French and Francophone Studies
Department Website:
https://www.haverford.edu/french
The major in French and Francophone Studies lays the foundation for an understanding and appreciation of French language and of French and Francophone cultures through their literatures and the history of their arts, thought, and institutions.
Course offerings serve those with interest in French and Francophone literature, literary theory, and criticism, as well as those with interest in studying France and French-speaking countries from an interdisciplinary perspective. As the faculty teaches exclusively in French, a thorough knowledge of the language is required. Our courses adopt a variety of approaches, including literary studies, film and media studies, social history of ideas, and the study of politics and popular culture.
Our program is known for its rigor. Unlike at universities and Ivy League institutions, faculty rather than graduate students teach our undergraduates in French. Study abroad in France or in another Francophone country is an integral part of our students’ training. Virtually all majors and minors spend one semester abroad (see below).
Often our graduates have chosen to double major, in political science, economics, anthropology, comparative literature, or in the natural sciences; some opt to minor or concentrate in a related field, such as art history or international relations.
Learning Goals
We wish to empower our students to:
- Speak, read, and write in French with near-native proficiency.
- Engage the French and Francophone world and achieve cultural literacy.
- Become aware of cultural and linguistic diversity as global citizens who may someday work in the Francophone world.
- Communicate, with logic and empathy, among different perspectives and values especially in cross-cultural contexts.
- Think critically about texts, films, music, and fine arts as objects of inquiry.
- Analyze French and Francophone literatures as sources of human experience.
- Prepare for and pursue graduate studies, if they wish, in a variety of fields.
Haverford’s Institutional Learning Goals are available on the President’s website, at http://hav.to/learninggoals.
Curriculum
Unless they have not previously studied French, all entering students (first-year and transfers) who wish to pursue their study of French must take a placement examination upon entrance to Haverford.
Those students who begin French study the language and cultures in Elementary French (the sequence FREN H001–FREN H002 ). This is a year-long course that must be taken both semesters for the language requirement credit.
At the intermediate level students study the language and cultures non-intensively (the sequence FREN H003–FREN H004). This is also a year-long course, requiring both semesters for credit for the college language requirement. It is open to students who have taken FREN H001–FREN H002 or been placed by departmental examination.FREN H003 is only offered in the fall semester.
The 100-level courses further explore literature and culture through a series of texts and flashpoints in France's history. Students at this level strengthen their skills in French language and expression through grammatical exercises, discussions, presentations, and essays.
Courses at the 200-level are devoted to advanced language training (FREN H212 ), and French and Francophone literatures and civilizations from the beginning to the present day.
Advanced (300-level) courses offer detailed study either of individual authors, genres, and movements or of particular periods, themes, and problems in French and Francophone cultures. The department admits students to advanced courses after satisfactory completion of at least one semester of 200-level courses in French.
Major Requirements (minimum of 10 credits)
Majors must acquire fluency in the French language, both written and oral. Taking FREN H212 , or its equivalent when studying abroad, could help them to do so.
- FREN H001-FREN H002 (2 credits)
- FREN H003-FREN H004 (2 credits)
- FREN H101–FREN H102 (2 credits)
- 200-level sequence: minimum of two courses, one of which may be taken outside the department. Courses taken outside the department should contribute to your independent program of study and must be preapproved by your major advisor and entered in your major work plan (2 credits)
- 300-level sequence: minimum of two courses, one of which may be taken outside the department, pending pre-approval of your major advisor (2 credits).
Senior Project
The department offers a tailor-made experience for Senior majors along one of three lines:
- Students write a Senior essay in the context of a 300-level course taken either in the fall or the spring. In either case, students will be invited to collaborate on the design of the course in question.
- Highly motivated and capable students may also design their own independent course in the fall under the guidance of a faculty member as a preparation for an independent thesis in the spring.
- For students with interdisciplinary projects and/or double-majors, we will accept their work for a Senior thesis seminar in another department (for example, History, Philosophy, English, etc.) as a prelude to a spring independent thesis supervised at least in part by a faculty member in French and Francophone Studies. This Senior thesis seminar in another department may not count as one of the two courses in English toward the major.
Senior Project Assessment
Both Senior Thesis and Senior Essay include a final oral defense lasting thirty minutes. At this time, the student is expected to speak with authority about the research, the writing process, and some of the intellectual ramifications of the work accomplished.
