Courses - Fall 2012

Prof. Michelle Boularès
This course is mandatory for all students in Program I. An intensive workshop that quickly immerses students in the basic tenets of French grammar and pronunciation, this course also provides students a historical and cultural framework to help them understand French society. Conducted in French.

Open to students in both Programs I & II

Prof. Isabelle Coydon
In this workshop students have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of phonetics and improve their pronunciation and comprehension of spoken French. Through listening exercises, poetry, and role-plays, students will work on articulation, rhythm and intonation. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus 

Open to students in both Program I & II

Prof. Marie LePetit
Working in collaboration with the Theatre Workshop and Acting French courses, this course provides a coherent framework for students to produce and present a sustained body of visual work that will constitute an integrated part of the end of semester theatre performances. In Spring 2009, we will focus on the life and works of Eugène Ionesco. Students will have an opportunity to enter into the wonderful and absurdist world of this great 20th century playwrite (and sometimes painter), in order to imagine and create props, masks, and/or backdrops for the theatre productions. Students may work in a variety of media, e.g. drawing, electronic arts, installation, painting, photography, sculpture, sound and video, and will have the opportunity to create in the professor’s studio. The course includes visits to museum and galleries to explore the wide range of subjects and materiality available to contemporary artists, and culminates with the exhibition/ theatre performances in a prestigious Parisian venue at the end of the semester. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus 

Open to students in both Program I & II

Prof. Nadine Airut
This workshop allows students the opportunity to sing their way to a discovery of French language and culture. Students expand their vocabulary and improve their pronunciation through performance while learning about the history and context of this popular art form. The workshop culminates in a performance at the end of the semester. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus 

Prof. Jasmine Getz

This workshop is both an active language and literature course, destined to introduce French poetry to students. In this course we will read poetry out loud in order to show how poetry is founded on rhythm and the repetition of phonetic and syntactic elements. This pragmatic approach will not only allow students to improve their pronunciation, but also to understand the poetic genre, the quality of poets’ language, their interest in etymology, metaphor, imagery, etc. Close readings, paraphrase and translations will allow students to considerably improve their mastery of the French language so that they in turn will be able to produce poetry of their own. This course will help them to integrate the phonic, rhythmic and musical dimensions of poetry, as well as learn about its various uses, from the intimate to historical testimonies. Conducted in French.

Prof. TBA
Presentation and systematic practice of basic structures and vocabulary of oral French through dialogues, pattern drills, exercises. Correct pronunciation, sound placement, and intonation are stressed. For students with little or no command of French. Completes the equivalent of one year's elementary course. Textbook: Libre Echange. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus

Prerequisite: FREN-UA 10 or FREN-UA 1-2. Open to students who have completed the equivalent of a year's elementary level and to others on assignment by placement test. Completes the equivalent of a year's intermediate level in one semester.

Prof. TBA
Acquisition and practice of more sophisticated structures of French. Development of fundamental oral and written skills, vocabulary enrichment, conversational ability. Short reading texts; guided compositions. Completes the equivalent of one year's intermediate course. Textbook: Libre Echange. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus

Prerequisite: FREN-UA 11-12 or FREN-UA 20. Open to students who have completed the equivalent of a year's intermediate level and to others who have passed the proficiency examination but who wish to review their French in order to take advanced courses in language, literature, and civilization.

Prof. Airout & Prof. Reychman

Systematizes and reinforces the language skills presented in earlier level courses through an intensive review of grammar, written exercises, an introduction to composition, lexical enrichment, and spoken skills. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus 

Open to all NYU-France students. For NYU Art History students this course counts for Art History Elective Credit.

Prof. Shalini Le Gall
This course investigates French art of the nineteenth-century, paying particular attention to the way in which historical factors informed artistic production during this period.  Beginning with David, Neo-Classicism and the French Revolution, we will move to the Napoleonic period, Romanticism, the Revolutions of 1830 and 1848, and trace the connection from Realism to Impressionism.  The second half of the course will examine the disparate movements spurred by Impressionism, collectively referred to as Post-Impressionism (including Neo-Impressionism, Synthetism, and Symbolism), and will culminate with the rise of Art Nouveau at the end of the century.  Throughout, we will interrogate how social forces (including politics, gender, race, religion, etc.) influenced the manner in which “Modern” art was produced and understood in nineteenth-century France. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus

Please note that this course can be counted toward the Media, Culture, & Communication major. Should you choose to enroll in this course, please notify your MCC primary advisor. He or she will make sure this course is accurately reflected in your academic record.

