TOPICS IN FRENCH LITERATURE AND CULTURE
Explores topics in French and Francophone cultures by examining their conceptualizations throughout history as well as their representations in literature and different media such as film and graphic novels. Studies the specificity of French and Francophone cultures and literatures, their contributions to the world's multicultural heritage, and ponder the cultural traditions they claim their own. Possible topics: technology and culture, humanism and anti-humanism, gender relations, race and ethnicity, social justice, institutional forms of power, human emotions, immigration, colonization and its literary heritage, aesthetic ideals, historical memory and its repression, education and acculturation, social rituals, the cultural and political role of language, etc.
Topics
- technology and culture
- humanism and anti-humanism
- gender relations
- race and ethnicity
- social justice
- institutional forms of power
- human emotions
- immigration
- colonization and its literary heritage
- aesthetic ideals
- historical memory and its repression
- education and acculturation
- social rituals
- the cultural and political role of language
Topics explicitly listed in official catalogue description
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: None Course Designation: Core GenEd - Humanities & Arts Breadth - Literature Level - Elementary L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: Yes, unlimited number of completions Last Taught: Spring 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Conceptualize a specific topic as a historical concept, a literary topic, and a cultural phenomenon in French and Francophone cultures. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Understand how artistic imagination and philosophical reasoning creatively intersect. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Discuss fundamental questions pertaining to cultural phenomena, based on an informed dialogue with thinkers and writers of the past and present. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Understand cultural differences and apply this knowledge to the French and Francophone cultures. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Show understanding on how to closely read and critically analyze literary texts, films, and artistic works in relation to a cultural topic. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Learn how to write interpretative analyses of a foreign culture. Audience: Undergraduate 7. Identify key thinkers and artists associated with the topic of the course. Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Conceptualize a specific topic as a historical concept, a literary topic, and a cultural phenomenon in French and Francophone cultures. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Understand how artistic imagination and philosophical reasoning creatively intersect. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Discuss fundamental questions pertaining to cultural phenomena, based on an informed dialogue with thinkers and writers of the past and present. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Understand cultural differences and apply this knowledge to the French and Francophone cultures. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Show understanding on how to closely read and critically analyze literary texts, films, and artistic works in relation to a cultural topic. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Learn how to write interpretative analyses of a foreign culture. Audience: Undergraduate 7. Identify key thinkers and artists associated with the topic of the course. Audience: Undergraduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027