French

Abstract

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  Profile of the study programme

  The bachelor programme in French at the University of Fribourg offers students a broad foundation, in terms of French and French-language literature, linguistics and the history of the French language. The course opens the way to other disciplines, such as history, philosophy or art history.
  The study of French literature begins with a series of introductory lectures enabling students to become familiar with literary analysis, the history of literature, and the history of books and reading. In small learning groups, emphasis is then placed on acquiring solid methodological foundations including an introduction to critical writing. To cover the different centuries of literature, the course offers literary history teaching sessions and seminars in alternation, in which the students are encouraged to develop their analytical and reflective skills through personal work. The subjects of the seminars vary each semester and cover a very wide range, from canonical writers through to interdisciplinary issues. In linguistics, students also receive a very thorough education, ranging from enunciation and the contrastive study of the spoken/written language to lexicon description and text linguistics, including of course the history of language from its origins to modern time.
  The bachelor programme is also open to students for whom French is not their mother tongue, provided they have sufficient command of spoken and written French. The University Language Centre provides registered students with language lessons at all levels (at no extra charge) and international certificates.

  Fribourg profile
  Fribourg is a friendly university where emphasis is placed on close, personal supervision of students. The Department of French is welcoming and dynamic and gives students the opportunity to take part actively in a number of events organised by the student committee and the team of lecturers: visits to theatres, outings, evening events, lectures by writers, as well as study days and international conferences.
  Students are also able to benefit from several partnerships with other universities, notably within the framework of the BENEFRI network, which also allows students to take courses at the universities of Neuchâtel and Bern. On the international level, the Department of French is able to offer students Erasmus exchanges thanks to close contacts with partner universities in France and in other parts of the world.

  Learning outcomes and career openings
  Students who successfully complete a bachelor in French will have acquired substantial knowledge of the history, culture and aesthetics of French/French-language literature and the French language, both in terms of its contemporary function and its development over the centuries. They will also have developed their ability to think independently and critically about literary and non-literary texts.
  Students who gain a bachelor's degree in French can go on to the master programme in French. In addition to teaching at secondary schools and academic upper secondary schools, career opportunities resulting from a course in French language and literature include a number of other fields, some of which require additional training: documentalist; translator (administration, companies, international organisations, literary translation); librarian; the publishing profession; book seller; journalism; advertising; administrative departments in Switzerland); diplomat and working with international organisations.

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