Directed Study – French for International Relations (FRA021G)

This project is carried out as a continuation of one of the four core courses of the programme (specialization/diploma). The subject should be related to the main topics of the programme and the student‘s field of interest. The students gets the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the subject under the supervision of a teacher. 

The French speaking world - La francophonie (FRA114G)

The course deals with the political and historical background of why French is spoken, or was spoken, in various parts of the world. Among the topics that will be discussed are the impact that French has on foreign societies and the attitude of language users towards French. The problems involved in using French as an educational language in multilingual societies will also be broached as well as the future of French and the competition with other international languages like English or Arabic. The situation of French in the following countries will be investigated: Belgium, the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali, Rwanda, Haiti, Morocco, Algeria, and Canada.

France-Iceland: A historical perspective (FRA218G)

This course will focus on relations and exchanges between Iceland and France from a historical perspective. Economic, cultural, and political exchanges in the present will be studied through different documents and sources. For three centuries (starting in the 17th c.), the presence of French fishermen in and around Iceland also had a considerable influence in the country. Cultural exchanges go back to the Middle Ages when French literature translated into Old Norse was conserved in Icelandic manuscripts and left its mark on Icelandic literature and culture. The image of Iceland and the North in French culture will also be presented and discussed.

Directed Study in French: Translation (FRA022G)

In this directed study in French students can further develop their skills in translating from French to Icelandic. Texts are chosen in collaboration with the teacher.

French Grammar I (FRA101G)

The students get the opportunity to develop their knowledge in french grammar and they learn to talk about it (with the appropriate terms). Emphasis on verbs and personal pronouns.

Students are asked to be autonome in their studies and to prepare the courses.

Pronunciation (FRA104G)

Conversation practice in discussion. There will be one academic lecture per week (1x 40 min.) to teach students the basic concepts and methods of General Phonetics, and one and a half training session per week in a language-lab.

French Society I – Popular culture (FRA106G)

In this course students will practice both oral and written expression. Several topics will be studied and discussed, including music, cinema, youth culture, French society, etc. The course material will mainly be based on media and social media, articles and films. The students will be expected to take part in spoken interaction on the course‘s subject. The students will be trained in writing short texts and exercices on different topics, summarize, reword and structure their writing. They will be introduced to dictionaries and other useful tools.

Translation I (FRA113G)

In this course students will be trained in reading, analysing and translating French texts (easy to average difficulty) from French into Icelandic. Students will translate different kinds of texts (news, blogs, articles, literary texts) and discuss their characteristics, grammar, syntax, etc. Students will also be trained in the use of dictionaries and others important tools.

French Grammar III (FRA305G)

Emphasis on more complex elements such as relative pronouns, coordination of tenses, the subjunctice mood, prepositions and subordinated clauses. To examine how these grammatical elements are treated in modern french, we will look into different types of texts like newspapers, cartoons, plays, etc..

French society III – French language – multilinguism and multiculturalism (FRA319G)

The course will examine the role of the French language today – both in France and worldwide.

The focus will be on written assignments and reading comprehension. To that end, students will read selected articles in newspapers and magazines and work with news’s reports and documentaries.

Students will get a training in formulating an opinion as well as in summarizing the texts studied.

French fairy tales: from Marie de France to the Enlightenment (FRA434G)

Fairy tales (Fr. conte féerique) have been an important part of French literature from the 12th century, as can be seen, for instance, in the Lays of Marie de France. In the late 17th century early modern audiences enjoyed the tales of Mme d‘Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, Mlle L‘Héritier de Villandon and many others, and shortly afterwards Antoine Galland published his translation of Thousand and one Night which further increased the interest in this literary genre. The story of the Beauty and the Beast by Mme de Villeneuve was published in 1740 and was one of the tales that were rewritten and adapted to children in Mme Leprince de Beaumont‘s Le Magasin des enfants, first published in London in 1756. In this course, fairy tales by various authors will be read and examined with regard to their social and cultural context (literary salons) and their characteristics. The main focus will be on fairy tales authored by women, collections, frame narratives and fairy tales in children‘s literature in the second half of the 18th century. Icelandic translations of French fairy tales will also be examined.

The course will be taught in Icelandic, with one weekly extra hour in French for the students of the Department of French Studies.

Students can also enroll in FRA505G Directed study: French fairy tales: from Marie de France to the Enlightenment 4e.

Directed Study – French for International Relations (FRA021G)

This project is carried out as a continuation of one of the four core courses of the programme (specialization/diploma). The subject should be related to the main topics of the programme and the student‘s field of interest. The students gets the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the subject under the supervision of a teacher. 

French society, politics and culture (FRA115G)

This course is an introduction to the social structure and the political system of France. The main turning points in French politics in the 20th and 21st centuries will be discussed, with an emphasis on current trends. Rhetoric will be considered, and a few key speeches will be analyzed and interpreted with regards to their respective historical and political contexts. Prominent characteristics of French culture and society will be analyzed and interpreted, including the concept of laïcité (separation of church and state), its historical rationale and its reception and interpretation in postcolonial France. The concept of vivre ensemble will be discussed, in a professional context as well as in everyday life. The focus will be on vocabulary acquisition in the field of international relations. To that end, students will read selected book chapters and articles and engage with news reports and documentaries, along with dedicated vocabulary acquisition exercises.

