Beyond providing mastery of the language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) of modern French needed for all purposes of daily life, the major introduces students to a central tradition of western and world culture. Since the Middle Ages, French literature, thought, taste and art have helped shape the essential experience and self-understanding of humanity at large. Survey courses and upper-division seminars offer a range of exposures to the French cultural past and the far-flung ethnic and national diversity of the French-speaking present.

Beyond providing mastery of the language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) of modern French needed for all purposes of daily life, the major introduces students to a central tradition of western and world culture. Since the Middle Ages, French literature, thought, taste and art have helped shape the essential experience and self-understanding of humanity at large. Survey courses and upper-division seminars offer a range of exposures to the French cultural past and the far-flung ethnic and national diversity of the French-speaking present.