The department offers programs leading to a major and a minor in French Studies and a concentration in French for Business. The requirements for completion of each degree program are those in effect in the bulletin year when the declaration of the major, minor, and concentration occurs. 

All majors, minors, and concentration students are strongly urged to take advantage of the department’s study abroad programs.

Semester in France

The department sponsors a semester in Dijon, France, the site of a well-established French university. Students go as a group in the fall semester, accompanied by a departmental faculty member. Majors in all disciplines are eligible. Juniors are given preference, but well-qualified sophomores are also considered. Applicants should have completed the basic foreign language requirement (FRH 212, FRH 213, FRH 214, or equivalent), or should do so before going to Dijon. They are encouraged—but not required—to take one course or more above the level, preferably FRH 319.

Students are placed in language courses according to their level of ability in French, as ascertained by a test given at the Centre International d’Études Françaises at the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon. Courses are taught by local French professors and by the resident director, who also supervises academic, residential, and extracurricular affairs.

FRH 350Studies in French Language and Culture6
FRH 351Advanced Oral and Written French4
FRH 352Contemporary France3
FRH 353Studies in French Art2

Summer in France

The department offers a nine-credit, six-week immersion program in Tours, France. Students at the intermediate level can complete Wake Forest’s basic language requirement by taking intensive intermediate French (6 credit hours) concurrently with FRH 212 (3 hours). More advanced students can earn credit toward the major or minor in French by completing intensive advanced intermediate conversation and grammar (6 hours) and FRH 216 (3 hours); this program includes weekly lectures by faculty specializing in history, gastronomy, business, political science, or literature. The intensive language courses are taught by professors at the Institut de Touraine; FRH 212 and FRH 216 are taught by the Wake Forest professor, who also serves as the faculty director for the group. The program includes excursions to sites of historical and cultural interest and the opportunity to participate in sports and cultural activities organized by the Institut de Touraine .

Contact Information

Department of French Studies
Greene Hall 323, Box 7566
Phone 336-758-5487