Undergraduate Study

The department offers a range of rigorous and innovative language classes and a wide selection of advanced courses in literature and culture, all taught in French. Students may choose from three concentration options: civilization, language, and literature.

Graduate Study

Our curriculum covers fields in French and Francophone literature from the Ancien Régime to the present and from a variety of theoretical perspectives. Our graduate students are also given careful training as teachers and gain experience by teaching in our language program.

Our Faculty

At all levels, the faculty aim to create a dynamic learning environment where students gain new insights on themselves and the world through the study of French-speaking cultures. Our faculty are leading scholars with specialties in periods from the 16th to the 21st centuries and with interests in anthropology, creative writing, cultural studies, the history of ideas, gender and sexuality studies, film, postcolonial studies, poststructuralist thought, second language acquisition, and translation.

Outside the Classroom

In addition to its curricular offerings, the department regularly sponsors lectures, mini-seminars, and conferences, and co-organizes the annual Providence French Film Festival with the department of Modern Culture and Media.

Through all its endeavors, the Department of French and Francophone Studies provides a venue for exploring the place of linguistic and cultural differences in our increasingly interconnected world.