Winter Quarter 2025

For day, time, room, and TA information, see our PDF SCHEDULE or the class search tool https://registrar-apps.ucdavis.edu/courses/search/index.cfm.
For all courses not described here, please refer to the General Catalog course descriptions: https://catalog.ucdavis.edu/courses-subject-code/fre

Language Courses

FRE 001Y-003Y: Elementary French
FRE 021Y-023Y: Intermediate French
See Placement Guide or Catalog Descriptions

Undergraduate Courses

A black and white still from an old movie, a woman with short hair, a man smoking a cigarette in the foreground

FRE 050: French + Francophone Cinema of the New Wave
Prof Jeff Fort (CRN 41456)
Explore films made between 1954 and 1966, a short period of time in which the New Wave rose and crashed, and many eminent filmmakers who were not directly a part of the New Wave made some of their most remarkable films. Filmmakers will include Louis Malle, François Tru(aut, Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, Alain Resnais, Jacques Tati, Robert Bresson, Paula Delsol, Ousmane Sembène.
Course taught in English. Only counts for major or minor with permission of instructor. GE: AH, WC, WE. VL

Actors on stage performing a play. They are wearing brightly colored clothing.

FRE 102: Intro to French Drama
Dr. Zack Scovel. T/Th 12:10-1:30 (CRN 41457)
This course traces the evolution of French theatrical tradition from medieval to contemporary texts and performances. We will discuss how various canonical playwrights have contributed to (or even pushed back against) the theatrical tradition as we analyze the evolution of style, practical performance, and audience reception. Students can also expect to engage in discussions about the social undercurrents within the various texts and how this relates to the broader historical contexts of each work. Prerequisite FRE 100 or permission of the instructor.

GE: AH, WC, WE.
GE: AH, WC, WE.

A painting of people holding umbrellas walking on cobbled streets in a city

FRE 107B: Making of Modern France (Part II)
T/Th 10:30-11:50, Prof. Claire Goldstein (CRN 41458)
Read historical documents, analyze painting and architecture, and re-enact debates about important social issues in this quarter’s exploration of the political and cultural history of France including Versailles, revolutions and revolts, and the industrial transformation of Paris in the 19th c. We will engage topics such as the role of women and minorities in society and France’s relationship with the broader world as students hone reading, writing, and speaking skills in French.
Prerequisite FRE 23 or permission of the instructor. GE: AH, WC, WE

Graduate Courses

FRE 207A: 18th-Century Literature: Philosophies - 'Decadence & The Memoir'
Andre Naffis-Sahely
This course will consider one of the world’s longest and most controversial autobiographies, Giacomo Casanova’s Histoire de ma vie (History of My Life), and place the infamous Venetian conman in the context of his time, with an emphasis on eighteenth century gender politics, morality and philosophy.

FRE 210: Studies in Narrative Fiction
Julia Simon

This course will use the most important works of Gustave Flaubert as an occasion to work on formalist criticism. Through close readings and analysis of Flaubert’s Trois contes, Madame Bovary and L’éducation sentimentale, we will delve into narratology, structuralism and other varieties of formalist criticism. While the main focus will be form and narrative, we will not neglect historical context as a contributing factor to both the form and content of Flaubert’s masterpieces.

FRE 390B: The Teaching of French in College
Prof. Julia Simon