Fall 2011

FALL QUARTER 2011
EXPANDED COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

 

*Change (made after the publication of the Class Schedule and Registration Guide)

 

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LOWER-DIVISION COURSES
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FRENCH 1. Elementary French (5 Units)
Supervisor: Prof. Eric Russell, erussell@ucdavis.edu

Description: Presentation of the basic grammar and vocabulary of French as well as cultural information about the French-speaking world (textbook chapters 1 to 6); in-class interactive exercises and out-of-class assignments for practice in using the language for listening and reading comprehension, writing, and speaking. French is the exclusive means of communication in class. The course meets five hours per week, with 20-25 students per section. Course materials (other than the textbook and workbook) and daily homework assignments are available through SmartSite.

Prerequisite: No previous study of French is assumed. Students who have never studied French (or who have had fewer than two years of French in high school and do not place into French 2) should enroll in French 1. Students with two or more years of French in high school may only take this course for a Pass/ No Pass grade.

Course Grade: The final grade for the course will be determined by daily preparation and participation (14%), homework (12%), three quizzes (15%), one major composition (10%), three in-class exams (30%), and a final exam (19%).

Textbooks:

• E. Amon, J.A. Muyskens, and A.C. Omaggio Hadley, Vis-a-vis: Beginning French, 5th Edition (Textbook)
• E. Amon, J. Muyskens, and A.C. Omaggio Hadley, Vis-a-vis: Beginning French, 5th Edition (ONLINE Workbook/Laboratory Manual - requires an access card)

 

FRENCH 2. Elementary French (5 Units)
Supervisor: Prof. Eric Russell, erussell@ucdavis.edu

Description: Presentation of the basic grammar and vocabulary of French as well as cultural information about the French-speaking world (textbook chapters 7 to 11); in-class interactive exercises and out-of-class assignments for practice in using the language for listening and reading comprehension, writing, and speaking. French is the exclusive means of communication in class. The course meets five hours per week, with 20-25 students per section. Course materials (other than the textbook and workbook) and daily homework assignments are available through SmartSite.

Course Grade: The final grade for the course will be determined by daily preparation and participation (14%), homework (10%), three quizzes (15%), one major composition (10%), two in-class exams (25%), a final oral exam (6%), and a final written exam (20%).

Prerequisite: French 1 or Language Placement Exam (Any student, regardless of previous experience studying French, may take this course for a letter or Pass/ No Pass grade.)

Textbooks:

• E. Amon, J.A. Muyskens, and A.C. Omaggio Hadley, Vis-a-vis: Beginning French, 5th Edition (Textbook)
• E. Amon, J. Muyskens, and A.C. Omaggio Hadley, Vis-a-vis: Beginning French, 5th Edition (ONLINE Workbook/Laboratory Manual - requires an access card)

 

FRENCH 3. Elementary French (5 Units)
Supervisor: Prof. Eric Russell, erussell@ucdavis.edu

Description: Presentation of the basic grammar and vocabulary of French as well as cultural information about the French-speaking world (textbook chapters 12 to 16); in-class interactive exercises and out-of-class assignments for practice in using the language for listening and reading comprehension, writing, and speaking. French is the exclusive means of communication in class. The course meets five hours per week, with 20-25 students per section. Course materials (other than the textbook and workbook) and daily homework assignments are available through SmartSite.

Course Grade: The final grade for the course will be determined by daily preparation and participation (14%), homework (10%), three quizzes (15%), one major composition (10%), two in-class exams (25%), a final oral exam (6%), and a final written exam (20%).

Prerequisite: French 2 or Language Placement Exam (Any student, regardless of previous experience studying French, may take this course for a letter or Pass/ No Pass grade.)

