Course Offerings

This course reviews basic and complex sentence patterns in greater depth through discussions on students experience in Paris. Cultural and historical aspects of the French life are introduced. Students will learn additional vocabulary to express opinions, beliefs, doubts and emotions, and are shown various language registers (formal/informal vocabulary and structures) and intonations. Examples are taken from real life situations, film, television, newspaper articles, etc.The four language skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing) will be reinforced.

This high intermediate course will allow students to reach the B1+ CEFR (DELF) competencies by reinforcing and expanding their ability to express themselves, defend an opinion, and debate with others. Special attention is paid to increasing students' ability to form complex sentences to express attitudes, wishes, necessity, doubt, emotions, to link ideas and to speculate. A B1.1 level in French or a passing grade in a French and Culture IV class (FR 2100) is required.

Spontaneously and through active workshops and discussion, they will react and express their point of view on contemporary subjects and questions, such as access to knowledge (university or other) for all, the gaze on information at a time of “fake news” and the over-multiplication of distribution channels (Internet, social networks, etc.), the representation of so-called “visible” minorities in the media sphere, or the consequences of global warming on countries and their inhabitants...

Through learning that is both individual and collective, debates on ideas based on their past and current experiences in and out of class, but also a constant questioning of their representations, students will thus be encouraged to develop, in addition to their linguistic and cultural skills, their critical thinking and to better understand contemporary issues.

 “History [with a capital H] ends where the histories of those peoples once reputed to be without history come together. History is a highly functional fantasy of the West, originating at precisely the time when it alone "made" the history of the World.” (Edouard Glissant)

In this course, students will be introduced to this current issue: who writes History? 

By studying the works of contemporary Francophone artists – poets, writers and graphic novelists, filmmakers and painters, etc. – born in Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean and Europe, we will examine not only how they tell their stories but how they create histories of and for their societies and the world, how they attempt to remake “History [with a capital H]” (as Carribean poet Glissant called it) by other means.

Their refashioning of what was formerly a hegemonic knowledge produced by “the Powerful” allows for new approaches and comprehension of their heritage and values, traditions, conflicts and commonalities. Through these artistic works, students will discover or deepen their knowledge of Africa (the Democratic Republic of Congo), southwestern Indian Ocean islands (Madagascar, Reunion, Mauritius, the Comoros) and the French Caribbean islands (Martinique, Haiti) in particular. 

To develop the students’ understanding of these Francophone artists and their historiographical endeavors in their poems, novels, films, sculptures, or paintings, we shall use contemporary theories of race, gender, ecocriticism, and postcolonialism.

*In this course taught in French, you will improve your French language oral and written skills. However, if you are not a French minor, you may write and present in English.   

First Year Success is a co-curricular program designed for first-year, degree-seeking students. It aims to help students land at the University, find their place in Paris and in our residences, build friend connections and feel at ease in our community. The program kicks off with a Welcome Day at Orientation and carries on throughout the year with a series of workshops scheduled on alternating weeks with the FirstBridge seminar. Topics covered include navigating Paris and the AUP campus, time management, wellness and diversity. A common read and weekend trip are also offered in the Fall. Each FYS group is assigned a Student Advisor and faculty or staff FYS Mentor.