Senior Project Learning Goals
At the end of their career at Haverford, we expect our students to have achieved an extensive appreciation of French and Francophone literatures and cultures as well as an advanced level of linguistic and cultural fluency in French. We also require that they demonstrate the capacity to analyze a text and critically engage it in a sustained fashion, formulate an argument and present it intelligibly in both oral and written form. Whether writing a thesis or a senior paper they must show that they can conduct research efficiently.
Requirements for Honors
Students with a GPA of 3.7 or above are usually recommended for departmental honors.
Minor Requirements (minimum of 6 credits)
Note that FREN H001 does not count toward the minor and that the courses must be taken in sequential order, regardless of the level at which you enter the program. For example, those students beginning at the Elementary level will take, after their first year,FREN H003-FREN H004; FREN H101-FREN H102, and one 200-level course to complete the minor.
Affiliated Faculty
Koffi AnyinefaProfessor of French and Francophone Studies
Kathryne Corbin
Associate Professor and Chair of French and Francophone Studies
Christophe Corbin
Visiting Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies
David Sedley
The Laurie Ann Levin Professor of Comparative Literature; Professor of French and Francophone Studies
Courses at Haverford
FREN H001 ELEMENTARY FRENCH (1.0 Credit)
Christophe Corbin
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
This is the first course in a two-part series of elementary French. The course will introduce students to the cultural and ethnic diversity of France and the francophone world and will help students develop French communicative skills in a comprehensive manner, including interpretive listening, interpretive reading, presentational speaking, presentational writing, and interpersonal communication. The course meets for five (5) hours a week: three (3) hours with the instructor, one (1) hour with a TA, and one (1) hour with a conversation partner. Students who take FREN 001 at HC have priority of enrollment in the second semester FREN 002. Reserved for students with no previous to very little experience in the French language.
(Offered: Fall 2025)
FREN H002 ELEMENTARY FRENCH NON INTENSIVE (1.0 Credit)
Kathryne Corbin
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
This is the second course in a two-part series of elementary French. The course will introduce students to the cultural and ethnic diversity of France and the francophone world and will help students develop French communicative skills in a comprehensive manner, including interpretive listening, interpretive reading, presentational speaking, presentational writing, and interpersonal communication. The course meets for five (5) hours a week: three (3) hours with the instructor, one (1) hour with a TA, and one (1) hour with a conversation partner. Students who take the first semester at HC have priority of enrollment in the second semester.
(Offered: Spring 2026)
FREN H003 INTERMEDIATE FRENCH NON INTENSIVE (1.0 Credit)
Koffi Anyinefa
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
The emphasis on speaking and understanding French is continued, texts from French literature and cultural media are read, and short papers are written in French. Students use the Language Learning Center regularly and attend supplementary oral practice sessions. The course meets in non-intensive (three hours each week) sections which are supplemented by an extra hour per week with an assistant. This is a year-long course; both semesters (003 and 004) are required for credit. Prerequisite(s): FREN 001 and 002, or French placement exam.
(Offered: Fall 2025)
FREN H004 INTERMEDIATE FRENCH (1.0 Credit)
Christophe Corbin, David Sedley
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
The emphasis on speaking and understanding French is continued, texts from French literature and cultural media are read, and short papers are written in French. Students use the Language Learning Center regularly and attend supplementary oral practice sessions. The course meets in non-intensive (three hours each week) sections which are supplemented by an extra hour per week with an assistant. This is a year-long course; both semesters (003 and 004) are required for credit. Prerequisite(s): FREN 001 and 002, or French placement exam
(Offered: Spring 2026)
FREN H005 FRANCOPHONIES EN PERSPECTIVES I: INTENSIVE (1.0 Credit)
Kathryne Corbin
Division: Humanities
The emphasis on speaking and understanding French is continued, literary and cultural texts are read, and increasingly longer papers are written in French. In addition to the three class meetings each week, students develop their skills in an additional group session with the professors and in oral practice hours with assistants. Students use the Language Learning Center regularly. This course prepares students to take 102 or 105 in the second semester. Open only to graduates of Intensive Elementary French or to students specially placed by the department. Students who are not graduates of Intensive Elementary must take either 102 or 105 in Semester II to receive credit.