Textbooks:

• E. Amon, J.A. Muyskens, and A.C. Omaggio Hadley, Vis-a-vis: Beginning French, 5th Edition (Textbook)
• E. Amon, J. Muyskens, and A.C. Omaggio Hadley, Vis-a-vis: Beginning French, 5th Edition (ONLINE Workbook/Laboratory Manual - requires an access card)

 

FRENCH 21. Intermediate French (5 Units)
Supervisor: Prof. Julia Simon, jsimon@ucdavis.edu

Description: Presentation and analysis of the cultures of the French-speaking world (Paris, Quebec, Tahiti, Lyon, Northern Africa) and comparison to home culture; review of the basic grammar presented in first-year French; expansion of vocabulary related to city living, history/geography, the arts, food/cooking, and family life (textbook chapters 1 to 5). In-class presentations and activities, as well as out-of-class assignments, are conducted solely in French and focus on the development of listening and reading comprehension, writing, and speaking skills. The course meets four hours per week, plus an additional hour of independent web-based work, with 20-25 students per section. Course materials (other than the textbook and workbook) and daily homework assignments are available through SmartSite.

Course Grade: The final grade for the course will be determined by daily preparation and participation, homework, and one in-class composition per chapter (5 x 13% = 85%), an oral final exam (5%), and a written final exam (10%).

Prerequisite: French 3 or Language Placement Exam (Any student, regardless of previous experience studying French, may take this course for a letter or Pass/ No Pass grade.)

Textbook:

• Jean Marie Schultz and Marie-Paul Tranvouez, Réseau: Communication, Intégration, Intersections (Prentice Hall, 2009)

 

FRENCH 22. Intermediate French (5 Units)
Supervisor: Prof. Julia Simon, jsimon@ucdavis.edu

Description: Presentation and analysis of the cultures of the French-speaking world (Senegal, Martinique, Geneva, Strasbourg, Brussels) and comparison to home culture; review of the basic grammar presented in first-year French; expansion of vocabulary related to commerce, tourism, sports and leisure, politics, and modern technology (textbook chapters 6 to 10). In-class presentations and activities, as well as out-of-class assignments, are conducted solely in French and focus on the development of listening and reading comprehension, writing, and speaking skills. The course meets four hours per week, plus an additional hour of independent web-based work, with 25 students per section. Course materials (other than the textbook and workbook) and daily homework assignments are available through SmartSite.

Course Grade: The final grade for the course will be determined by daily preparation and participation, homework, and one in-class composition per chapter (5 x 13% = 85%), an oral final exam (5%), and a written final exam (10%).

Prerequisite: French 21 or Language Placement Exam (Any student, regardless of previous experience studying French, may take this course for a letter or Pass/ No Pass grade.)

Textbook:

• Jean Marie Schultz and Marie-Paul Tranvouez, Réseau: Communication, Intégration, Intersections (Prentice Hall, 2009)

 

FRENCH 23. Intermediate French (5 Units)
Supervisor: Prof. Julia Simon, jsimon@ucdavis.edu

Description: The goals in this course are to advance your comprehension and use of the French language, with a particular focus on writing skills. Structured reading, analysis, discussion and writing assignments will enable you to increase your vocabulary, improve your oral and aural proficiency, solidify your mastery of grammatical structures, and develop greater ease and sophistication in written and spoken expression.

Prerequisite: French 22 or Language Placement Exam (Any student, regardless of previous experience studying French, may take this course for a letter or Pass/ No Pass grade.)

Text: Materials available through SmartSite.

 

 

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UPPER-DIVISION COURSES
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FRENCH 100. Composition in French (4 Units)

Prof. Melissa Stem, mstem@ucdavis.edu NEW INSTRUCTOR
TR 10:30-11:50, 151 Olson
CRN 65048

Description: The primary goal at this level is to introduce you to the study of literature in French, which consists of two related introductions: to literature written in French and also to the critical study of literature. The first consists of reading a variety of texts written in French in different genres over a vast time span. The second consists of giving you certain tools and enabling you to develop interpretative and analytical skills that you use to understand better the texts we are reading (and others!) and to articulate your ideas about the texts in a clear and persuasive manner. This is where French class becomes literature class (i.e., the focus is on the literature and thus its language, but not the foreignness of the language).

Prerequisite: French 23 or equivalent.

GE Credits (Old): None.
GE Credits (New): Arts & Humanities, Writing, and World Cultures.

