Spring 2013

SPRING QUARTER 2013
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%).

GE credit (Old): None.
GE credit (New): World Cultures.

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

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.)

GE credit (Old): None.
GE credit (New): World Cultures.

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

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.)

GE credit (Old): None.
GE credit (New): World Cultures.

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

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.)

GE credit (Old): None.
GE credit (New): ArtHum, Oral Literacy, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 5 hours.

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.)

GE credit (Old): None.
GE credit (New): ArtHum, Oral Literacy, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 5 hours.

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.)

GE credit (Old): None.
GE credit (New): ArtHum, Oral Literacy, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 5 hours.

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.

Prerequisite: French 23.

GE Credits (Old): None.
GE Credits (New): ArtHum, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Texts:

• Isabelle Charriere, Lettres de Mistriss Henley (Modern Language Association of America, 1993)
• Raymond Queneau, Exercices de Style (Folio, 1995)
• Pierre de Beaumarchais, Le Mariage de Figaro (Livre de Poche, 1999)
• Guy de Maupassant, Contes du Jour et de la Nuit (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012)
• Victor Hugo, Le Dernier Jour d'un Condamne (1835) (Kessinger Publishing, 2010)

 

 

FRENCH 108. Modern French Culture (4 Units)
Prof. Julia Simon, jsimon@ucdavis.edu

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 100 or consent of instructor.

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

Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Extensive Writing.

Texts:

• No textbooks

 

 

FRENCH 124. Post-Colonial and Francophone Literature: Narratives of Displacement (4 Units)
Prof. Tobias Warner, tdwarner@ucdavis.edu

Description: In this course we will read and view a selection of twentieth-century novels and films that seek to represent experiences of transnational displacement and immigration across the former French empire. Our readings will chart a variety of ambivalent journeys to France – a space of promise or escape on the one hand, and of disillusionment and exploitation on the other. We will also study narratives that short-circuit the presumed centrality of the métropole in francophone narratives of immigration, in favor of more lateral trajectories.  Some of our central questions may include: how can fiction or film represent the disorientation of navigating the fissures between multiple cultural formations? How do these texts and films track the ways in which their characters may become objects of surveillance, desire, or commodification? How do they address a public when their readership or audience is distant or diasporic? In our discussions, we will be careful not to romanticize displacement, nor to assume the equivalence of various circuits of migration, while all the while remaining open to the possibility that commonalities may manifest themselves.

Prerequisite: French 100.

GE Credits (Old): ArtHum and Div.
GE Credits (New):ArtHum, Visual Literacy, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format:Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Texts:

• Maryse Conde, En attendant le bonheur (Robert Laffont, 1988)
• Fatou Diome, Le Ventre de l'Atlantique (Poche, 2005)
• Ousmane Soce, Mirages de Paris (Nouvelles Editions Latines, 1937; 1965)

 

 

FRENCH 128. French Culture: "French in the Francophone World" (4 Units)
Prof. Eric Russell, erussell@ucdavis.edu

Description: This course introduces basic sociolinguistic terminology and concepts, applying them to the study of French. We will explore how French is used in different environments, by different groups of people, and how the language varies in space and socio-cultural settings. This is not a literature course, nor is it a course that will tell you how French “should be done” (spoken, written, used…). Rather, it is a linguistic course grounded in social scientific methodologies. Topics include:

1.    The geographic and political situation of French
2.    The languages of France and the Francophone world
3.    How French came to be and is used outside of France and beyond Europe
4.    The status of French (and other languages) in the Francophone world
5.    The functions of French vis-à-vis other languages in the Francophone world
6.    Regional and social variation

Although the course reading is in English (for want of a better text), all discussion and writing will be in French. A secondary goal of the class is to improve writing skills, with a focus on the rhetoric and stylistics in human and social sciences. Several parts of our meetings will be given to improving writing skills, including vocabulary, structures, stylistics and rhetoric, as well as strategies for reducing mistakes and ameliorating errors.

This course satisfies one of the two elective requirements for linguistics/language sciences courses in the French major.

Prerequisite: French 100 or consent of instructor.

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

Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Extensive Writing.

Texts:

• Rodney Ball, The French-Speaking World: A Practical Introduction to Sociolinguistic Issues(Routledge, 1997)

 

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 GRADUATE COURSES
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FRENCH 209A. Twentieth Century: Prose (4 Units)
Prof. Jeffrey Fort, jpfort@ucdavis.edu

Description: In this course we will read a selection of twentieth century French novels traversed by numerous forms of transgression and trespass. In our readings we will be attentive to the ways in which the moral, political, social and sexual transgressions narrated in these novels are accompanied by aesthetic and formal innovations in the novel form itself. Many of these works also put into play a strange border between "life" and "writing," between the "real" space of lived experience and another much stranger space called "literary." We will track the movement between, and the merging of, these spaces, in forms of writing that move toward extreme limit experiences, often touching on issues such as the abject body, marginal sexualities, vagabondage and criminality, and the impossible experience of dying. Each week's readings will be accompanied by relevant critical and scholarly articles.

Note that the following reading list may be slightly amended:

Marcel Proust, excerpts from A la recherche du temps perdu
Georges Bataille, L'histoire de l'oeil
Maurice Blanchot, L'arrêt de mort
Jean Genet, Journal du voleur
Samuel Beckett, Malone meurt
Marguerite Duras, Le ravissement de Lol V. Stein

Texts:

• Georges Bataille, L'histoire de l'oeil (Christian Bourgois Editeur)
• Maurice Blanchot, L'arret de mort (Gallimard)
   

 

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.)