Mar 28, 2024  
2016-2017 Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Catalog 
    
2016-2017 Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

French, M.A.


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CIP Code: 8341 (160901-01)

The Master’s program in French is designed to provide a broad knowledge of the French language, literature and culture. Students may elect to focus on France exclusively or on the Francophone world, with France as a primary area, as well as Francophone Europe, Quebec, Acadia, Louisiana, the Antilles and Haiti, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Maghreb, and the Mediterranean. Both thesis and non-thesis tracks are available.

Admission


To be considered for admission to the M.A. program, a student must have earned a minimum of 24 semester hours in French beyond the elementary level. Students must demonstrate oral and written proficiency in French by submitting a sample of written work in French (two research papers or a thesis) as well as a sound recording demonstrating their oral proficiency. Transcripts of previous studies are required for admission into the Graduate School. Deficiencies in prerequisites and language proficiency must be made up during the first year of graduate studies.

Required Courses


The following courses or their equivalents are required:

Advising


Initially, the graduate coordinator acts as advisor to all M.A. students. By the end of the first year, the student sets up a graduate committee (normally including three or four graduate faculty members). At least three members must be professors with graduate faculty status in the student’s own department. This committee serves as the student’s source for advice and academic planning through completion of the M.A., serving as the student’s comprehensive examination and thesis committee as appropriate.

Requirements


 Students may proceed in one of three ways:

Thesis Option


Students planning to continue studies at the Ph.D. level must take a minimum of 36 semester hours of graduate credit, including at least 30 semester hours in French and Francophone courses, and a minimum of 6 thesis hours. Eighteen of the semester hours in French and Francophone courses must be in courses limited to graduate students.

Graduate assistants are required to take:


All students are required to take:


Non-Thesis Option


Alternately, students may take a minimum of 36 semester hours of graduate credit without writing a thesis. A student may schedule 36 semester hours in French and Francophone courses or 30 semester hours in French and Francophone courses, plus 6 semester hours in a related field approved by the Graduate Faculty of the Department. Eighteen semester hours must be in courses limited to graduate students.

All students are required to take:


Bilingual M.A. Option


A third option is the M.A. program in French and Spanish. For this option, students take a minimum of 36 semester hours of graduate credit with 18 hours in French and 18 hours in Spanish. Eighteen semester hours must be in courses limited to graduate students. The M.A. in French and Spanish includes both the thesis option and the non-thesis option.

All students are required to take:


Examinations


Each student must successfully complete comprehensive written and oral examinations in three selected areas of concentration based on the student’s coursework and the department’s reading list. On the basis of performance on these examinations, the student will be (1) passed unconditionally, (2) required to take additional written examinations in areas found to be deficient, or (3) dropped from the program. Students dropped from the program may appeal to the Francophone Studies Graduate Faculty for reconsideration. Successful written examinations will be followed by an oral examination which will focus on the three selected areas of concentration and which may also cover other areas of the reading list. Students may retake these examinations only once. If an M.A. student writes a thesis, the thesis committee will conduct an oral examination after the thesis is completed. This examination will be a defense of the thesis.

Reading Proficiency


In addition to a command of French and English, students must demonstrate reading proficiency in one other language. This requirement can be satisfied by passing a reading examination in the language or by successfully completing a course in the language at the 202 level or its equivalent.

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