Texts:

• Stillman and Gordon, The Ultimate French Review and Practice
• Collins Robert French Unabridged Dictionary
• Additional materials and all literary texts available on SmartSite

 

FRENCH 109. French Phonetics (4 Units)

Prof. Eric Russell, &#101russell

@ucdavis.edu
TR 1:40-3:00,
CRN 83765

Description: This course will introduce you to phonetic transcription using the International Phonetic Alphabet, familiarize you with how French sounds are produced alone and in context, and highlight common mistakes made by nonnative speakers of French. We will also discuss the correspondence between written and spoken French, some of the difficulties for Anglophone learners of French, and regional variation in the Francophone world.

This course is likely very different from others you have taken, and you'll be asked to look at language from a more scientific perspective. In additional to French, you should be prepared to discover a great deal about English, other languages and human linguistic production, in general; spoken forms and spelling; formal differences between the "Standard" and other varieties across the French-speaking world.

By the end of the quarter, you should:

• be able to transcribe, using the IPA, a spoken or written passage
• be able to describe the sound inventory of French using standard linguistic terminology
• recognize, understand and exemplify different phonological processes affecting the online ("real-time") production of French utterances
• recognize, evaluate and correct pronunciation flaws common to English speakers of French.

 

Prerequisite: French 23 or equivalent.

GE Credits (Old): None.
GE Credits (New): Social Sciences.

Texts:

• Readings will be available through SmartSite.

 

FRENCH 117B. The Classical Moment (4 Units)

Prof. Noah Guynn, &#110dguynn

@ucdavis.edu
MWF 2:10-3:00, 267 Olson
CRN 83764

Description: This course will be devoted to the career of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, otherwise known as Molière. We will read representative plays from all of the major phases of Molière’s career, including the early farces, the mid-career comédies morales, and the late comédies-ballets. The course will be structured around clips from Ariane Mnouchkine’s celebrated film-biography Molière (1978). Wherever possible, we will also view clips from film productions of the plays. Our emphasis throughout the term will be on dramatic representations of political power and dissidence, social order and disorder, convention and eccentricity.

Prerequisite: French 100 or equivalent.

GE Credits (Old): Arts & Humanities.
GE Credits (New): Arts & Humanities, Writing, and World Cultures.

Texts:

• Moliere, Le Tartuffe
• Moliere, Les Fourberies de Scapin
• Moliere, Les Femmes Savantes
• Moliere, Le Malade Imaginaire
• Moliere, Les Precieuses Ridicules
• Moliere, L'Ecole des Femmes
• Moliere, Le Misanthrope

 

FRENCH 128. Topics in French Culture: "Site of French Cultural Identity" (4 Units) NEW COURSE

Prof. Melissa Stem,  mstem@ucdavis.edu 
TR 9:00-10:20, 151 Olson
CRN 84202

Description: A wide variety of reading materials and films will form the basis of our discussions of French cultural identity. We will look at how a person (Jeanne d'Arc), a place (Paris), a thing (the French national anthem, La Marseillaise) and a historical event (the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre) become sites of cultural memory, invested with a formative function in defining and redefining national identity. Students will be expected to actively engage in discussion, maintain a journal of reflections and commentary, make an in-class presentation based on research of a chosen topic, and write a final paper.

Prerequisite: French 100 or equivalent.

GE Credits (Old): None.
GE Credits (New): Writing.

Texts:

• A Course Reader

 

FRENCH 141. Topics in French Literature: "Waiting..." (4 Units)

Prof. Jeff Fort, &#106pfort

@ucdavis.edu
TR 12:10-1:30, 108 Hoagland
CRN 65052

Description: This course will focus on texts and films from the mid-twentieth century that deal with waiting...Historically, this was a period marked by a great deal of turmoil, violence, wars, and anxiety -- from the Spanish Civil War to the Algerian War of Independence, passing through World War II. The authors and filmmakers in this course responded to the events (and the mood) of their time by depicting situations in which characters must wait for an end or resolution that may or may not come... whether this is figured as the termination of a long night waiting for death, the eternity of hell, the end of a war, release from imprisonment, the results of a medical test, or perhaps something completely unknown (but with a name: Godot). In these works, waiting becomes a formal mode by which fiction, theater and film attempt to communicate the anxious conditions of a period marked by numerous upheavals and massive generalized uncertainty.

