phd french programs

The French Department’s doctoral program reflects the interdisciplinary priorities that have long defined the pursuit of knowledge here at Berkeley. We are committed not only to providing students strong coverage of the field of French and francophone literature and culture, but also to doing so through the critical application of innovative methodologies, and by continually bringing French studies into productive dialogue with developments in parallel disciplines. Our faculty’s interests are both historically and methodologically diverse; their strengths are complemented by a variety of programs—centers, working groups, and so on—that regularly bring scholars of the humanities together across campus. And the relaxed and non-hierarchical atmosphere lends itself to free and passionate inquiry. We invite you to explore our offerings.

A Short Description of the M.A./Ph.D. in French

The doctoral program in French is designed to train students to undertake original research, to engage in scholarly and critical writing, and to prepare for teaching careers at the college and university level. The following information is intended only to provide a brief overview of the program’s main features and requirements. For complete information, please see the  Guide to Higher Degrees in French . Visit our application page for  information on the application process . 

For students entering with a B.A. in French, the French doctoral program normally takes six years to complete. (Students entering with the M.A. will typically spend five years in the program.) This time may vary, depending on each individual student’s preparation; it is divided as follows:

The M.A. Phase

During the first three semesters of graduate study students complete a minimum of six courses, five of which must be graduate level (200-level). All M.A.-level coursework must be completed with at least a 3.5 GPA. In the third semester students take a written M.A. exam, based on a tailored list of representative works from the French and francophone traditions. Upon successful completion of coursework and the M.A. exam, candidates are awarded the M.A. and then considered for admission to the Ph.D. phase of the program.

Please note that the French Department does not admit applicants whose ultimate goal is the M.A. degree.

The Ph.D. Phase

In three semesters students complete four more courses at the graduate level (200-level). During the last semester in the Ph.D. phase students take their qualifying exams, based on a set of specialized reading lists developed in close consultation with faculty members. These exams, which contain both written and oral components, are intended both to test general knowledge of a period and to provide students with a chance to develop ideas that will be useful in the definition of the dissertation topic.

The Dissertation Phase

Following successful completion of the qualifying exams, students are advanced to candidacy and enter the dissertation phase of the program. Students first write a dissertation prospectus in consultation with their dissertation committee, and then proceed with the dissertation itself.

Program Features

Flexibility and broad competency.

The Ph.D. program in French has been formulated to allow students maximum flexibility to pursue their scholarly interests while guaranteeing the acquisition of broad competency in the discipline of French and francophone literature and culture. Students are expected to acquire expertise in works of all periods but are also encouraged to develop interdisciplinary and specialized perspectives.

Incoming students are assigned a faculty mentor as well as a graduate student “buddy” so as to ease their transition into departmental and professional life. We view student-faculty contact as one of the cornerstones of our program’s success.

In-Depth Pedagogical Training

The department provides all Teaching Instructors (TAs) with in-depth pedagogical training, including pilot classes and pedagogical theory. Many of our students find themselves wanting to do supplementary work in planning innovative new language courses, and are able do so through the resources provided by the  Berkeley Language Center . Many advanced graduate students develop their own reading and composition courses or serve as instructors in neighboring departments such as Art History, English, and Comparative Literature; these instructorships often offer the opportunity to plan and execute a literature or culture course of your own design.

The  GSI Teaching and Resource Center  provides weekly teacher-training workshops throughout the semester; individual teaching consultations; grants for GSIs to improve the quality of teaching at Berkeley; and a summer institute for preparing future faculty.

Romance Languages and Literatures Program

The  Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures (RLL)  is a doctorate in three Romance languages and literatures (French, Italian and Spanish, including Spanish-American), prepared with emphasis in the literature or in the linguistics or philological history of one of the three. The RLL Program offers students the opportunity to tailor a course of study in French, Spanish and Italian to their interests. Applicants to the RLL program with a French emphasis are evaluated by French Department faculty and the program’s requirements are different from those listed above.

If you have any questions regarding the graduate program in  Romance Languages and Literatures  with an emphasis in French, please contact the  Graduate Student Services Advisor .

The Designated Emphasis

Students may consider the option of pursuing a Designated Emphasis (DE) in areas such as  Critical Theory ,  Film Studies ,  Women, Gender, and Sexuality ,  Renaissance and Early Modern Studies ,  European Studies , Indigenous Language Revitalization , or  New Media . Students pursuing a Designated Emphasis take certain prescribed courses within these disciplines, and write a dissertation that partially encompasses the chosen field of study. In addition to providing students an institutional mechanism for incorporating this sort of work into the Ph.D. program, the Designated Emphasis assures prospective employers that you have demonstrated expertise in an auxiliary field, and it will appear on your final degree. The  Program in Medieval Studies  also offers a joint degree in French and Medieval Studies. Students can also pursue graduate certificates in fields such as  Applied Data Science and Teaching and Learning in Higher Education .

Interdisciplinary Centers and Working Groups

A number of interdisciplinary centers and groups regularly bring noted scholars and artists to campus. The  Center for the Study of Sexual Culture , brings together researchers with a common interest in the ways sexuality takes on different meanings in different cultural contexts.

