The B.A. Degree in French
Beyond providing mastery of the language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) of modern French needed for all purposes of daily life, the major introduces students to a central tradition of western and world culture. Since the Middle Ages, French literature, thought, taste, and art have helped shape the essential experience and self-understanding of humanity at large. Survey courses and upper-division seminars offer a range of exposures to the French cultural past and the far-flung ethnic and national diversity of the French-speaking present. The major explores distinctively French contributions to world culture, such as Arthurian romance, troubador poetry, and Gothic architecture; the love sonnets of the Pléiade, the comic novels of Rabelais, and the essays of Montaigne; the neoclassical theater of Corneille, Molière, and Racine and the critical philosophy of Descartes and Pascal; the Enlightenment philosophies of Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau; the psychological refinements of French fiction from Mme de La Fayette to Proust; artistic revolutions like impressionism and surrealism; the renewal of artistic conventions in the Theater of the Absurd, the New Novel, and the cinema of the New Wave; the French-language literature of Africa, Canada, and the Caribbean; and the vital presence of French writers in major movements of 20th-century thought like existentialism, structuralism, feminism, psychoanalysis, and contemporary cultural studies and multiculturalism.
The undergraduate degree in French emphasizes knowledge and awareness of:
- the fundamental outlines of the history of French literature from the Middle Ages to the present;
- significant works of French literature and the literary culture of the French-speaking world;
- the historical context in which particular works were written and the relation between literature and other forms of cultural expression (e.g., art, philosophy, politics, religion);
- contemporary French culture, politics, and current events;
- a range of literary genres, their development and reception, and relevant critical methodologies; and
- the grammatical structure of modern standard French.
In addition, students completing the degree in French are expected to acquire the ability and skills to:
- speak and understand modern, spoken standard French sufficient for all purposes of daily life and for intellectual discussion in academic settings;
- read and write modern standard French with sufficient fluency and correctness for successful literary or linguistic analysis of French texts;
- analyze and interpret literary texts in terms of style, plot, structure, characters, themes, and the use of literary devices;
- communicate such analyses and interpretations simply in French or at a more sophisticated level in English, and discuss a wide range of topics concerning French culture, civilization, and current events; and
- follow with reasonable comprehension French broadcasts or film.
Students must complete the general requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences and the required courses listed below. Students wishing to pursue an Honors major should also consult the Honors requirements listed below.
Note: Students undertaking a major in French should expect to have regular conferences with a college advisor and the department associate chair for undergraduate studies to ensure that they are making adequate progress and that requirements are being met in a timely way. The department will not certify majors for graduation when a failure to satisfy requirements is the fault of the student.
A minimum of 30 upper-division credit
hours in French must be completed (see
below for specific courses). FREN 2120
or its equivalent is the prerequisite for
admission to courses required for the major.
Required Courses
- FREN 3010 - French Phonetics and Pronunciation (3 semester hours)
- FREN 3050,3060 - French Composition 1 and 2 (6 semester hours)
- FREN 3100 - Critical Reading and Writing in French Literature (3 semester hours)
- FREN 3110,3120 - Main Currents of French Literature 1 and 2 (6 semester hours)
- Four or more other courses at the 3000 or 4000 level, of which 9 hours must be at the 4100 level or above (12 semester hours)
- FREN
4990 - Senior Seminar (including a senior
essay and oral presentation, except where
a student elects to present a senior
honors thesis) (3 semester hours).
See senior seminar.
Note: The seminar runs concurrently with one of the three courses taken at the 4100 level or above. See department for details.
Honors Requirements
Honors candidates must meet all of the regular requirements for the major plus the following:
- FREN 3200 - Introduction to Literary Theory (3 semester hours.).
- One
semester of independent study (3 semester
hours).
Note: The semester of independent study is taken concurrently with FREN 4980, and is devoted to one-on-one work on the senior honors thesis with a faculty advisor. See department for details.
Graduating in Four Years with a B.A. in French
Consult the Four-Year Guarantee Requirements in the College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Degree section of the current University of Colorado at Boulder Catalogue for information on eligibility. The concept of "adequate progress" as it is used here only refers to maintaining eligibility for the four-year guarantee; it is not a requirement for the major. To maintain adequate progress in French, students should meet the following requirements:
- Declare French major by the
beginning of the second semester of study.
Complete FREN 3010, 3050, 3060, and 3100 by the end of the second (sophomore) year. - Complete FREN 3110 and 3120 and two other 3000- or 4000-level courses (including one at the 4100 level or above) by the end of the third (junior) year.
- Note: Completion of French requirements includes the successful written and oral presentation of a senior essay or honors thesis by the end of the fourth (senior) year.
To declare a French major, please go to http://advising.colorado.edu and make an appointment with the French advisor, Geraldine Henry.