Reading and film list (the three books to buy are marked with an asterisk):

• Sartre, "Le mur" (short story; 1938)
• Sartre, Huis clos* (play; 1943)
• Beckett, En attendant Godot* (play; 1953)
• Beckett, Fin de partie* (play; 1957)
• Bresson, Un condamné à mort s'est échappé (film; 1956)
• Varda, Cléo de 5 à 7 (film; 1961)
• Pontecorvo, La bataille d'alger (film; 1966)

 

 

Prerequisite: French 100 or equivalent.

GE Credits (Old): Arts & Humanities.
GE Credits (New): Arts & Humanities, Writing, and World Cultures.

Texts:

• Sartre, Huis clos* (play; 1943)
• Beckett, En attendant Godot* (play; 1953)
• Beckett, Fin de partie* (play; 1957)

 

 

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GRADUATE COURSES
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FRENCH 200. Introduction to Graduate Study in French (2 Units)

Prof. Noah Guynn, &#110dguynn

@ucdavis.edu
CANCELLED (as of 9/30/11)

 

FRENCH 207A. 18th-Century Literature: Philosophies (4 Units)

Prof. Julia Simon, &#106simon

@ucdavis.edu
W 2:10-5:00, 123 Wellman NEW SCHEDULE and ROOM
CRN 65117

Description:

"Enthnography's traditional vocation of cultural criticism (Montaigne's "On Cannibals," Montesquieu's Persian Letters) has reemerged with new explicitness and vigor"
-- James Clifford, "Introduction,"Writing Culture, p. 23.

"We know that out subtlest perceptions, our highest values, are all based upon contrast; that light without darkness or beauty without ugliness would lose the qualities which they now appear to us to have. And similarly, if we would appreciate our own civilization, this elaborate pattern of life which we have made for ourselves as a people and which we are at such pains to pass on to our children, we must set our civilization over and against very different ones . . . . But if we step outside the stream of Indo-European culture, the appreciation which we can accord our civilization is even more enhanced."
-- Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa, pp. 7-8.

These citations - the first from a contemporary "critic" of anthropology, the second from a celebrated pioneer in ethnographic study - set the tone for the line of analysis that this course will pursue. In some sense, eighteenth-century versions of "anthropology," as Clifford indicates, inaugurated the field of ethnography.  Mead makes explicit the critical thrust of ethnographic fieldwork: not to critique "other" cultures, but to shed light upon our own cultural biases. This course will explore the emergence of an anthropological literature or a literary anthropology during the eighteenth century.

As the passages from Clifford and Mead emphasize, we will be interested in anthropology and ethnography as critical studies. Beginning with Rousseau’s efforts to determine the "nature of man" by tracing the roots of civilization and culture, we will examine the critical aspect of this enterprise in relation to Enlightenment thought in general. Having established the importance of the "nature of man" for social criticism, we will move to texts that explore the interaction (fictional or otherwise) between cultures. Bougainville's, Voyage autour du monde, Diderot's Supplément au voyage de Bougainville, Montesquieu's Lettres persanes, and finally, Graffigny's Lettres d'une Péruvienne will enable us to analyze the ethnographic contribution of the eighteenth century.

The critical texts chosen to accompany the primary texts highlight issues in contemporary theoretical anthropology which have a bearing on the questions under discussion in the class. These texts include selections from Clifford, Geertz, Pratt and others who attempt to come to terms which anthropology's problematic relation to narrative and literature.

Texts:

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inegalite parmi les hommes(Flammarion, 2008)
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Essai sur l'origine des langes (Garnier-Flammarion, 1993)
• Charles Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, Lettres persanes (Folio Classique, 1973)
• Denis Diderot, Supplement au voyage de Bougainville (Folio-Classique, 2002)
• Francoise de Graffigny, Lettres d'une peruvienne (MLA, 1993)

 

FRENCH 390A. The Teaching of French in College (2 Units)

Prof. Eric Russell, erussell@ucdavis
R 2:10-4:00, 522 Sproul
CRN 65171

Description: This course is ...

 

FRENCH 396. Teaching Assistant Training Practicum (4 Units)

Prof. Eric Russell (Sec. 1, CRN ***)
Prof. Julia Simon (Sec. 2, CRN ***)

(Note: Contact Falicia Savala at &#102savala

@ucdavis.edu for the CRNs?.)