French as a language of diplomacy and international relations (FRA217G)

French is the official language and the primary or second language of many international organisations. In addition, French is the second most important language of diplomacy and the fifth most spoken language in the world.

A good proficiency in French is, therefore, important for those who aspire to work in the field of international relations.

The course will give an overview of the reasons why French acquired its status as an international language, leading to it being a primary or second language of many international organisations such as the United Nations, UNESCO, the Red Cross, and the European Union. Special attention will be devoted to examining the influence of the language policy in France on its former colonies. The focus will be on vocabulary acquisition in the field of international relations. To that end, students will read selected articles in newspapers and magazines and engage with news reports and documentaries.

Directed Study: Autobiographies (FRA605G)

Students can take this 4 ECTS directed study alongside the course FRA440GAutobiographies where they can conduct an individual research on an aspect of the course.

Students must contact the supervisor to request registration into the project no later than October 1, 2024.

Directed Study in French: Translation (FRA022G)

In this directed study in French students can further develop their skills in translating from French to Icelandic. Texts are chosen in collaboration with the teacher.

French society II – French language today (FRA201G)

This course will focus on the French language today, different registers and recent evolutions such as the feminine form of noun and Gender-neutral language. To that end, students will read selected articles in newspapers and magazines and work with news’s reports, podcasts, and documentaries. In addition, lyrics to contemporary musicians will be studied.

Furthermore, this course will examine in what ways the role of the French language in the international community has changed these past decades and the influence of the language policy in France on its former colonies.

The focus will be on written assignments of various kinds and students will work on registers, style, choice of words, grammar, syntax and get a training in respecting certain traditions regarding form and structure. Students will get a training in formulating an opinion as well as in summarizing the texts studied.

History of France (FRA203G)

French history from the origins to the twentieth century.

French Grammar II (FRA205G)

New elements studied: interrogation, determinants, relative pronouns, negative sentences and subjunctive.

Students should finish French grammar and written expression I before enroling in this course.

This course emphasizes on how to use grammatical concepts in their assignements.

Students must be well prepared before each lesson and are autonom in their learning process.

French Literature and Culture (FRA214G)

An introductory course in the BA program in French Studies.

Short stories, poems, excerpts from novels and plays from different periods will be read and studied. Students will become familiar with the principal literary texts, the terminology and methods of text analysis and interpretation.

Contemporary French Literature and the Women‘s Rights Movement (FRA324G)

The objective of this course is to introduce trends and developments in the French novel from the late 20th century to the beginning of the 21st. The emphasis will be on auto(bio)graphical female writing where the status of women or gender discrimination is the core focus. The syllabus includes works that have been influenced by feminist discourse and have been at the forefront of new understandings of sexual differences, both in France and in other French speaking countries, such as Morocco and Algeria. Some of the works that will be discussed have been influenced by the #MeToo movement or have been read as an important contribution to it.

Representations of early modern France in film (FRA412G)

French history and culture in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries was characterized by the rise and fall of absolutism, which reached its peak in the reign of Louis XIV and ended in the French Revolution. This course, students will focus on the representation of history in several French films, new or recent, and analyze them in terms of interpretation of history and/or as adaptations of literary texts. Emphasis will be placed on the political upheavals that shook French society from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment: the wars of Religion in the 16th century, the revolts of the nobility in the 17th century, the French Revolution in the 18th century.

The course will be taught in Icelandic, with one weekly extra hour in French for students of the Department of French Studies.

In addition, students have the option to enroll in FRA604 Directed study: French film from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment 4 ECTS, where they can conduct an individual research on an aspect of the course.

Use of the language (FRA431G)

This course focuses on creative writing. Students will be initiated to writing very short texts and poems of different kinds in French. They will write a short story together, with inspiration from the road movie. Students will also be introduced to different types of short texts, from the writings of La Bruyère in the 17th century to the New Novel (Marguerite Duras, Alain Robbe-Grillet), OuLiPo, Raymond Queneau and Georges Perec, along with various other types of short texts. The course ends with an event at the Alliance française. Students work under the guidance of the French writer Alexandre Labruffe, author of four novels, who is particularly interested in the short form in literature.

Spoken Language Skills Course in France (FRA438G)

A two-week intensive course in French language skills at the Université de Rennes. Students will engage in conversation related to history, culture and contemporary issues in French society. The course takes place in weeks 7 and 8 during the spring semester. Max. 18 participants.

Evaluation:
Participation: 50%
Presentation: 25%
Written assignment: 25%

Autobiographies (FRA440G)

The course deals with autobiographies, life writings and texts of memory from the second half of the 20th century and early 21st century in France and other French-speaking countries, such as Senegal, Algeria and Morocco.  What will be explored is to what degree core elements of the autobiography  – the self, the live story and history – come together or collide in the works of different authors. The emphasis will be on autobiographical writings based on memories of social, cultural, and political experiences and conditions.  A key focus will be on the roles of memory and forgetting as well on the boundaries between fiction ad reality in autobiographical narratives.  

The course will be taught in Icelandic, with one weekly extra hour in French for the students of the Department of French Studies.

Students of the course can take a 4 ECTS Directed Study alongside it, FRA605G, and must contact the teacher to enroll before October 1 to sign up for it.