A study of representative films from Germany's Golden Age such as Wiene's Expressionist film noir, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari; Lang's sci-fi classic, Metropolis, and psycho-thriller, M.; Murnau's Dracula film, Nosferatu; Lubitsch's The Doll; Oswald's first gay film, Different from Others; and Winsloe's first lesbian film, Girls in Uniform.

Travel literature has always been a precious source for the study of culture, politics, arts and, last but not least, people. From Tacitus to Marco Polo, from Stendhal to Camilo Jose Cela, we will read and discuss authors who traveled for political, personal, and recreational reasons. We will also pay special attention to tales of emigration and immigration in the third millennium.

This course offers an historical survey of the cinema as a developing art form and a means of communication. We will examine the history of this international medium from its 19th-century beginnings through the mid-20th century. The national and thematic focus of the course shifts through the semester. For example, we will focus on U.S. film in studying the earliest developments in film technology and narrative, and on Soviet and French films to study the formal and social experimentation of the 1920s.

Hugo's epic masterpiece, written in exile, has everything: ceaseless adventures, crimes and punishments, love, hate, obsession, heroes, villains, the battle of Waterloo, and civil war. The sympathetic everyman, Jean Valjean, condemned to hard labor for stealing bread and relentlessly pursued by the pitiless policeman Javert, encounters unforgettable characters. We will examine how Hugo situates Valjean's escapes within a framework of social injustice and good triumphing over evil, balancing his political and romantic ideas. Reading, discussion, film screenings.

This course examines the history, theory, and practice of the genre called Documentary Film. Between studying the 'actualites' of the cinema's first practitioners and the self-reflexive postmodern works of contemporary filmmakers such as Errol Morris, we will investigate ethnographic film, cinema verité, direct cinema, activist media, personal essay films, docudramas, and 'mockumentaries.' We will examine the formal structures through which these films make meaning and explore theoretical questions concerning notions of truth, ethics, and politics.

This course will introduce students to contemporary popular culture in France and the French-speaking world, largely through the study of recent (post-1990) best-selling novels, popular music, and feature films. Students will be asked to give formal oral presentations based on up-to-date materials gathered from the Internet and/or French television and to participate actively in class discussion.

This course introduces the literatures of French-speaking countries outside Europe. Readings include tales, novels, plays, and poetry from Africa, the Caribbean, Canada, and other areas. Discussions and short papers examine the texts as literary works as well as keys to the understanding of varied cultures. Students will be asked to do formal oral and written presentations.

Some of the best feature-length films of the past century have commanded our attention because of their compelling artistry and the imaginative ways they tell stories visually and verbally. This course closely studies narrative films from around the world, from the silent era to the present, and in the process it introduces students to the basic elements of film form, style, and narration.

This course introduces students to literature and culture from a variety of perspectives. It will increase confidence and skill in writing and speaking; integrate historical, political, and social contexts into the study of literary texts from France and the French-speaking world; and bring understanding of the special relevance of earlier periods to contemporary French and Francophone cultural and aesthetic issues. Students explore diversified works - literature, historical documents, film, art, and music - and do formal oral and written presentations.

This course will improve students' writing and speaking skills in French and develop their ability to read and analyze texts. Course materials include authors and films representing cultures of the French-speaking world. Written and oral expression are strengthened through weekly essays, class discussion, and comprehensive grammar review.