French Major

Goals for the French Major

• Students will achieve skill in speaking, writing, reading, and understanding French at the advanced level, as detailed in the ACTFL proficiency guidelines.

• Students will know enough important French literary and cultural works to identify the major themes in French literary and cultural history.

• Students will learn to recognize and construct well-formed arguments about literary texts, cultural artifacts, and historical events that rely on clear writing and in-depth understanding of both primary and secondary sources.

• Students will learn to grasp the complexity of cultural differences. They will know how to spot clichés and avoid using them in thinking about France and the Francophone world in particular, and other cultures in general. As global citizens, they will come to value tolerance, appreciate diversity, and be prepared to face the challenges and reap the benefits of living in an increasingly interconnected world.

Requirements for the French Major

The major in French requires a minimum of nine semester courses above​ FREN 201, one of which may be a course taught in English in the French and Francophone Studies curriculum and one of which must focus on literature or culture written before 1900. Students can determine a pre-1900 course in consultation with their advisor for the major or from the list below. Students who entered Wellesley before Fall 2026 may satisfy the pre-1900 requirement with FREN 210 or FREN 212 instead. All courses taken on the Wellesley-in-Aix or Bordeaux-before-Aix programs may count towards the major, whereas courses taken on external study abroad programs are accepted on a case-by-case basis, subject to the Chair's prior approval. The major in French requires at least two 300-level courses taught in French, one of which must be during the student's senior year.

FREN 101, FREN 102, and FREN 201 count toward the degree but not toward the French major. The language courses FREN 202, FREN 205, FREN 206, FREN 211 and FREN 226 count toward the French Major.  FREN 350, 360 and 370 do not count toward the minimum requirement of two 300-level courses for the major. No more than two courses taken credit/noncredit at Wellesley College may be applied to the French major. Students planning to major in French should consult with the chair of the French department.

The following courses count for the pre-1900 requirement; consult your advisor if you have a question about a course not on this list:

- FREN 210: "From the Middle Ages through the Enlightenment"

- FREN 214: "Society and Self in the 19th-C French Novel"

- FREN 224: "Versailles and the Age of Louis XIV"

- FREN 234: "Remapping the French Novel

- FREN 303: "Women in Power in the Ancien Régime"

- FREN 305: "Six Degrees of Marie Antoinette: Social Networks and the French Revolution"

- FREN 310: "Orientalisms: French Literary Culture in Colonial Contexts"

- FREN 319: "Travel Writing and Global Encounters"

- FREN 324: "The Belle Époque and the Emergence of Modern France"

Honors in French 

The department offers two options for the achievement of honors in French: Under Option A, students write a thesis and pass an oral exam. Candidates must complete a 300-level course or its equivalent before the fall of senior year. In addition, a 300-level course is to be taken concurrently with FREN 360-FREN 370. Under Option B, students prepare for a written examination based on a reading list devised by the student with the guidance of an advisor. Candidates must be recommended by two professors in the department, and must complete a 300-level course or its equivalent before the fall of senior year. Option B carries no course credit, but candidates may elect a unit of FREN 350 in the fall of senior year as part of their preparation for the examination. To be admitted to either program, a student must have a grade point average of at least 3.5 in all work in the major field above the 100-level; the department may petition on her behalf if her GPA in the major is between 3.0 and 3.5. See Academic Distinctions at the beginning of this catalog.

Graduate Study in French

Students planning graduate work in French or comparative literature are encouraged to write an honors thesis and study a second modern language and/or Latin.

Teacher Certification in French

Students interested in obtaining certification to teach French in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts should consult the chair of the education department.

Satisfying the Language Requirement in French

Refer to the Wellesley College degree requirement definitions in the Student Handbook to find out how to satisfy the Foreign Language requirement. 

All incoming students who have taken French are required to take the placement test prior to registering for courses in the Department of French and Francophone Studies. Any student who takes a language course at another institution and would like college credit must obtain permission in advance and take the French placement test upon her return to verify she has attained the required level.

International Study 

Since international study enriches academic learning with real-time experience, all students of French, majors and non-majors alike, are strongly encouraged to spend a year or semester abroad in France or a Francophone country. Wellesley-in-Aix, the college's own international study program in Provence, is the ideal choice; other programs may be approved upon application to the International Study Committee.  The French department has funds to support a limited number of summer internships in France or Francophone countries, through the Wellesley-in-Aix program. The department encourages those students who cannot spend a semester abroad to participate in the department's Wintersession course in Paris. 

Maison Française 

Qualified students are encouraged to live at the Maison Française, a French-speaking residence and cultural center for the Wellesley College community. It houses 14 students and two French assistants from Aix-Marseille University. The Maison Française is a place where majors and non-majors who have demonstrated a significant competence in French live and can exchange ideas and experiences. During the academic year, the Maison Française organizes seminars, talks, and colloquia that all students interested in French are encouraged to attend. 

French Cultural Studies 

The French department's interdepartmental major in French Cultural Studies intended for students whose interests in the French and Francophone world are primarily cultural and historical. Interested students are directed to the description of the major and its directions for election, which appear at the end of the French curriculum.