Professor Barbara Shapiro Comte
This course explores the evolution of French art across 200 years of tumultuous upheavals in Paris, 1630-1830, from the Ancien Régime of Louis XIII to the Revolution, into the Napoleonic Empire up to the Bourbon Restoration. Through analysis of the reciprocity between artists and politico-cultural institutions of the capital, we discover how art of diverse media―painting, architecture, and popular prints, including political broadsheets and caricature―operated as a visual language of persuasion and propaganda, and/or as a critique of social and moral values. Our ultimate goal is to establish how French art of the past serves as a model to investigate the role of contemporary print and electronic media (including advertising) in its representation of power and its influence on our perceptions of the global world. Illustrated lectures are enhanced by seminars, museums visits, architectural walks, analysis of visual press clippings, and independent assignments based on examination of original artworks.

Please note that this course can be counted toward the Media, Culture, & Communication major. Should you choose to enroll in this course, please notify your MCC primary advisor. He or she will make sure this course is accurately reflected in your academic record.

Professor Shalini Le Gall
This course provides students an overview of museum practices in France, ranging from the historical impetus for the creation of museums to the contemporary conditions that shape museum practice. Responsible for the collection and preservation of objects deemed valuable, museums shape the way we see history and the contemporary world. In Paris, museums that are central to Paris’s reputation as a city of art and culture are also the result of state intervention in the production, collection, and exhibition of works of art. This course will critically examine this link, looking at the motivations behind state support of artistic culture, and the extraordinary museums that resulted from this intersection of private collectors, public displays, and political agendas in France. Museums studied range from public institutions such as the Louvre to private collections such as the Musée Camondo, to the scientific and/or social role played by such museums as the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, and the newer Musee du Quai Branly and Cite Nationale de l’Histoire de l’Immigration. Focusing on critical debates in museum accession policies, provenance research, and repatriation claims, we will highlight the increasingly global ambitions of French museums, and the challenges of situating French culture in this increasingly international context. Conducted in English.

NYU Art History students: This course counts for Art History Elective credit.

Prof. Nicolas Baudouin
This course aims to understand and appreciate the creativity and dynamism of the Parisian art scene today through an exploration of contemporary art in the capital. The course will focus on the diversity of resources provided by the city, with special attention to new artistic practices and loci of production, as well as the multiple actors involved, from artists themselves to private galleries to art critics and museum curators. Reference to major avant-garde art movements of the past such as dada, geometrical abstraction, surrealism and expressionism will also be made in order to better situate today’s artistic concerns. Conducted in English. 

Sample Syllabus

Prof. Christina von Koehler
This course examines aspects of political and social change in France from the end of the French Revolution to the present day. Through an exploration of Paris neighborhoods, monuments and museums, we will look at how the city’s evolution has been inscribed on the urban landscape, and reflect on how history and national identity are imagined, produced and contested through the carving up of urban space. Major dates and events of French political history form the chronological backbone for this course, while class discussions are organized thematically from the perspective of social history and the history of ideas. Classes include walking tours and site visits in and around Paris. Conducted in English. 

Sample Syllabus

Professor Simon Jackson
To study 'Vichy France' is to grapple with the meanings of French Republicanism, with France's right-wing currents, her treatment of minority groups, the action of her intellectuals, and her relationship with her past. The first half of the course introduces students to the history of the period, beginning in the 1930s and ending with the immediate aftermath of the war. Topics include the political turmoil of the 1930s; the ideology and infrastructure of Vichy; life under the occupation; the Resistance and Collaboration; the fate of the Jews; gender and women; and the responses of the intellectual and artistic worlds. The second half of the course covers the multiple French memories of the dark years since the war. Here we focus on various objects of memory: the defeat of 1940; the resistance and collaboration; German atrocities (Oradour); the Shoah; etc. We also ponder the status of testimony as a historical source. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus

Prof. Mariam Habibi
This course investigates the history, the structure and the inner logic and working of European integration from the end of the Second World War to present day. It will provide students with an overview of the political institutions, the member states and the current developments of the European Union while focusing on the paramount role played by France throughout the years. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus

Prof. Mariam Habibi
An exploration of the historical and on-going contact between France and the Muslim world, including, most notably, the important Muslim population living in France today. The course examines the historical links between France and its colonial possessions in North and West Africa and the Middle East, the place of Islamic religious practice in a traditionally Catholic, and officially secular, France, and the frictions generated by newly politicized forms of Islam. Also considered is the ‘crisis’ of the banlieue, or French suburbs, and the cultural, generational, and religious tensions in evidence there. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Prof. S. Monteiro
This course examines the notion of French culture through an analysis of French cinema. Placing films in their historical and cultural context, we consider how cinema provides a window on French society, while recognizing that they are cultural products specific to a particular historical moment. Social history, cultural archetypes and artistic creation will be some of the topics under consideration. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus

Prof. TBA
In this course, we will explore the ways in which Paris plays a role in the representation of the subject. Through the study of novels and autobiographies by Breton, Hemingway, Stein, Duras, Modiano, de Beauvoir, and Baldwin, we will ask, what is the role of place in the imagining or invention of the self? How does the experience of a specific city, Paris, influence the formation of identity? How do these authors represent, or subvert, the notion of the ‘real’? Although the focus of this course is literary, we will also engage with major political, cultural, and artistic movements of the period, exploring the ways in which our writers negotiate history through their writings. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus

Professor Emily Apter
The DSK affair, which erupted in New York City in May 2011, revolved around accusations of sexual assault by a Guinean employee of the Sofitel Hotel. The alleged predator was Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund and a favored presidential candidate of the French Socialist party for the 2012 election. DSK was staunchly defended by many of his colleagues in the political establishment, especially men. Though the prosecution’s case against him was eventually dropped and conspiracy theories mushroomed that he was set-up, the show of support for DSK– “a seducer, possibly a rapist, never”- breathed new life into French feminisms. Debates raged around sexism, sexual consensus, the ritual codes of loving consent “between equals” as a model of relation between citizen-subjects, and the strategic compact that emerged between feminism and conservative anti-Islamists where secular mores were concerned.

This course will examine these debates in a context of “before and after” DSK. Key works by Simone de Beauvoir, Monique Wittig, Hélène Cixous, Julia Kristeva, Catherine Malabou, Elsa Dorlin and Nacira Guénif will be analyzed alongside those of select Anglophone counterparts, among them Toril Moi, Judith Butler and Joan Scott. We will focus on how long-standing and important themes like sexual difference, the problem of violence against women, the problem of “being” woman, and the situation of women in politics and the media have been redefined in the wake of the DSK scandal.

Students will have the option of a reading journal or two 6-page papers. Course conducted in English with some readings in French (Intermediate-level knowledge of French required).

Prof. Cécile Cotté
In this course, we work closely with students in Acting French and the Visual Art Workshop, to create an original performance based on texts by a major French author. Students work in collaboration with the professor, trained in the experimental methods of the French director Jacques Lecoq, to define their roles and the mise en scène. In Fall 2010 we will focus on the life and works of the celebrated American expatriate Gertrude Stein, to create an original production with music and artwork (created by NYU in France students) for an end of semester performance in a prestigious Paris venue. Conducted in English. 

Sample Syllabus

Professor Sandrine Boudana
This course introduces students to the basic structures and practices of media in Europe and their relationship to everyday social life. It pays special attention to the common models and idioms of media in Europe, with an emphasis on national and regional variations. Specific case studies highlight current trends in the production, distribution, consumption, and regulation of media. Topics may include: national or regional idioms in a range of media genres, from entertainment, to advertising and publicity, to news and information; legal norms regarding content and freedom of expression; pirate and independent media; and innovations and emerging practices in digital media. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Open to GLS students only

Prof. Mansouria Mokhefi
This is a full-year course divided over two semesters. The first semester course is designed to give students a broad overview of contemporary French society and its institutions while at the same time provide insight into the actual workings of such institutions on the ground. Topics covered include the institutions of the 5th Republic, the functioning of the welfare state, French cultural policy, the organization of local politics, urban issues, and immigration. Frequent site visits in and around Paris. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus

 Prerequisite: FREN-UA 30, or assignment by placement test, or approval of the director.