(Offered: Fall 2025)
FREN H101 FRANCOPHONIES EN PERSPECTIVES I (1.0 Credit)
David Sedley
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
This course introduces French culture and cultural analysis through a series of flashpoints in France's history. What distinguishes France as a nation? How did it emerge before the Revolution of 1789 and how has it evolved since? What questions have shaped and reshaped French and Francophone identities? Today, France has a diverse population, due to its colonial pasts and its place at the crossroads of several ideological and aesthetic traditions. How does French society accommodate antithetical perspectives? As we explore these issues, we will learn to examine them analytically. Because the tools of analysis are often themselves "made in France," French culture will provide not only objects of study but also their means of interrogation. All the while, students will strengthen their skills in French language and expression through grammatical exercises, discussions, presentations, and essays. Prerequisite(s): FREN 004, or French placement exam
(Offered: Fall 2025)
FREN H102 FRANCOPHONIES EN PERSPECTIVES II (1.0 Credit)
David Sedley, Koffi Anyinefa
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
The goal of this course, the sequel to French 101, is to continue to develop your powers of expression and analysis in French. A difference between French 102 and 105 (the other sequel to 101) is that here the objects of study will be literary, and that through them we will consider what the value of studying literature is. In French and Francophone cultures, literature has an important and volatile relation to the question of civilization. The relation is important because literature has been used to define and to instill a sense of civility, that is, what it takes for people to live peacefully with one another. On the other hand, the relation is volatile because people disagree about literature's role in defining civility as well as about how to define civility (and therefore civilization) itself. We will explore these fundamental issues in French and Francophone cultures through texts and films of diverse periods, genres, and origins. Authors and artists will include Marivaux, Abdellatif Kechiche, Jean de La Fontaine, Victor Hugo, Françoise de Graffigny, Michel de Montaigne, and Patrick Chamoiseau. Prerequisite(s): FREN 005 or 101
(Offered: Spring 2026)
FREN H203 LE GRAND SIÈCLE (1.0 Credit)
David Sedley
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
What makes a culture "great"? A good place to explore this question is 17th-century France. It is often thought that during this century, French culture became great—hence the century's nickname, le grand siècle. In this course we will consider the hypothesis of French grandeur, but not to assess it as true or false. Rather, we will approach it as a notion that gets constructed, applied, and interrogated in the 1600s through a series of theatrical, political, architectural, theological, and scientific œuvres. These works—mainly by Molière, Madame de Lafayette, Racine, La Bruyère, Corneille, Descartes, Elisabeth de Bohême, and André Le Nôtre—differ radically in their ideas, forms, perspectives, and effects. Nevertheless, they are all regarded in France as "classics" in that they serve in the classroom as essential ingredients of an education. The significance of this class, therefore, extends beyond the specific period it covers to include French culture in general and the values that it may (or may not) have today. We will pay particular attention to theatrical plays as objects of individual passion and political appropriation, to the place of women with respect to ideologies of state and reason, to the development of a centralized––i.e., modern––state (as represented, e.g., through the palace of Versailles and its gardens), and to the establishment of the French colonial empire and its infamous code noir. In French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 101 and 102/105, or 005 and 102/105
FREN H250 INTRODUCTION À LA LITTÉRATURE FRANCOPHONE: CUISINE ET CULTURE EN FRANCE (1.0 Credit)
Kathryne Corbin
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
In 2010, “the gastronomic meal of the French” was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, with particular mention to “togetherness, the pleasure of taste, and the balance between human beings and the products of nature.” In addition, UNESCO noted the importance in choosing the right dish or recipe, how products are procured, which flavors marry well, the art of the table setting, and the specific structure of the meal. Why is “food” so central to French culture? Culinary culture is constructed from a rich fabric of narratives that sustain its very practice. What are those stories and how are they shared? In this course, we will explore the discourse, indeed the language, that led to the emergence of French cuisine and the rise of gastronomy in the nineteenth century. (We will even consider the complex relationship the French have with doggie bags...) Primary sources include works by Roland Barthes, Pierre Bourdieu, Annie Ernaux, Agnès Varda and Émile Zola. Materials for consideration include literature, cookbooks, menus, film, television, sociological and historical texts, as well as topics of contemporary political and social debate. Prerequisite(s): FREN 101 and 102/105, or 005 and 102/105
