Program Objective

The primary objective of our program is to prepare students to become skilled in using the French language and knowledgeable about the contributions of French and Francophone literatures and civilizations to human culture of the past and the present.

Above all, our program aims to make all students conscious of the wealth and diversity of the human experience in language, the arts, and intellectual life. The concentration in French and Francophone Studies aims to prepare students for future careers such as college and secondary teaching, translation, international relations and diplomacy, as well as provide a well-rounded education for careers not directly related to France.

Program Offerings and Faculty

The program offers a variety of courses—in language, periods, genres, themes, major writers, film, civilization— that give every Brown student the opportunity to explore linguistic, literary, and cultural topics relating to the French-speaking world.  This diversification allows students to achieve linguistic proficiency and to construct a program according to their own aptitudes, interests, and goals.

The faculty in the Department of French and Francophone Studies specializes in many areas of French and Francophone literature and civilization from the Renaissance to the 21st century, including language acquisition and theory. It is possible to do independent studies in almost any area of the student's interest. Interdisciplinary opportunities (in film, history, the arts, semiotics) are strong.