Prof. Pauline Reychman, Prof. Patrick Guédon & Prof. Isabelle Coydon
Assumes a mastery of the fundamental structures of French. May be taken concurrently with V45.9105. Helps the student to develop vocabulary, to improve pronunciation, and to learn new idiomatic expressions. Introduction to corrective phonetics and emphasis on understanding contemporary French through a study of authentic documents; radio and television interviews, advertisements, spontaneous oral productions, etc. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus (Coydon)

Sample Syllabus (Guédon)

 Prerequisite: FREN-UA 30, assignment by placement test, or approval of the director.

Prof. Elizabeth Molkou
Designed to improve the student's written French and to provide advanced training in French and in comparative grammar. Students are trained to express themselves in a variety of writing situations (diaries, transcriptions, narration, letters, etc.). Focuses on the distinction between spoken and written styles and the problem of contrastive grammar. Emphasis is on accuracy and fluency of usage in the written language. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus 

Prerequisite: FREN-UA 101, or assignment by placement test.

Prof. Patrick Guédon
For students with relative fluency in French who wish to further strengthen their pronunciation and command of spoken French. Develops the skills presented in V45.9101 through an in-depth study of French phonetics (corrective and theoretical), and analysis of the modes of oral discourse in French. Emphasis is on understanding spoken French (modes of argument, persuasion, emotion, etc.) through analysis of authentic documents and development of student discourse in French. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus 

Prerequisite: FREN-UA 105 or assignment by placement test.

Prof. François Thuillier
Aims to refine students' understanding of and ability to manipulate written French. Students practice summarizing and expanding articles from French magazines and papers and learn how to organize reports and reviews in French. Focuses on the distinction between spoken and written styles and the problem of contrastive grammar. Emphasis on accuracy and fluency of usage in the written language. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus

Prerequisite: FREN-UA 30, FREN-UA 101, or permission of Director

Prof. Cécile Cotté
Use of dramatic situations and readings to help students overcome inhibitions in their oral use of language. The graduated series of exercises and activities is designed to improve pronunciation, intonation, expression, and body language. The course culminates in a performance created in collaboration with students in Theatre Workshop and Visual Art Workshop of an original work inspired by texts of a major French writer. Students work closely with the professor to define their roles and the mise en scène. In Spring 2009 we will focus on the life and works of Eugène Ionesco, delving into his wonderful and aburdist world, to create an original production with music and artwork (created by NYU in France students) for an end of semester performance in a prestigious Paris venue. Conducted in French. 

Sample Syllabus

Prof. Philippe Boyer & Prof. Lorente
Introduction to French literature and thought in their historical dimension through a close study of selected masterpieces from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. Special emphasis on the aesthetic and intellectual currents that have shaped French literature. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus

Prof. Dominique Agostini
This course approaches the study of French civilization from the medieval period to World War II through an exploration of fine arts, music, philosophy, literature, and history. A study of major trends, personalities, and events, the course seeks the meaning and a definition of what constitutes the cultural heritage of France. Primary sources and documents such as chroniques, mémoires, journaux, revues, and correspondences are used. Conducted in French.

Prof. Denis Ferré
Built out of the rubble of World War II, the European Union was hailed in the latter part of the 20th century as a brilliant model of supranational organization, that would ensure both the security and economic prosperity of its member states. Since the turn of the 21st century, however, this vision has given way to a sense of disillusionment and crisis. In this course, we investigate the history of these shifts, with a specific focus on France, in an effort to understand the current crisis. Topics include the history and development of the Union, its structure and current developments, cooperation among member-states and integration policies, the impact on member states of economic and monetary integration, the problem with the euro, European citizenship and its limits, past and future enlargements, and geopolitical strategies and considerations. Conducted in French.

Prof. Christelle Taraud
A historical and political inquiry into the French system of relations with Francophone Africa from the ‘race to Empire’ in the 19th century to the current day. The main goals of the course are: to describe the historical development of French-African relations from the colonial to the post-independence era; to investigate the political, economic and cultural mechanisms of French influence in contemporary Francophone Africa; to understand the consequences for France of complex developments subsequent to colonialism, such as African immigration in France. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus

NYU Art History Students: This course counts for Advanced Modern Credit.

Prof. TBA
This course examines the rise of realist and impressionist art in Europe within its cultural, historical and social contexts. The novelty of these two important movements is considered in relation to preceding artistic movements, namely neo-classicism and romanticism. Works by artists such as Delacroix, Courbet, Millet, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec are studied. The course includes both class lectures with slides and museum visits. Conducted in French.

