Â鶹ÊÓƵ

French

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Why study French at Â鶹ÊÓƵ?

French is the language of love—and so much more. From Flaubert and Zola to Voltaire and Vichy, French culture has shaped the culture, style, and politics of the modern world. Learn the language, study art and literature, explore history, and grow your understanding of French-speaking cultures worldwide.

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Major & Minor information

From the Louisiana bayou to the streets of Paris to Francophone African communities. You'll study literature, art, politics, colonization, and history as you learn to speak and write French. And you'll bond with your fellow Francophiles through films, French cuisine, and immersive language. 

 

Major credits: 36

 

Minor credits: 28

What can I do with a degree in French?

What can I do with a degree in French?

The French major is adaptable - and valuable - leading to many different fields and fulfilling careers. Here are a few popular paths, but a Â鶹ÊÓƵ degree can take you anywhere.

  • Foreign Service
  • Translation
  • Interpretation
  • Counseling
  • Cultural Center Administration
  • International Organizations

$49,253 Average salary 5 years post graduation
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After Â鶹ÊÓƵ

After Â鶹ÊÓƵ

Gusties who major in French are prepared for a variety of jobs and graduate programs at other top-tier organizations. Here's where some recent grads have landed and what they're doing:

  • RBC Wealth Management
  • La Fermiere
  • Washington University
  • Deloitte
  • 3M
Students at graduation

Course Examples

Interested in pursuing a French Major/Minor? Here are some of the key courses offered within these programs.

FRE 251 Film and Media in French

In this course, students will deepen their understanding and appreciation of French and Francophone cultures by studying film and other media. Through discussion, writing, and a variety of projects, students acquire a higher level of competency in speaking, reading, writing, and aural comprehension. Students also study and learn to analyze the styles, themes, and technical aspects of films and other forms of media that are the focus of the course.

FRE 254 French Cinema

A study of the styles, themes, and narrative structure of French film. Although scenarios, novels and critical articles on cinema are used, the films themselves are the primary material for the course. This course also examines French cinema's evolution of styles and themes, using a variety of critical approaches.

FRE 201 French and Francophone Identity and Culture

This sequential two-semester program offers an integrated approach to French and Francophone cultures through reading, discussion, and analysis of documentaries on France, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, the Caribbean, African countries, and francophone communities of the United States. Exercises are geared toward enhancing student's skills in reading, writing, speaking, and aural comprehension. In French 202, students undertake a final project that demonstrates linguistic and cultural proficiency.

FRE 275 Paris for Misfits

Paris has long been an important space both for France's ambitious social and cultural visions and for the people who have been excluded by those same visions. In this course, we will study works from an array of media and genres-including novels, autobiographies, poems, films, photographs, paintings, music, historical narratives and philosophical texts-that reflect on the experiences of marginalized people and groups in Paris, from scandalous artists and writers to racial and sexual minorities, Resistance fighters, exiles, immigrants, and refugees. We will undertake a series of projects that will help us develop an alternative way of seeing Paris through the experiences of France's misfits. These projects will become part of a fictional guidebook we will produce together: The Misfit's Guide to Paris. Taught in English.

The department is super welcoming! It is small enough that I’ve shared French courses with the same classmates multiple times and the professors all know me. ”
Claire Schoonmaker ’25
French Major
11:1
Student to Faculty Ratio
72
Majors
100%
of courses taught by faculty members
15
pre-professional programs in a wide variety of disciplines
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