FREN H254 FRENCH IN ENGLISH: TYRANNY, POETRY, LIBERTY (1.0 Credit)
David Sedley
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
What can literature do in the face of tyranny? During the Renaissance, French artists invented new recipes for resisting tyranny and staying free. This course explores these recipes, which include ingredients such as poetry and friendship. As well as French antidotes to tyranny, we will investigate some sources in Italian art and political theory and some applications in English theater. Finally, we will consider how these early-modern ideas and practices may shed light on contemporary circumstances. Readings by Étienne de La Boétie, Montaigne, Lousie Labé, Machiavelli, Shakespeare, et al. Taught in English. Crosslisted: COML. Pre-requisite(s): First-year writing course
(Offered: Fall 2025)
FREN H255 CINEMA ET COLONIALISME (1.0 Credit)
Koffi Anyinefa
Division: Humanities
(Offered: Spring 2026)
FREN H271 FRENCH IN COMMON: ALLOCHTHONOUS AND INDIGENOUS VOICES IN QUEBEC (1.0 Credit)
Christophe Corbin
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
What sets Quebecois society apart from the rest of Canada’s provinces? And what about the First Peoples, colonized twice over? How has French paradoxically become, for them, a tool of resistance against cultural erasure and colonization? The semester is divided into two parts: allochthonous communities and Indigenous communities. Themes explored through literary and cinematic works include: memory, loss of territory, community resilience, linguistic assimilation and cultural reclamation, identity issues, and postcolonial perspectives. Crosslisted: FREN, COML. Pre-requisite(s): FREN 102
(Offered: Fall 2025)
FREN H298 CARMEN DE MÉRIMÉE ET SES ADAPTATIONS (1.0 Credit)
Koffi Anyinefa
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
Since its publication in 1845, Prosper Mérimée's short story Carmen has been adapted in a variety of media: opera, film, theatre, dance, comic strips. Carmen has indeed become a myth with almost universal resonance, taken up by European, American and African artists alike. What is it about Mérimée's eponymous character that attracts artists so much? Her femme fatale looks? The “Gypsy” that she is? The character so naturally prone to transgression? We will first study Mérimée's short story and then move on to its adaptations: Which characterizations of Carmen have been retained, altered or simply rejected and why? What rewritings of the myth of Carmen do these adaptations propose (Bizet, Brook, Dornford-May, Gai Ramaka, Godard, Preminger, Townsend, Rosi, Saura; Vidor)? In French Pre-requisite(s): Pre-requisite(s): FREN 101 and FREN 102. Open to non-majors.
FREN H312 ADVANCED TOPICS IN FRENCH LITERATURE (1.0 Credit)
Koffi Anyinefa
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
Migrer, dans son sens le plus neutre, veut dire « se déplacer ». Le terme implique donc une traversée de frontières (spatiales, sociales, culturelles, etc.). Depuis les trois dernières décennies, le verbe (et ses dérivés : migration, migrant, migratoire) s’est « politisé ». Il connote désormais une situation de crise aux frontières des États riches de la planète (l’Europe notamment). Comment donc, dans un monde des nations nous déplaçons-nous aujourd’hui ? Comment respecter la souveraineté de celles-ci, l’intégrité de leurs frontières ? Comment reconnaître le droit à la migration, à l’asile, bref à l’hospitalité envers l’étranger, le citoyen d’une autre nation ? Comment accorder l’idéal humaniste (et universel) de l’hospitalité à nos valeurs contemporaines liées à la citoyenneté ? Les textes au programme (essais, textes littéraires et films – fictions et documentaires) nous aideront à réfléchir sur ces questions. Crosslisted: FREN and COML Pre-requisite : 1 course FREN 2xx
(Offered: Fall 2025)
FREN H312B ADV TOPICS FRENCH LIT: QUE SAIS-JE? JUGEMENTS ET PRÉJUGÉS DES ESSAIS DE MONTAIGNE (1.0 Credit)
David Sedley
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