NYU Art History Students: This course counts for Urban Design Credit or Art History Elective Credit.

Prof. Charles Sala
This course starts with a study of Gallo-Roman Paris (52-253 A.D.), highlighting archaeological artifacts, temples, thermal baths and theatres. Paris during the Middle Ages is then discussed, focusing on the problem of fortifications, as well as the rise of power of the absolute monarchy supported by the Church. We study the hôtels particuliers (large private residences) such as the Louvre, the Palace of the Ile de la Cité, etc. The arrival of 16th century Italian architectural styles, as illustrated by the Louvre, and their impact on the Parisian architectural landscapes is also discussed. In the modern period we examine the Parisian Arches (Louis XIV and Napoleon I), the urban works of Haussmann (1853-1870), the Eiffel Tower, the Alexander III Bridge with the Grand & Petit Palais and end with a discussion of 20th century architecture and the development of the Défense district. Conducted in French. 

Sample Syllabus

Professor Stéphane Audeguy
This course examines the notion of French culture through an analysis of French cinema. Placing films in their historical and cultural context, we consider how cinema provides a window on French society, while recognizing that they are cultural products specific to a particular historical moment. Social history, cultural archetypes and artistic creation will be some of the topics under consideration. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus

Prof. Catherine Clot 
In this course we explore the multiple interrelations between art and literature, text and image, legibility and visibility. We consider art as it has been inspired by the written word (the Bible, mythology, epic poetry), art as inspired by and inspirational to literary works (Paul Valéry and Degas, Jean Genet and Alberto Giacometti), art as a response to and initiator of 20th century crises in representation, both written and visual (Cubism, Dada, Surrealism). Drawing on the multiple art resources in and around Paris, the course will urge us to reflect on the meanings and signs of language, in its many forms. Conducted in French. 

Sample Syllabus

Prof. Martial Poirson 
The course aims to introduce students to contemporary French society through an examination of particular social groups and categories, with a focus on French youth and notions of gender. Through an exploration of contemporary issues and social movements, we will focus on how these groups have been constructed over time as historical and political categories with significant implications for social practice. Students will be encouraged to draw on resources in and around Paris as well as current events as an integral part of the course. Conducted in French. 

Prof. Valérie Berty
In this course, we will explore the thematic and formal innovations of fiction writing from francophone North and sub-Saharan Africa. Beyond the political dimension that underscores much of this writing, the structures and styles of these novels are often marked by a cultural dimension – the oral tradition. We will see how within the body of the novel the oral and the written traditions meet, clash, or mutually enhance one another, opening the way toward new forms of expression, the fruit of new kinds of intertextual writing. Conducted in French. 

Prof. Christophe Gauzeran
This course will examine contemporary and classical French theater from a new perspective. Far from scholarly chronological norms, we will use contemporary writings in order to better study their classical sources and inspirations. Theatre is an artistic discipline that is constantly in communication with its past. Theatre examines its roots in order to reorient and renew itself. Actors and directors reinvent the verses of Corneille, Moliere and Shakespeare so that they can better discover the writings of today. Dramaturgists reflect contemporary society, yet are always nourished by their predecessors so that they can either create a connection or break with them definitively. In this course we will examine great contemporary authors such as Jarry, Cocteau, Giraudoux, Sartre, Camus, Beckett, Ionesco, Koltes, Wajdi Mouawad, etc. As for the great classical figures, we will discuss such various authors as Sophocles, Corneille, Shakespeare and Racine. How did Jean-Paul Sartre use Corneille and Racine to give credence to his theatre? How was Cocteau or Giraudoux inspired by ancient theatre? What did Koltes take from classical tragedy in order to create his own dramas? This course will examine both theatrical writings as well as current productions in order to answer these questions. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus (French)

Sample Syllabus (English)

Professor Stéphane Audeguy
This course looks at the world of literary production today in France - its links to economic, social, and political concerns, its literary merits, and its place within an important literary tradition. Students read texts of the some of the major writers working today in France, including Le Clézio, Claude Simon, Amélie Nothomb, Michel Houellebecq, Catherine Millet, among others, and in relation to some of the 'sacred texts' that have shaped the contemporary French literary landscape: Proust, Duras, Sartre, Céline. Conducted in French.

Sample Syllabus