Fall 2012

FALL QUARTER 2012
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:

• A. Valdman, C. Pons, M.E. Scullen, Chez Nous: Branché sur le monde francophone, 4th Edition (Textbook)
• Chez Nous: Branché sur le monde francophone, 4th Edition (MyFrench Lab - 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:

• A. Valdman, C. Pons, M.E. Scullen, Chez Nous: Branché sur le monde francophone, 4th Edition (Textbook)
• Chez Nous: Branché sur le monde francophone, 4th Edition (MyFrench Lab - 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:

• A. Valdman, C. Pons, M.E. Scullen, Chez Nous: Branché sur le monde francophone, 4th Edition (Textbook)
• Chez Nous: Branché sur le monde francophone, 4th Edition (MyFrench Lab - 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.)

Textbook:

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

 

 

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UPPER-DIVISION COURSES
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FRENCH 100. Composition in French (4 Units)
Prof. Laurence Lemaire, llemaire@ucdavis.edu

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). In particular we will investigate how the unexpected (l'inattendu) affects reading and influences our understanding. Literary selections available on SmartSite.

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
• Recommended: Le Nouveau Bescherelle. L'art de conjuger. Dictionnaire de verbes français

 

FRENCH 109. French Phonetics (4 Units)
Prof. Eric Russell, erussell@ucdavis.edu

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 110. Stylistics and Creative Composition (4 Units)
Prof. Laurence Lemaire, llemaire@ucdavis.edu

Description: This is an intensive course in creative composition using a variety of techniques and literary styles, patterned on Queneau's Exercices de style. Practice in such stylistic modifications as inversion, antithesis, changes in tense, mood, tonality, etc.

Prerequisite: French 100 or equivalent.

GE Credits (Old): (TBA)
GE Credits (New): Writing Experience.

Texts:

• Reading materials and all literary texts available on SmartSite

 

FRENCH 141. Topic: "Francophone Literature and the Politics of Representation" (4 Units)
Prof. Toby Warner, tdwarner@ucdavis.edu

Description: This course will serve as an introduction to francophone literature and film through the theme of ‘representation,’ which we will consider in both its artistic and political senses. Together we will explore a variety of 20th-century francophone works (fiction, poetry, film) from different geographical locations (including the Caribbean, the Maghreb, and sub-Saharan Africa). How did francophone artists working in the colonial period try to imagine new forms of belonging, and make new claims on notions of rights, citizenship, and autonomy? How have francophone works engaged with the history of how non-European peoples have been depicted in French literature and art? How have postcolonial francophone texts and films sought to reopen the question of who can speak for the nation, and in what terms? The goal of this course is to familiarize students with some of the major authors, works and movements of francophone literature and film, while cultivating through a variety of assignments the necessary vocabulary for critical reading, viewing and writing.

Prerequisite: French 100 or equivalent.

GE Credits (Old): (TBA)
GE Credits (New): Arts & Humanities, Word Cultures, and Writing Experience.

Texts: (* indicates the book is available at the UCD Bookstore)

• Ferdinand Oyono – Une vie de boy (Poche, 2006)*

• Aimé Césaire – Cahier d’un retour au pays natal (Présence Africaine, 2000)*

• Mariama Bâ – Une si longue lettre (Le Serpent à Plumes, 2001)*

• Assia Djebar – Femmes d’Alger dans leur appartement (excerpts in course reader)

• Claire Denis, Chocolat (film: DVD on reserve)

• Gillo Pontecorvo, La Bataille d’Alger (film: DVD on reserve)

• Abderrahmane Sissako, Bamako (film: DVD on reserve)

 

 

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GRADUATE COURSES
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FRENCH 200. Introduction to Graduate Study in French (4 Units)
Prof. Julia Simon, jsimon@ucdavis.edu

Required Texts:

• Materials and all literary texts available on SmartSite

 

FRENCH 390A. The Teaching of French in College (4 Units)
Prof. Eric Russell, erussell@ucdavis.edu

Required Texts:

• Materials and all literary texts available on SmartSite

 

FRENCH 396. Teaching Assistant Training Practicum (4 Units)

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

(Note: Contact Falicia Savala at fsavala

@ucdavis.edu for the CRNs.)

 

 

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OTHER COURSES RELATED TO FRENCH STUDIES
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CRITICAL THEORY 200B. Problems in Critical Theory
Prof. Julia Simon, jsimon@ucdavis.edu

Description: This course will question the legacy of the Enlightenment-scientific rationality, political liberalism, the ideals of equality and freedom-in the context of debates in modernism and postmodernism. We will take as our point of departure some of the French Enlightenment's most famous articulations of its own self-understanding, that is to say, texts that reflect on the process of Enlightenment while it is taking place. From these eighteenth-century texts, we will move to more contemporary texts that analyze and critique the ideals of Enlightenment. We will cover theoretical works ranging from defenders of modernism to postmodern critiques of Enlightenment rationality.

Required Texts:

• (TBA)