Spring 2016

EXPANDED COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Please click here to view the schedule as a PDF
______________________________

LOWER DIVISION COURSES 
______________________________

 

French 001. Elementary French (5 units)
Supervisor: Elisabeth Griffart-Meissner, egmeissner@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 002) should enroll in French 001. 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%).

GE credit (Old): Arts & Humanities.
GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities and World Cultures.

Format: Discussion - 5 hours; Laboratory - 1 hour.

Textbook:

• A. Valdman, C. Pons, and M.E. Scullen, Chez Nous Media Enhanced Package [4th Edition]  (Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014)
   

---

French 002. Elementary French (5 units)
Supervisor:  Elisabeth Griffart-Meissner, egmeissner@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 001 or Language Placement Exam (Any student, regardless of previous experience studying French, may take this course for a letter or Pass/ No Pass grade.)

GE credit (Old): Arts & Humanities.
GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities and World Cultures.

Format: Discussion - 5 hours; Laboratory - 1 hour.

Textbook:

• A. Valdman, C. Pons, and M.E. Scullen, Chez Nous Media Enhanced Package [4th Edition]  (Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014)
   

---

French 003. Elementary French (5 units)
Supervisor: Prof. Julia Simon, jsimon@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 002 or Language Placement Exam (Any student, regardless of previous experience studying French, may take this course for a letter or Pass/ No Pass grade.)

GE credit (Old): Arts & Humanities.
GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities and World Cultures.

Format: Discussion - 5 hours; Laboratory - 1 hour.

Textbook:

• A. Valdman, C. Pons, and M.E. Scullen, Chez Nous Media Enhanced Package [4th Edition]  (Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014)
   

---

French 021. Intermediate French (5 units)
Supervisor: Prof. Julia Simon, jsimon@ucdavis.edu

Winter Borg

MTWR 10:00-10:50A
25 Wellman Hall
CRN 44955

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 001A or French 003 or Language Placement Exam (Any student, regardless of previous experience studying French, may take this course for a letter or Pass/ No Pass grade.)

GE credit (Old): Arts & Humanities.
GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Oral Literacy, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 4 hours; Laboratory - 1 hour.

Textbook:

• Jean Marie Schultz and Marie-Paul Tranvouez, Réseau: Communication, Intégration, Intersections [2nd Edition] Package (Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014)
   

---

French 022. Intermediate French (5 units)
Supervisor: Prof. Julia Simon, jsimon@ucdavis.edu

Jamiella Brooks

MTWR 11:00-11:50A
25 Wellman Hall
CRN 44956

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

GE credit (Old): Arts & Humanities.
GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Oral Literacy, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 4 hours; Laboratory - 1 hour.

Textbook:

• Jean Marie Schultz and Marie-Paul Tranvouez, Réseau: Communication, Intégration, Intersections [2nd Edition] Package (Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014)
   

---

French 023. 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 022 or Language Placement Exam (Any student, regardless of previous experience studying French, may take this course for a letter or Pass/ No Pass grade.)

GE credit (Old): Arts & Humanities.
GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Oral Literacy, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 4 hours; Laboratory - 1 hour.

Textbooks:

• Jean Marie Schultz and Marie-Paul Tranvouez, Réseau: Communication, Intégration, Intersections [2nd Edition] Package (Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014)
• Jean Anouilh, Antigone  (Table Ronde, 2008)
   

---

French 051. Major Works in French Literature [HONORS] (4 units)
Noah Guynn

The time, location and CRN of this course are available through the Honors Program.

Course Description: This course will offer an introduction to French literature from the Middle Ages through the contemporary world and will also feature a number of key French films.  We will focus our attention on themes of embodiment and identity, and will look specifically at works that aim to disrupt conventional understandings of what it means to be masculine, feminine, or human.  A medieval romance like Silence, in which the heroine is born female but raised male in order to be able to inherit from her father, will allow us to consider not only how medieval gender norms were used to restrict access to social power, but also how socially constructed identities could be manipulated and changed.  A twentieth-century film like Alain Berliner’s Ma vie en rose will likewise ask us to understand not only what it would be like for a seven-year-old boy to insist he is actually a girl but also how his family and community might respond to his stubborn refusal to adhere to social conventions.  Other works on our syllabus exhibit a similar fascination with gender bending and its social implications, notably focusing on the humanization and dehumanization of individuals who fail or refuse to conform to prevailing norms.

