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University of Washington

Home>Courses>Spring 2007 Course Descriptions

French 101, 203, 103: Elementary French
French 201, 202, 203: Intermediate French
French 207: Second Year Reading (for Graduate Students)
French 211: Doubt, Satire, and Critique: Old Regime Revolutions in Thinking
French 302, 303: Advanced French
French 306: French Literature: 1789-Present
French 307: Survey of Francophone Literatures and Cultures
French 327: Advanced Conversation
French 390B: Filming Identities: Contemporary France
French 404: Old French
French 455: One Author - Balzac
French 470: Filming Identities: Contemporary France
French 490: Honors Seminar
French 590: Special Seminar
French 590B: Special Seminar (Balzac)
French 600: Independent Study or Research
French 800: Doctoral Dissertation

Italian 103: Elementary Italian
Italian 203: Intermediate Italian
Italian 303: Advanced Italian
Italian 327: Advanced Conversation
Italian 390: Supervised Study
Italian 404: Modern Italian Readings I
Italian 414: Renaissance- Cinquecento
Italian 499: Special Topics
Italian 504: Modern Italian Readings I
Italian 590: Seminar & Conference
Italian 592: Literary Problems: Renaissance
Italian 600: Independent Study or Research

FRENCH COURSES

FRENCH 101, 102, 103: ELEMENTARY FRENCH

Daily, multiple sections and hours, 5 cr., Staff

Class Description
We will develop the skills of speaking, listening, writing and reading to a basic level of proficiency. In 101, students will learn how to describe themselves, their family, and their surroundings. They will learn to tell time, how to talk about the weather and about food! In 102, students will study past tenses, pronouns, adverbs, and pronomial verbs. We will talk about vacation, travel, urban life, medias and the arts. In 103, students will learn the subjunctive, the future, the relative pronouns and the conditional. We will talk about jobs, leisures, the environment and the French speaking world.

French 100 classes are taught through an experiential methodology which entails exclusive use of French in the classroom, interactive presentations and emphasis on communicative skills.

Recommended preparation
Daily attendance is of utmost importance as well as active participation in class. Timely completion of homework is required.

Class Assignments and Grading
Students are assigned exercises in the workbook and lab book. They are asked to memorize vocabulary, to fill up worksheets and to write mini-compositions. Quizzes 25% Midterm 10% Final Exam 15% Interview 10% Participation 15% Homework 25%

Intermediate vocabulary building and reading of literary texts. Students receiving credit for 207 may subsequently earn credit for lower-division French courses involving other skills.
Required text: Palmeri and Milligan, French for Reading Knowledge, D. Van Nostrand Company.
Grads only

FRENCH 211: DOUBT, SATIRE, AND CRITIQUE: OLD REGIME REVOLUTIONS IN THINKING (VLPA)

Lecture: TTH 12:30-2:20, 5 cr., Turnovsky
Quiz sections: AA F 12:30-1:20
AB F 1:30-2:20
AC F 12:30-1:20
AD F 1:30-2:20

Exploration of some of the most influential literary and philosophical works of the 16th-18th centuries in France. Our readings focus on the formation of an intellectual movement, coming out of the Renaissance, that, in the context of a hierarchical society and absolute monarchy, emphasizes both individual thinking and social or political critique. We study this movement as it develops through the satirical plays and moralist writings of the 17th century, leading to the intellectual upheavals of the Enlightenment and the social, political, and cultural upheavals of the French Revolution. Authors include Montaigne, Descartes, Moliere, Voltaire, Rousseau, and others.
Required texts: Descartes, A Discourse on Method, (Hackett); La Rochefoucauld, Maxims, (Penguin Classics); Moliere, Don Juan and Other Plays, (Oxford); Voltaire, Candide, (Bedford); Rousseau, The Basic Political Writings, (Hackett); Charritre, The Letters of Mistress Henley, (Modern Language Association).

Development of modern literature through its most important writers and movements.
Prerequisites: French 302; may be taken concurrently with French 303.
Required texts: Balzac, Le Curé de Tours (Pocket) ; Chateaubriand, Atala et René (Garnier-Flammarion); Flaubert, Un Cœur simple (Livre de poche) ; Proust, Un Amour de Swann (Livre de poche) ; Sartre, Les Mots (Folio) ; Hugo, Le Derrnier Jour d’un condamné (Folio).

FRENCH 307: SURVEY OF FRANCOPHONE LITERATURES AND CULTURES

TTH 10:30-12:20, 5 cr., Vinay Swamy

In this course, we will sample various literary and cinematographic works from the Francophone world, in order to situate cultural production in the French language within (post)colonial political contexts. The intended goals of this course are three-fold. First, it aims to familiarize students with France’s role as a colonial power in shaping both geopolitical relations and the cultural production of the various nations that were once its colonies. Furthermore, the course seeks to broaden students’ appreciation of the breadth of French language by presenting francophone (both metropolitan and non-metropolitan) texts. It is imperative to study these texts for anyone interested in the late twentieth century transnational historical moment in which France’s own position began to change dramatically both within Europe and with respect to its former colonies. Finally, this course intends to introduce students to various reading practices and techniques of literary criticism. Since the entire course will be taught in French, students are expected to have excellent reading knowledge and good communication skills in French. Students will be responsible for all required readings.
Required texts: Azouz Begag, Béni ou le paradis privé (Paris: Seuil, 1989), and a coursepack.
Prerequisites: French 302

FRENCH 327: ADVANCED CONVERSATION

F 12:30-2:20, 2 cr., Staff

Conversation course for students enrolled in French 470A.
Prerequisite: FRENCH 203 & concurrent enrollment in French 470 A.