This course is about Michel de Montaigne, whose fame in French is comparable to Shakespeare's in English. In any language, Montaigne is the inventor of an intellectual exercise typically assigned to college students: the essay. Montaigne wrote the first book of "essays" as experiments in judging. He did so in order to improve the quality of his own—and his readers'—judgments. In conducting these experiments, however, he discovered cognitive, emotional, and cultural reflexes—in other words, prejudices—that preceded judgment and skewed its outcomes. In this course, we will follow the struggle between judgment and prejudice staged in Montaigne's Essais. We will thereby gain perspective on the values of essay-writing in the context of an education charged with the task of decolonizing the mind. In French. In French. Crosslisted: FREN and COML Prerequisite(s): At least one 200-level course
(Offered: Spring 2026)
FREN H399 SENIOR THESIS (1.0 Credit)
Koffi Anyinefa
Division: Humanities
Courses at Bryn Mawr
FREN B105 DIRECTIONS DE LA FRANCE CONTEMPORAINE (1.0 Credit)
Camille Leclère-Gregory, Corine Ragueneau
Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
Ce cours se donne pour but de vous faire goûter à la culture française actuelle, mais aussi de vous donner une idée claire de la société où elle naît. Nous en aborderons des aspects très variés en nous concentrant sur ces institutions dont le fonctionnement la distingue d’autres pays (école, hôpital, etc.). Les films que nous allons voir nous permettront d'analyser ces particularités françaises. Il s’agit également de vous encourager à vous exprimer aisément en français : les discussions seront privilégiées et nous réviserons régulièrement des points de grammaire afin d’améliorer votre expression tant écrite qu’orale. Au terme de ce cours, vous pourrez vivre en France sans vous sentir sur une planète étrangère. Prerequisite: FREN 005 or 101.
(Offered: Spring 2026)
FREN B208 LA DIVERSITÉ DANS LE CINÉMA FRANÇAIS CONTEMPORAIN (1.0 Credit)
Julien Suaudeau
Until the closing years of the 20th century, ethnic diversity was virtually absent from French cinema. While Francophone directors from Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa debunked colonialism and neocolonialism in their films, minorities hardly appeared on French screens. Movies were made by white filmmakers for a white audience. Since the 1980's and the 1990's, minorities have become more visible in French films. Are French Blacks and Arabs portrayed in French cinema beyond stereotypes, or are they still objects of a euro-centric gaze? Have minorities gained agency in storytelling, not just as actors, but as directors? What is the national narrative at play in the recent French films that focus on diversity? Is it still "us against them", or has the new generation of French filmmakers found a way to include the different components of French identity into a collective subject? From Bouchareb to Gomis, from Kechiche to Benyamina and Jean-Baptiste, this course will map out the visual fault lines of the French self and examine the prospects for a post-republican sense of community. This course will be taught in French. Open to non-majors. There will be a weekly screening on Sunday, 7:00pm-9:00pm.
(Offered: Spring 2026)
FREN B221 FEMME SUJET/FEMME OBJET (1.0 Credit)
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)
An in-depth examination of how women authors from selected periods conceive of their art, construct authority for themselves, and, where appropriate, distinguish themselves from male colleagues, of whom several who have assumed female voices/perspective will be examined as points of comparison. It introduces students to the techniques and topics of selected women writers (as well as theoretical approaches to them) from the most recent (Djebar and M. Duras) to late Medieval authors. This course is taught in French. Prerequisite: FREN 102 or 105
FREN B233 LES MÉTAMORPHOSES DU REGARD FÉMININ DANS LE CINÉMA FRANÇAIS (1.0 Credit)
Julien Suaudeau
The male gaze is, in many ways, consubstantial to film as a language and as a cultural medium. Although French cinema is not an exception, female French filmmakers have, for decades, sought to disrupt the codes and the power structure of a traditionally male-dominated industry, both by moving away from conventional narratives and by inventing a female gaze that would be organic to their films and to the characters that they portray. How has the representation of women and womanhood in French film evolved since the New Wave? Have women gained agency in storytelling, not just as actresses, but also behind-the-scenes, as directors, screenwriters, producers? To what extent has their work affected the stories told by male filmmakers? From Agnès Varda to Alice Diop, from Laurence Ferreira-Barbosa to Céline Sciamma and Justine Triet, this course will be paired with the Women in Trouble French and Francophone Film Festival at Bryn Mawr Film Institute and VCAM. This course will be taught in French. Open to non-majors. There will be a weekly screening on Sunday, 7:00pm-9:00pm. Prerequisite: Completion of 100-level sequence.