Creative Writing

A Sampling of Courses

This fast-paced course covers two semesters of beginning French. Students receiving a B can enroll in Fr 130 in subsequent fall and be eligible to apply to Hamilton in France the following year. This highly interactive course emphasizes conversation and vocabulary acquisition before moving toward reading, written communication and discussion of cross-cultural issues through film and texts. The course meets five times a week plus conversation sessions and/or lab. Designed for students who have taken some French before (no more than one year in high school)and motivated true beginners. Proseminar.

The diversity of the French-speaking world provides the focus for active student engagement toward the acquisition of greater proficiency in speaking, comprehending, reading, and writing French. Reinforcement of major grammatical structures, regular oral practice and conversation, readings in contemporary cultures and social issues. Incorporates texts, film and other media as the basis for discussion, debate, exposés and short compositions. Three hours of class and session with teaching assistant. Proseminar.

Study of selected current events and trends in the larger context of France’s history, geography and sociopolitical forces. The course alternates readings from a textbook, recent media and films on current events. Topics include youth cultures, national and religious identities, labor laws, environment and the recent debate around president Macron’s initiatives. Engaged participation in class discussion expected. Short written assignments and longer final research paper/presentation. Taught in French. Prerequisite, French 200, appropriate score on placement exam, or consent of instructor. Oral Presentations.

An exploration of diverse playwriting techniques and themes in different French-speaking areas. Plays read or watched on video. Assignments include text analysis as well as dramatic readings and/or reenacting scenes from the plays. Authors read include: Michel Tremblay and Marie Brassard (Québec), Aimé Césaire (Martinique), Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe), Mikanza Mobyem (Congo-Kinshasa), Marie Ndiaye, Sartre, Camus, Beckett, or Ionesco (France), Guillaume Oyono Mbia (Cameroun), Guy Régis Jr. (Haiti), Sony Labou Tansi (Congo-Brazzaville), and Werewere Liking (Cameroun-Côte d’Ivoire). Oral Presentations.

Examines the artistic reaction to World War I and its anticipation of World War II with a focus on what is known as the Surrealism movement and on authors/thinkers who systematically questioned social and political assumptions about coherence and meaning through dream, studies of the self, idealism and ideology. Readings in Proust, Colette, Aragon, Breton, Malraux, Michaux and Yourcenar. Class material includes poetry, narratives and the visual arts as well as a study of Renoir's 1939 movie "La Regle du jeu."

Critical examination of the novel’s evolution from the colonial period through independence and on to post-colonial writings. The search for authenticity and answers to problems of narrative techniques, oral and written traditions, African feminism, politics, cultures, and the role of the writer. Authors include Lomani Tshibamba, Sembene Ousmane, Nafissatou Diallo, Aoua Kéita, Daniel Biyaoula, Ahmadou Kourouma, Henri Lopes, Calixthe Beyala, Aminata Sow Fall, Ken Bugul, Mariama Bâ, and Werewere Liking. Taught in French. Oral Presentations.

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Power Accelerated Beginners'' French 111S

This fast-paced course covers two semesters of beginning French. Students receiving a B can enroll in Fr 130 in subsequent fall and be eligible to apply to Hamilton in France the following year. This highly interactive course emphasizes conversation and vocabulary acquisition before moving toward reading, written communication and discussion of cross-cultural issues through film and texts. The course meets five times a week plus conversation sessions and/or lab. Designed for students who have taken some French before (no more than one year in high school)and motivated true beginners. Proseminar.

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Communication in Francophone Cultural Contexts: Intermediate French I 130FS

The diversity of the French-speaking world provides the focus for active student engagement toward the acquisition of greater proficiency in speaking, comprehending, reading, and writing French. Reinforcement of major grammatical structures, regular oral practice and conversation, readings in contemporary cultures and social issues. Incorporates texts, film and other media as the basis for discussion, debate, exposés and short compositions. Three hours of class and session with teaching assistant. Proseminar.

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Exploring Contemporary France: Current Events 250F

Study of selected current events and trends in the larger context of France’s history, geography and sociopolitical forces. The course alternates readings from a textbook, recent media and films on current events. Topics include youth cultures, national and religious identities, labor laws, environment and the recent debate around president Macron’s initiatives. Engaged participation in class discussion expected. Short written assignments and longer final research paper/presentation. Taught in French. Prerequisite, French 200, appropriate score on placement exam, or consent of instructor. Oral Presentations.

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Francophone Theaters 276S

An exploration of diverse playwriting techniques and themes in different French-speaking areas. Plays read or watched on video. Assignments include text analysis as well as dramatic readings and/or reenacting scenes from the plays. Authors read include: Michel Tremblay and Marie Brassard (Québec), Aimé Césaire (Martinique), Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe), Mikanza Mobyem (Congo-Kinshasa), Marie Ndiaye, Sartre, Camus, Beckett, or Ionesco (France), Guillaume Oyono Mbia (Cameroun), Guy Régis Jr. (Haiti), Sony Labou Tansi (Congo-Brazzaville), and Werewere Liking (Cameroun-Côte d’Ivoire). Oral Presentations.

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Reality as Fragment: Surrealism, the Absurd and Commitment between World War I and World War II 435

Examines the artistic reaction to World War I and its anticipation of World War II with a focus on what is known as the Surrealism movement and on authors/thinkers who systematically questioned social and political assumptions about coherence and meaning through dream, studies of the self, idealism and ideology. Readings in Proust, Colette, Aragon, Breton, Malraux, Michaux and Yourcenar. Class material includes poetry, narratives and the visual arts as well as a study of Renoir's 1939 movie "La Regle du jeu."

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The African Novel 455F

Critical examination of the novel’s evolution from the colonial period through independence and on to post-colonial writings. The search for authenticity and answers to problems of narrative techniques, oral and written traditions, African feminism, politics, cultures, and the role of the writer. Authors include Lomani Tshibamba, Sembene Ousmane, Nafissatou Diallo, Aoua Kéita, Daniel Biyaoula, Ahmadou Kourouma, Henri Lopes, Calixthe Beyala, Aminata Sow Fall, Ken Bugul, Mariama Bâ, and Werewere Liking. Taught in French. Oral Presentations.

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