Denis Diderot, the genial philosophe at the center of the French Enlightenment, was the author of novels, plays, art criticism, music theory, and works on mathematics, politics, and philosophy.  As co-editor of the Encyclopédie, the French Enlightenment’s most ambitious intellectual project, he recruited contributions from the most distinguished thinkers of his time, while writing scores of articles on subjects ranging from botany and law to mythology and carpentry.  We will explore a variety of

The course provides a forum for seniors for the practice of spoken French at the advanced level with native speakers. Students will prepare and deliver presentations; practice interviewing techniques; and learn and practice using technical vocabulary from a variety of disciplines in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The choice of short readings and vocabulary sets will vary each time the course is offered and will reflect the interests of the students enrolled.

Open only to Amherst College Senior French majors. Spring semester. The Department and Language Assistants.

This course explores the concepts of the literary corpus and corporeal literature within a landscape of Francophone works from the Caribbean, the African littoral, and French Polynesia. We will explore how race, gender, and the body are portrayed through the form known as the book, and how literature can evoke complex experiences of desire, violence, resistance, and belonging.

A medium barely a century old, film has been an object of creative expression as much as it has been of theoretical reflection: the discovery of film went hand in hand with the development of film theory. As filmmakers and theorists produced and watched films, they found themselves faced with an array of questions: How does the filmic image relate to reality? How does the experience of film resemble and differ from other aesthetic experiences? How should filmmakers exploit the specificities of the filmic medium? What are the politics of image production?

This course aims at improving the students' knowledge of the contemporary French language and of contemporary French society through translation. We will draw from a wide variety of sources, such as fiction, poetry, film, songs, graphic novels and advertising, to gain a better understanding of idiomatic French and of the translation process. Some translation theory will be introduced, but the class will primarily focus on close readings and critical interpretations of sources.  Conducted in French.

(Offered as FREN 323 and EUST 323) "If my mind could gain a firm footing, I would not make essays, I would make decisions; but it is always in apprenticeship and on trial" (III, 2 "Of Repentance"). A Renaissance jurist and thinker, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) is widely recognized as one of the key figures in the history of self-writing and of the essay as genre. This course, however, situates Montaigne beyond these two frames. In the spirit of Montaigne himself, it proposes to attempt, to sample, to taste—in sum, to essay—the Essais (1580-1595).

From folktales and plays to comic books and news, this course invites students to engage with different uses and users of the French language across various media in order to examine how stories are told and why. In this course, students reflect on elements such as perspective and audience, contexts and motivations, as well as questions of relevance, adaptation, and endurance in the creation and transmission of particular narratives.

Through classroom discussion and short papers, this course develops students’ abilities to express themselves and to interpret literary texts, films, and other cultural objects from the francophone world. With an emphasis on the promotion of writing skills through the assignment of short papers of increasing length, this course prepares students for the kind of analytical work required for upper-level courses. A review of more complex grammar points will complement the study of literary and cultural material. Highly recommended for students planning to study abroad.

Through classroom discussion and short papers, this course develops students’ abilities to express themselves and to interpret literary texts, films, and other cultural objects from the francophone world. With an emphasis on the promotion of writing skills through the assignment of short papers of increasing length, this course prepares students for the kind of analytical work required for upper-level courses. A review of more complex grammar points will complement the study of literary and cultural material. Highly recommended for students planning to study abroad.

This course offers an intensive review of grammar covered at the beginner level while engaging with literary and non-literary texts and other media. This course deepens students’ knowledge and understanding of the French language and furthers competency in expression and comprehension. In addition, the study of cultural and literary material serves as an initiation to analysis by exploring how language, combined with elements such as form and genre, creates meaning and opens a work to interpretation. Successful completion of FREN 205 prepares students for FREN 207 or 208.