French 272 - Rethinking French Intellectuals: Power, Activism, and Acts of Resistance
RethinkingFrenchIntellectuals
Fall
2026
01
4.00
Hélène Visentin
W 1:20 PM - 2:35 PM; M 1:40 PM - 2:55 PM
Smith College
FRN-272-01-202701
hvisenti@smith.edu
This course examines the figure of the French intellectual and explores the ideas and writings of earlier thinkers who lived before the term “intellectual” was coined, tracing the historical roots of intellectual tradition in France. It also questions how the social category of the public intellectual has been both constructed and contested by thinkers excluded from the national narrative. Through a wide range of texts and media, students analyze how debates on intolerance, social injustice, colonial violence, racism, and feminism have mobilized writers and activists, and how these debates challenge the boundaries of what counts as “French” thought. Course taught in French. Prerequisite: One topic of FRN 230, or equivalent.