FRENCH 390B: FILMING IDENTITIES: CONTEMPORARY FRANCE (VLPA)

T 2:30-4:20, TH 2:30-5:20, 5 cr., Vinay Swamy

The last few decades of the twentieth century have seen many changes in the very fabric of French Society. As Phil Powrie remarks in French Cinema of the 1990's, the sweeping economic and social changes of this period has had an appreciable impact on the kinds of film that have been produced in the last ten or so years. This course will use Phil Powrie's book to examine the various concerns of French society and its relationship with the emerging "postcolonial" culture(s) as portrayed in different works, all filmed in the 1990s. By focusing on the representation of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and race in these films, this course will highlight the different processes by which the so-called "French" identity is constructed and can be (and are being) deconstructed.

We will begin with the analysis of Patrick Leconte's film (Ridicule) as a case study for the "heritage" genre, a genre that has enjoyed increasing popularity just when the notion of "Frenchness" is itself being questioned and redefined. We will then consider the effects of colonization in two perspectives by Brigitte Roüan (Outremer) and André Téchiné (Les Roseaux sauvages) in which we will examine the intersection of gender and sexual/political orientation. The films by Josiane Balasko (Gazon Maudit) and Alain Berliner (Ma vie en rose) will launch further discussion about the role of gender and sexual orientation in the identity formation. Mathieu Kassovitz's film (La Haine) along with those of Claire Denis (J'ai pas sommeil) and Cédric Klapisch (Chacun cherche son chat) serve to highlight the manifold impacts and ramifications of immigration on French Society. The latter two highlight the interwoven métis nature of contemporary urban French culture in which experience is not only multicultural but it becomes apparent that social change and flux are very much realities of the nineties. This course will be taught in English. Knowledge of French will be very helpful but not necessary.
Required Texts: Course packet with various articles.
Meets with French 470 A and C Lit 315.

FRENCH 404: OLD FRENCH (VLPA)

TTH 12:30-2:20, 5 cr, Denyse Delcourt

This course is designed for acquisition of reading facility in Old French through intensive study of selected texts. One of the main purposes of this course is to introduce students to the beauty and complexity of the French Middle Ages through the close reading of significant medieval literary texts. After a brief consideration of the grammatical forms of Old French, students will be asked to translate and comment upon examples taken from various medieval modes of expression: epics, romances, poetry, theater, hagiography, etc.. Course conducted in French.
Required texts: A.J. Greimas, Dictionnaire d'Ancien Français and a "Course Reader".

FRENCH 455: ONE AUTHOR: BALZAC (VLPA)

MW 3:30-5:20, 5 cr., Doug Collins

In depth focus on the works of Balzac.
Prerequisite: French 303
Required texts: Balzac, La Peau de chagrin; Sarrasin; La Recherche de l’ Absolu; Louis Lambert; Le Chef D’œuvre Inconnu;Tocqueville, L’ancien régime et la révolution.
Meets with French 590 B.

FRENCH 470: FILMING IDENTITIES: CONTEMPORARY FRANCE (VLPA)

T 2:30-4:20, TH 2:30-5:20, 5 cr., Vinay Swamy

The last few decades of the twentieth century have seen many changes in the very fabric of French Society. As Phil Powrie remarks in French Cinema of the 1990's, the sweeping economic and social changes of this period has had an appreciable impact on the kinds of film that have been produced in the last ten or so years. This course will use Phil Powrie's book to examine the various concerns of French society and its relationship with the emerging "postcolonial" culture(s) as portrayed in different works, all filmed in the 1990s. By focusing on the representation of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and race in these films, this course will highlight the different processes by which the so-called "French" identity is constructed and can be (and are being) deconstructed.

We will begin with the analysis of Patrick Leconte's film (Ridicule) as a case study for the "heritage" genre, a genre that has enjoyed increasing popularity just when the notion of "Frenchness" is itself being questioned and redefined. We will then consider the effects of colonization in two perspectives by Brigitte Roüan (Outremer) and André Téchiné (Les Roseaux sauvages) in which we will examine the intersection of gender and sexual/political orientation. The films by Josiane Balasko (Gazon Maudit) and Alain Berliner (Ma vie en rose) will launch further discussion about the role of gender and sexual orientation in the identity formation. Mathieu Kassovitz's film (La Haine) along with those of Claire Denis (J'ai pas sommeil) and Cédric Klapisch (Chacun cherche son chat) serve to highlight the manifold impacts and ramifications of immigration on French Society. The latter two highlight the interwoven métis nature of contemporary urban French culture in which experience is not only multicultural but it becomes apparent that social change and flux are very much realities of the nineties. This course will be taught in English. Knowledge of French will be very helpful but not necessary.
Required Texts: Course packet with various articles.
Prerequisite: French 303, French 304, French 305, French 306, and requires concurrent enrollment in French 327 A.
Meets with French 390 B and C Lit 315 A.

