Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Our French graduate program provides a broad set of advanced research and communication skills. Gain specialized knowledge in the following areas: French Literatures (XVII to XX), Postcolonial Literatures, Quebecois and Franco-Canadian Literatures, Comparative Literature, Travel Writing, Gender studies, Film, Theatre, Visual Arts, French Linguistics, Sociolinguistics and Second-Language Teaching. Develop cultural knowledge and global awareness of Africa, Asia, Canada, the Caribbean, and France via intercultural and interdisciplinary perspectives, and studies in theoretical approaches. You'll write your theses and dissertations in French.

Notre programme en études françaises et francophones vise à donner aux étudiants de meilleurs outils de communication et de spécialisation dans les domaines suivants : littératures françaises (du XVII au XXe siècles), littérature postcoloniale, littérature québécoise et franco-canadienne hors Québec, littérature comparée, littératures de voyage, études du genre, cinéma, théâtre, arts visuels, linguistique française, sociolinguistique et didactique des langues. Ces différentes perspectives interdisciplinaires et interculturelles, ainsi que des approches théoriques et critiques ouvrent les étudiants aux connaissances approfondies sur l’Afrique, l’Asie, le Canada, les Caraïbes et la France. Nos étudiants rédigent leurs mémoires et thèses en français.

German is studied most productively with interdisciplinary, international or intercultural goals in mind. To study German here in North America means looking in from the outside. To study German in the 21st century means linking it to issues and concerns relevant to other cultures, languages, histories and modes of thinking. Gain specialized knowledge in the following areas: German intellectual history, German literature, German and Central European film, antisemitism, the Holocaust, the GDR, 18th- and 19th-century European literature, the acquisition of German as a second language, and German phonetics and phonology. We encourage research in German in conjunction with Education, English, Film, Fine Arts, French, History, Linguistics, Music, Philosophy and Spanish.

We embrace a vast range of subjects and theoretical approaches, and share a strong interdisciplinary focus. Research cinemas of the Hispanic world, musical expressions in Hispanic cultures, language heritage and identity, exile literature, Sephardic and gender studies, performance studies, and textual criticism. Enjoy exceptional opportunities to deepen your knowledge, increase your intercultural competencies and prepare for careers in academia and many other fields.

The specialization in Transcultural Studies investigates the complexity and interaction of modern cultures that are represented in the linguistic and geographical areas studied by faculty in the Linguistics, Languages and Cultures, as well as French, Italian and Spanish programs. Projects and courses in this specialization may address cultural works from the geographic areas where Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish are spoken.

Cultures cannot be considered separate satellites; the known and the foreign are blurred, such that transcultural becomes a more accurate term for the analysis of complex cultures than inter- or cross-cultural.