Course requirements will include three expository essays, a take-home final exam, and active, informed class participation.  The assigned texts and films are:

Anonymous, The Romance of Silence (13th century)
Ben Jalloun, The Sand Child (20th century)
Sciamma, Tom Boy (21st century)
Coudrette, Mélusine (15th century)
Perrault, The Story of the Marquise-Marquis de Banneville (17th century)
Balzac, The Girl with the Golden Eyes (19th century)
Rachilde, Monsieur Vénus (19th century)
Berliner, Ma vie en rose (20th century)
Dolon, Laurence Anyways (21st century)

All texts will be available in English translation, and all films will be subtitled.

Prerequisite: This course is an honors course and is only open to students in the Honors Program.

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

Format: Lecture - 2 hours; Term Paper or Discussion.

Textbooks:

• TBA
   

---

__________________________

 UPPER DIVISION COURSES
__________________________

French 100. Composition in French (4 units)
Megan McMullan

TR 9:00-10:20A
7 Wellman Hall
CRN 44983

Course Description: French 100 is primarily designed to enhance students' ability to navigate written French through a variety of formal, analytical, and creative writing exercises. Both a continuation of the language series and an introduction to upper division, this course aims to supply the tools needed for sophisticated oral and written expression on a broad range of topics. Assigned texts include Le Bourgeois gentilhomme by Molière and Poulet aux prunes by Marjane Satrapi.

Prerequisite: French 023.

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

Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks:

• Stacey Katz Bourns, Contextualized French Grammar: A Handbook  (Cengage Learning, 2012)
• Marjane Satrapi, Poulet aux prunes [3é edition]  (L'Association, 2004)
   

---

French 106. French in Business and the Professions (4 units)
Elisabeth Griffart-Meissner

TR 10:30-11:50A
235 Wellman Hall
CRN 44984

Course Description: In this course students will learn how the French language is used in the commercial sphere. Emphasis will be placed on proper style and form in letter-writing and in non-literary composition. We will also cover technical terminology across diverse fields.

Prerequisite: French 100 or consent of instructor (egmeissner@ucdavis.edu).

GE credit (Old): None.
GE credit (New): Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture - 1 hour; Discussion - 2 hours.

Textbooks:

• TBA
   

---

French 108. Modern French Culture (4 units)
Julia Simon

MWF 10:00-10:50A
233 Wellman Hall
CRN 44985

Course Description: This course will examine the history of French culture from the Dreyfus affair to the present day with a central focus on what it means to be a citizen in France.  Beginning with the Dreyfus affair (1894-1906), we will examine a crisis in French history that brings deep divides that existed within French culture since the 1789 Revolution to the forefront of national consciousness.  We will trace France’s experience in World War I, the period between the wars, and in World War II, continuing to explore the religious and political tensions within French society.  We will explore the Algerian War (1954-1962) and decolonization generally, as well as the legacy of colonialism in modern France. Finally, we will look at the French state today with respect to questions of social welfare and immigration.  Readings will include historical and cultural documents.

Prerequisite: French 023.

GE credit (Old): None.
GE credit (New): World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Writing.

Textbooks:

• None
   

---

French 141. 16th‐18th Century Travel Literature (4 units)
Megan McMullan

TR 12:10-1:30P
1128 Hart Hall
CRN 62932

Description: This course will explore representations of people and places in fictional and nonfictional accounts of travel to "Nouvelle France" between 1560 and 1760. We will read works by Montaigne, de Champlain, de Bergerac, and Prévost, in addition to excerpts from other sources. These works will offer us a window into what is "New" and what is "French" about "La Nouvelle France."

Prerequisite: French 100 and consent of instructor (mlmcmullan@ucdavis.edu).

