; Sand, Indiana; Balzac, Père Goriot; Dumas, The Man in the Iron Mask; Flaubert, Madame Bovary; Zola, Pot-Bouille. Our century will conclude with two scandalous bestsellers of 1900: Octave Mirbeau’s Diary of a Chambermaid and Colette’s Claudine at School. Discussion in English. Works may be read, and papers written, in English or French.

The Enlightenment was a transformative intellectual movement that shaped our modern world. But many of its key tenets—the ideal of a Republic of Letters, the faith in science as a tool to transform society, the fight against prejudice and obscurantism, the principle of religious tolerance, and the cultivation of critical reason through dialogue—are under attack today. In this seminar, we will ask both what the Enlightenment was and what’s left of it today. Special attention will be paid to voices of dissent within the Enlightenment and notably those of women. How might these critical voices help us to understand the fate of Enlightenment values in our current moment?

Authors studied will include Voltaire, Châtelet, Montesquieu, Graffigny, Deffand, Rousseau, Diderot and Gouges.

The seminar will be offered in English, but advanced reading knowledge of French is required. Undergraduates are welcome to enroll with instructor permission.

The Enlightenment was a transformative intellectual movement that shaped our modern world. But many of its key tenets—the ideal of a Republic of Letters, the faith in science as a tool to transform society, the fight against prejudice and obscurantism, the principle of religious tolerance, and the cultivation of critical reason through dialogue—are under attack today. In this seminar, we will ask both what the Enlightenment was and what’s left of it today. Special attention will be paid to voices of dissent within the Enlightenment and notably those of women. How might these critical voices help us to understand the fate of Enlightenment values in our current moment?

Authors studied will include Voltaire, Châtelet, Montesquieu, Graffigny, Deffand, Rousseau, Diderot and Gouges.

The seminar will be offered in English, but advanced reading knowledge of French is required. Undergraduates are welcome to enroll with instructor permission.

Close reading of Rabelais, Marguerite de Navarre, Montaigne and La Boétie, in the context of the Renaissance, the rise of the individual, the religious quarrels, the civil wars, the discovery of the New World, the progress of science.

Close reading of Rabelais, Marguerite de Navarre, Montaigne and La Boétie, in the context of the Renaissance, the rise of the individual, the religious quarrels, the civil wars, the discovery of the New World, the progress of science.

1. Course Description

Students curate, organize and attend a series of lectures open to all members of the French department, including graduate students, faculty and undergraduate majors/concentrators. Working with a faculty member, they invite two speakers each semester, collaborate on the scheduling and organization of talks, introduce guests and lead the discussion.

The lecture series exposes graduate students to new work in the field, including new methodologies and emerging areas of research and teaching. By giving students the opportunity to select speakers, it actively engages them in the cultural and intellectual life of the department. Students benefit from observing the different possible formats and styles of academic talks. By organizing and scheduling events, preparing speaker introductions and moderating questions and discussion, they also develop important professional skills.