The Connecticut Valley region is rich with geologic features that can be reached by a short van ride from Smith. This is a field-based course that explores geology through weekly trips and associated assignments during which we examine evidence for volcanoes, dinosaurs, glaciers, rifting continents and Himalayan-size mountains in Western Massachusetts. Students who have taken FYS 103 Geology in the Field are not eligible to take GEO 102. This class, when taken in conjunction with any other 100-level course, can serve as a pathway to the Geoscience major.

This course explains how gender and sexuality have been politicized in immigration debates in France, from the 1920s to the present. Students examine both cultural productions and social science texts: memoirs, psychoanalytical literature, activist statements, sociological studies, feature films, fashion, performance art, blogs and news reports. France has historically been the leading European host country for immigrants, a multiplicity of origins reflected in its current demographic make-up.

Offered as ITL 299, FRN 299, POR 299, and SPN 299. The course explores the issues in world language instruction and research that are essential to the teaching of Romance languages. Special focus will be on understanding local, national and international multilingual communities as well as theories, methods, bilingualism, and heritage language studies. Topics include the history of Romance languages, how to teach grammar/vocabulary, the role of instructors, and feedback techniques.

A reference to the French phrase 'minorité visible,' this course’s title highlights the recurrent critique
from East Asians in France that theirs is a forgotten minority group. To understand this critique, we
trace the history of exoticized representations of Chinese culture in France from the 17th century to the
present. We then turn to recent literary works by Chinese diasporic writers to consider how they
represent their native cultures for a French audience amidst China’s shift in status on the global stage.

An introduction to the main cultural and literary currents that shaped Medieval France, a period whose values and concept of "literature" were dramatically different from our own. We focus on the rise of courtliness and the invention of romantic love, the legend of King Arthur and the transmission of Celtic themes, adultery and madness, magic and the chivalric quest, and the ribald humour of the fabliaux.

From Paris to Fort-de-France, Montreal to Dakar, we study how various filmmakers from the Francophone world present urban spaces as sites of conflict, solidarity, alienation and self-discovery. How do these portraits confirm or challenge the distinction between urban and non-urban? How does the image of the city shift for “insiders” and “outsiders”? Other topics to be discussed include immigration, colonialism and globalization. Works by Sembène Ousmane, Denys Arcand, Mweze Ngangura and Euzhan Palcy.

An introduction to works by contemporary women writers from Francophone Africa and the Caribbean. Topics studied include colonialism, exile, motherhood and intersections between class and gender. Our study of these works and of the French language is informed by attention to the historical, political and cultural circumstances of writing as a woman in a former French colony. Texts include works by Mariama Bâ, Maryse Condé, Yamina Benguigui and Marie-Célie Agnant. Students may receive credit for only one section of FRN 230. Enrollment limited to 18. Basis for the major.

Through texts by authors from Louis XIV to Colette, we discuss questions about literary uses of landscape: Why do we flee or search for a landscape? What makes us cherish or fear a particular place? What do landscapes tell us that the narrator or characters cannot or will not tell? Other authors may include Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Chateaubriand, Maupassant, Apollinaire, Robbe-Grillet and James Sacré. Students may receive credit for only one section of FRN 230. Enrollment limited to 18. Basis for the major. Prerequisite: 220 or permission of the instructor.