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

Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks:

• Cyrano de Bergerac, Voyage Dans La Lune  (Éditions Flammarion, 1978)
• Samuel de Champlain, Des Sauvages, Ou Voyage de Samuel Champlain, de Brouage [Ed. 1603]  (Hachette Livre BNF, 2012)
• Abbé Prévost, Manon Lescaut  (Éditions Flammarion, 2007)
   

---

French 161. Linguistic Study of French - Form and Meaning (4 units)
Eric Russell

TR 1:40-3:00P
148 Physics Bldg
CRN 63108

Description: This course is designed to introduce students to the structures and functions of French from a linguistic perspective, with particular focus given to basic principles of language science, linguistic approaches to language forms and uses, word formation, inflection, and derivation (morphology), sentence structure (syntax), the creation and manipulation of meaning (information structure and pragmatics), and spatio-social variability (register, dialect). Exploration and discussion will focus on French data, with secondary focus on the comparison of French structures and functions to English and other languages. (Note that we will not give significant attention to matters of phonetics and phonology, for which FRE 109 is particularly useful.) Additional goals include the adoption and use of linguistic postures, concepts, and terms, as well as the development and improvement of writing (vocabulary, accuracy, rhetoric).

The course is divided into units corresponding to a particular theme. For each unit, students will complete readings and post-reading précis, summarizing key concepts in their own words and answering short questions; these tasks will be followed by focused analysis and writing activities. There will also be take-home contrôles (mid-term and final tests), covering key concepts and requiring students to examine additional material, as well as develop a short essay; these will be graded on content, grammar, and formal expression.

The course will be conducted entirely in French, although students are invited to compare/contrast this language with others that they speak and/or have studied.

Prerequisite: Completion of one of the following courses: FRE 104, FRE 105, FRE 160, FRE 162, LIN 001 - or permission from instructor (erussell@ucdavis.edu).

GE credit (Old): Arts & Humanities or Social Sciences.
GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities or Social Sciences.

Format: Seminar - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbook:

• R. Anthony Lodge, et al., Exploring the French Language  (Routledge, 1997)
   

---

__________________________

 GRADUATE COURSES
__________________________

French 250B. French Linguistics II (4 units)
Eric Russell

TR 1:40-3:00P
148 Physics Bldg
CRN 62935

Course Description: This course is designed to introduce students to the structures and functions of French from a linguistic perspective, with particular focus given to basic principles of language science, linguistic approaches to language forms and uses, word formation, inflection, and derivation (morphology), sentence structure (syntax), the creation and manipulation of meaning (information structure and pragmatics), and spatio-social variability (register, dialect). Exploration and discussion will focus on French data, with secondary focus on the comparison of French structures and functions to English and other languages. (Note that we will not give significant attention to matters of phonetics and phonology, for which FRE 109 is particularly useful.) Additional goals include the adoption and use of linguistic postures, concepts, and terms, as well as the development and improvement of writing (vocabulary, accuracy, rhetoric).

The course is divided into units corresponding to a particular theme. For each unit, students will complete readings and post-reading précis, summarizing key concepts in their own words and answering short questions; these tasks will be followed by focused analysis and writing activities. There will also be take-home contrôles (mid-term and final tests), covering key concepts and requiring students to examine additional material, as well as develop a short essay; these will be graded on content, grammar, and formal expression.

The course will be conducted entirely in French, although students are invited to compare/contrast this language with others that they speak and/or have studied.

Graduate students will arrange for one additional contact hour with the faculty instructor, in which supplementary readings and more in-depth matters will be discussed and analysed.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor (erussell@ucdavis.edu).

Format: Seminar - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbook:

• R. Anthony Lodge, et al., Exploring the French Language  (Routledge, 1997)
   

---

French 390B. The Teaching of French in College (2 units)
Elisabeth Griffart-Meissner

M 1:10-3:00P
123 Wellman Hall
CRN 62934

Course Description: TBA

Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor (egmeissner@ucdavis.edu).

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 2 hours.

Textbooks:

• TBA