The course focuses on French culture through feature films, animated films, and comic books. France is the strongest film industry in Europe and is one of the world’s major movie export powers after the U.S. Franco-Belgian comics are one of the main groups of comics, together with American and British comic books and the Japanese manga. France is Europe’s largest producer and the world’s third largest exporter of animated film. What do French films and comics tell us about French culture? The course explores aspects of contemporary French society. It addresses a broad range of topics including multiculturalism in France, French cuisine and the French paradox, fashion in France, the impact of the two world wars on French society, the legacy of the French colonial experience, and ethnic and sexual minorities in France. The course examines the interconnectedness of French culture with other cultures in the world, particularly American culture and the cultures of former French colonies. Students will also have to interpret and evaluate French films and comic books considering the cultural context in which they were created. They will learn about the specificity of French cinema as opposed to Hollywood productions, of French animated films versus American animated films and Japanese anime, and of Franco-Belgian comics as opposed to American and British comics and the Japanese manga. The course also offers a brief introduction to spoken French.

This is the first course in a two-course sequence. The sequence provides students without prior exposure to the language with a sound basis for learning French as it is used today in its spoken and written forms. The goal of the sequence is proficiency in communication skills with an emphasis on oral proficiency. The sequence also acquaints students with contemporary culture and life in French-speaking countries. Students must take placement exam if this is their first RIT class in French and they have some prior study of French.

This is the first course of a two-course sequence at the intermediate level. The sequence provides students with the tools necessary to increase their ability to function in French. Communicative activities, contemporary texts, vocabulary study, and grammar are used to expand all communication skills, especially oral proficiency. This sequence continues to address issues of contemporary French life and culture as well as the cultures of the Francophone world.

This is the second course of a two-course sequence at the intermediate level. The sequence provides students with the tools necessary to increase their ability to function in French. Communicative activities, contemporary texts, vocabulary study, and grammar are used to expand all communication skills, especially oral proficiency. This sequence continues to address issues of contemporary French life and culture as well as the cultures of the Francophone world.

This course trains students to read and write in French at an advanced intermediate level of competency. Through gradual presentation and recognition of French grammar forms and vocabulary, students learn to comprehend, discuss, and analyze a wide variety of French texts, including songs, scripts of movies and TV series, comic books, skits, news items, canonical narratives, as well as some technical and scientific materials. Students also learn to write and express their ideas in grammatically correct French and to explore different genres and forms of writing. The course also expands students’ knowledge of French and Francophone cultures. Conducted in French.

A comparative study of French films and their American remakes from the 1930s to the 21st century to determine what these films reveal about the cultural and cinematic contexts from which they emerge. The course examines differences as well as similarities in the construction of identities in France and the United States. Devotes particular attention to the (re)construction of race, space, gender, and national histories. Conducted in English.

Heritage films are central to the French cinematographic production. They enable the transmission and the reevaluation of a tradition that lies at the core of French cultural identity. This course examines a selection of French films adapted from both canonical and non-canonical texts representative of major events, trends, social issues, and artistic movements that contributed to shaping modern France. Students will become familiar with world-renowned French novels, short stories, comic books, and films. The course deals with topics such as aristocratic culture, racial identity in France, the myth of the resistance and the legacy of the Second World War, France’s rural past, the French colonial experience, women and bourgeois culture, the long-standing tradition of comic books and comedy in France, the Tradition of Quality, the French New Wave, and heritage films. The course also examines the interconnectedness of French culture and the cultures of the United States, England, and former French colonies. It notably explores how the French colonial experience informed the development of French cinema, and how French heritage films were both inspired and reinterpreted by British and American cinematographic industries to reflect the cultures and values of those societies. Conducted in English.

This is the first course of a two-course sequence at the advanced level. This course will emphasize active spoken language use. Other skills will also be used, such as reading, writing and listening, but primarily as helps for developing conversational ability. Attention will also be given to grammatical accuracy. Readings will cover historical and current events in France and in other Francophone cultures.

This course teaches specialized terminology and linguistic structures important for communicating scientific and technological knowledge in French. The focus is on developing students’ listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in interpreting technical French. Students will learn science and technology terms and structures in a broad range of technical areas via experiential learning activities. In addition, students will research and present topics of their own interest or beyond their disciplines. Students will expand their knowledge of French to include technical terms/structures and prepare themselves to better apply their language skills in internships, research, and work while exploring and understanding the culture in professional workplaces. Taught in French with a prerequisite of Intermediate French II.