In depth focus on the works of Balzac.
Required texts: Balzac, La Peau de chagrin; Sarrasin; La Recherche de l’ Absolu; Louis Lambert; Le Chef D’œuvre Inconnu;Tocqueville, L’ancien régime et la révolution.
Meets with French 455 A.
Grads only

ITALIAN COURSES

ITALIAN 390 A: SUPERVISED STUDY (VLPA)

To be arranged, 2-6 cr, max 20

ITALIAN 404: MODERN ITALIAN READINGS I (VLPA)

MW 1:30-3:20, 5 cr, Claudio Mazzola

This course focuses on one of the most exciting period of Italian society: the unification of Italy. We will discuss the major literary and cultural trends of the 19th century including Italian Romanticism (Foscolo, Leopardi, Manzoni), the Operatic tradition, Scapigliatura, and Verismo (Verga). We will analyze the meaning of national culture and, in particular, of a standard language. Students will read, analyze and discuss classical literary, cultural, operatic and visual texts from the nineteenth-century Italian canon. Emphasis will be given to the development of Italian Romanticism, the relationship between the struggle for Italian nationhood and cultural paradigms, the rise of verismo and decadentism at the end of the century.
Prerequisite: ITAL 302.
Required texts: Guglielmino, Il Sistema Letterario: L’ottocento. Vol 4 (Principato).

ITALIAN 414: RENAISSANCE-CINQUECENTO (VLPA)

TTH 12:30-2:20, 5 cr., Susan Gaylard

This course examines the beginnings of modern theater, posing questions
about the social and cultural conditions that prompted a new conception of
both performance and theatrical space, and examining the emergent female
protagonist. In addition to analyzing 16th- and 17th-century comedies, a
tragicomedy, and a tragedy, we will ask ourselves why certain themes
continue to appeal. To this end, we will watch both a film adaptation of a
Shakespearean rewrite of an early Italian comedy, and a live puppet
performance of a 17th-century opera adapted from a 16th-century poem. In
addition, students will have the opportunity to perform their own modern
versions of early modern plays. Taught in Italian.
Required texts: Aminta (ed. Claudio Varese), Torquato (Mursia).
Prerequisite: ITAL 302.

ITALIAN 499 SPECIAL TOPICS: (VLPA)

To be arranged, 1-5 cr., max 10.

ITALIAN 504: MODERN ITALIAN READINGS I

MW 1:30-3:20, 5 cr, Claudio Mazzola

This course focuses on the major literary and cultural trends of the XIX century; in particular, on the transition from Neoclassicism to Romanticism and from Romanticism into Modernism. First we will scrutinize the meaning of the definition of cultural identity in a broad sense, to include all the manifestation of the human being, and then we will specifically analyze how literature reacted and participated at the debate concerning the effort to establish a unified nation and how Italy faced the turn of the century with all the major technological and artistic changes just around the corner. We will work on close readings of works by Foscolo, Leopardi, Manzoni and Verga.
Required texts: Guglielmino, Il Sistema Letterario: L’ottocento. Vol 4 (Principato).
Grads only

ITALIAN 590A: SPEC SEMINAR (VLPA, W course)

ITALIAN 592: MEN OR MONUMENTS? HISTORY AND IMITATION FROM RENAISSANCE TO REFORMATION

M 2:30-5:20, 5 cr., Susan Gaylard

What is the relation between poetic discourse and power structures? How is imitation linked to self-fashioning? Why is the rape of Lucretia central to the Renaissance imaginary? How does portraiture affect humanism? These are among the questions we will address in this graduate seminar, in which we will examine some of the great 'monuments' of European literature, focusing on strategies men adopted in formulating a modern authorial or authoritative identity­and how and why such an identity related to the past. While concentrating on a series of texts by Livy, Machiavelli, Shakespeare, Casa, Aretino, and Ariosto, we will address broader questions about history and imitation, as well as the problem of a gendered history.

The course will include a rare integral reading (in manageableincrements) of Ariosto's seminal Orlando furioso, as well as the opportunity to watch a live performance of the first opera composed by a woman, a baroque spectacle adapted from the Orlando furioso. All texts will be read and discussed in English; students whose focus is Italian literature should read primary texts in the original.
Required text: Ariosto, Ludovico (trans. Guido Waldman), Orlando Furioso (Oxford World Classics Paperbacks).

Grads only

ITALIAN 600A: INDEPENDENT STUDY/RESEARCH (VLPA)

To be arranged, 1-10, Instructor to be arranged

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