Minor Requirements – 42 Total Credits

The French and Francophone Studies Minor unites a diversity of disciplinary approaches to France while extending the notion of French and Francophone Studies beyond the specific territorial and linguistic boundaries of France and Parisian French. Relying on significant language training, courses in Francophone literature and culture (continental Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and North America) as well as in other disciplines, this minor will afford a synthetic view of the evolution and impact of French and Francophone cultural institutions. The majors most organically connected with this interdisciplinary curriculum are history, anthropology, art history, political science, film studies, and international relations, although students majoring in other disciplines may also minor in French and Francophone Studies. No more than 12 credits from non-Carleton off-campus study programs may be applied toward the minor. French 210 does not count for the French and Francophone Studies Minor.

French Language Requirement – Required 6 credits

  • FREN 204: Intermediate French or equivalent

Elective Courses – Required 36 credits

Group I: French and Francophone Literature and Culture – 24 credits

Four courses required, two of which must be at the 300 level

  • CCST 245: Meaning and Power: Introduction to Analytical Approaches in the Humanities (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 206: Francophone Emotions: Science and Culture
  • FREN 231: Paris: The Eras Tour (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 236: Francophone Cinema and the African Experience (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 240: Imagining North Africa: Arabs, Berbers, and Beurs (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 244: Contemporary France and Humor (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 245: Francophone Literature of Africa and the Caribbean (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 246: Crossing Borders: Migration in Francophone Culture (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 253: The French Revolution, Then and Now (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 256: French and Francophone Studies in Paris Program: Politics and Cultures in Contemporary France
  • FREN 259: French and Francophone Studies in Paris Program: Hybrid Paris
  • FREN 302: Creative Writing in French (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 303: That’s Entertainment! (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 308: France and the African Imagination (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 310: The Art of Scandal (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 311: France and the Atlantic World
  • FREN 336: Francophone Cinema and the African Experience (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 350: Middle East and French Connection (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 359: French and Francophone Studies in Paris Program: Hybrid Paris
  • FREN 360: The Algerian War of Liberation and Its Representations
  • FREN 380: Comics: Sequence with Consequence (not offered 2026-27)

Group II: History and Art History – 6 credits

One course required

  • ARTH 172: Modern Art: 1890-1945
  • ARTH 236: Baroque Art (not offered 2026-27)
  • ARTH 245: Modern Architecture
  • ARTH 263: Architectural Studies in Europe Program: Prehistory to Postmodernism (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 254: French and Francophone Studies in Paris Program: French Art in Context
  • HIST 137: Early Medieval Worlds in Transformation (not offered 2026-27)
  • HIST 139: Foundations of Modern Europe (not offered 2026-27)
  • HIST 141: Europe in the Twentieth Century
  • HIST 243: The Peasants are Revolting! Society and Politics in the Making of Modern France
  • HIST 244: The Enlightenment and Its Legacies (not offered 2026-27)
  • HIST 247: The First World War as Global Phenomenon (not offered 2026-27)

Group III: Anthropology, Political Science, Media Studies – 6 credits

Once course required.

  • CAMS 219: African Cinema: A Quest for Identity and Self-Definition (not offered 2026-27)
  • EUST 159: “The Age of Isms” – Ideals, Ideas and Ideologies in Modern Europe
  • FREN 255: French and Francophone Studies in Paris Program: Islam in France: Historical Approaches and Current Debates (not offered 2026-27)
  • FREN 257: French and Francophone Studies in Paris Program: The Culture of Activism in France
  • POSC 251.01: Liberalism & Its Critics (27/SP)
  • POSC 255: Post-Modern Political Thought
  • POSC 282: Terrorism and Counterterrorism
  • POSC 348: Strangers, Foreigners, and Exiles (not offered 2026-27)
  • POSC 352: Political Theory of Alexis de Tocqueville (not offered 2026-27)
  • POSC 359: Cosmopolitanism
  • SOAN 256: Africa: Representation and Conflict (not offered 2026-27)

Additional Departmental Notes

For students who wish to make the most of the French and Francophone Studies Minor, we strongly recommend taking classes that reflect the diverse geography of the French and Francophone world. For courses other than those in the French and Francophone Studies department, students may be expected to do source reading in French, but papers and exams will be written in English. Check with the department for other on- or off-campus courses that may count for the minor.