French and Francophone Studies

Professors Dauge-Roth (chair), and Read, Associate Professor Balladur; Visiting Assistant Professor Bonhomme

Courses in French and Francophone studies teach basic communication skills in French, appreciation for other cultures through language, and develop skills beyond the study of language focusing on critical thinking, communication, and equity and inclusion. Texts and films are analyzed closely from a contemporary critical perspective with attention to their cultural and historical context. All courses are taught in French, except in the case of some courses cross-listed with other departments or programs, which may be taught in English.

The department’s name, French and Francophone studies, reflects a capacious approach to the reach that literature and cultural production in the French language has in the world beyond metropolitan France. Students explore a diversity of experiences in Francophone cultures while offering continuous training in the use of the language through analytical and creative work. The department provides effective preparation for graduate work but also a range of competencies that have proven valuable for a diverse range of professions.

The significance of French is highlighted by the College’s proximity to Québec and by the large number of Franco-Americans and new Mainers from African countries who live and work in Maine. Courses study the histories and cultures of North Africa, Europe, West and Central Africa, the Caribbean, and Québec that have produced writers and artists who have influenced the world broadly, making French and Francophone cultural production a truly rich and provocative platform to explore gender, sexuality, race, religion, nationality, immigration and decolonization.

Courses unpack the complex and often fraught relationship between artists, authors, and commentators from across the Francophone world as they engage in the ongoing work of decolonization and antiracism. Each course, from introductory language to the more advanced, topical studies of various movements and genres, engages the legacies of power, resistance, and creative response that attend to France’s historical and cultural influence in the world and the multiple cultures that it has shaped and been shaped by. Both in their areas of study and in their pedagogy, the faculty value and investigate the diverse voices of creation and authority that have defined cultures across the globe, including the rich Francophone history of the city of Lewiston, in which Bates is located.

More information is available on the French and Francophone Studies department website.