The French Studies Program  organizes lectures, visits by scholars, and conferences involving France and the French tradition(s) across the disciplines of the Humanities and the Social Sciences.

The Center for Middle Eastern Studies  promotes the interdisciplinary study of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at the University of California, Berkeley, and beyond, raising public awareness of the region’s diverse peoples, languages, cultures and their connection to wider global contexts.

The  Townsend Center for the Humanities  promotes research and ongoing conversation among and within academic disciplines. It hosts art exhibits, lectures, and conferences and sponsors a large number of  working groups , which meet informally and are run and attended by both graduate students and faculty. The Center also provides funding to support student journals.

Fostering intellectual life among students is a priority. Click here for information on  current student interests .

Job Placement

The Department is committed to helping graduates secure employment. This includes workshops on aspects of the job market in both spring and fall, reviewing and editing of curriculum vitae and letters of application, mock interviews, and works-in-progress talks that help candidates learn to present their research.

The Department has an  excellent record in placing students  who apply nationally and internationally for positions within the academy and beyond; in the last several years our students have been offered tenure-track appointments at Northwestern University; Duke University; University of Pennsylvania; Georgetown College; Vassar College; Emory College; Williams College; EDC Paris Business School; Maynooth University; Reed College; Columbia University; Middlebury College; Davidson College; College of William and Mary; Skidmore College; Austin College; San Francisco State University; University of Georgia; University of Michigan; University of Minnesota. Students interested in careers outside of academia have also had successful placements as Program Director; Equitable Assessment Consultant; Content Marketing for AI-platforms; Teacher; Senior Academic Programs Coordinator in Paris; and more . 

Financing Graduate Study

The Department offers a number of resources for financing graduate study, including fellowship packages, fellowships for continuing students, and Graduate Student Instructorships . It also awards grants for summer study and travel.

UC Berkeley also provides funding support on a competitive basis to humanities students at various points in their graduate career. The  Graduate Division Summer Grant  provides summer financial support. The  Doctoral Completion Fellowship  provides a full year of fellowship support for students who advance to candidacy within normative time (four years in humanities departments). The  Townsend Center  funds a competitive dissertation fellowship for humanities students.

Applicants should note that there are a few non-UC Berkeley sources of funding for graduate education. These include the  Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowships , the  Hispanic Scholarship Fund , the  Jack Kent Cooke Foundation , the  Javits Fellowship Program , and the  Soros Fellowships for New Americans .

Exchange Programs and Travel Fellowships

Graduate students in French are encouraged to spend time studying in France or another Francophone region or country. The Department has three yearly exchange programs — with the École Normale Supérieure, the Université Paris Cité or the Université de Tours. The Department usually selects advanced students to participate in these exchange programs, but from time to time students who have fulfilled almost all of their other requirements and have not yet taken the Qualifying Exam are selected.

These programs have always been sufficient to assure every student the opportunity to study in France .

These programs have always been sufficient to assure every student the opportunity to study in France.

Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) Exchange

One student may be selected for the academic year for the Department’s exchange program with the École Normale Supérieure (ENS). The ENS position will require the student selected to use their DCF during that year. Since the ENS exchange includes free housing, the DCF Fellowship stipend will not be supplemented by the department. Students who have already utilized the DCF will not be eligible for the ENS fellowship.

Paris VII Exchange

Students selected to participate in the Paris VII exchange are hired by Paris VII to teach English language courses. Students are paid a monthly salary in euros for 12 months. Students also receive health coverage under the general conditions of the National French Health Insurance System. Unlike the ENS exchange, Paris VII participants must make their own housing arrangements. Only native English speakers are eligible for this exchange program.

Université de Tours François-Rabelais

Students selected to participate in the Tours exchange are hired by Tours to teach English language courses. Students are paid a monthly salary in euros for 12 months. Students also receive health coverage under the general conditions of the National French Health Insurance System. As in the Paris VII exchange, Tours participants must make their own housing arrangements. Only native English speakers are eligible for this exchange program.

Additional Opportunities for Research/Travel in France

Fulbright IIE Fellowship Applicants must be U.S. citizens holding a B.A. degree or equivalent before the beginning date of the grant. Provides round-trip travel, tuition, books, and stipend for one academic year. Approximately 1,300 awards are available for study in over 140 countries. Applies to coursework, master’s or dissertation research.

Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Grants This program provides grants to colleges and universities to fund individual doctoral students who conduct research in other countries, in modern foreign languages and area studies for periods of 6 to 12 months.

Georges Lurcy Fellowship Program for Study in France This fellowship is for advanced Ph.D. students who are citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. and whose research topic is unique to France and can only be pursued in that country. The fellowship provides a stipend (currently $25,300) to cover educational fees, necessary travel, and living expenses while in France. Students must be enrolled at UC Berkeley or at an educational institution in France during the tenure of the fellowship. Interested students should submit their application materials to the Graduate Fellowships Office (318 Sproul Hall) by the deadline. One UC Berkeley graduate student is nominated for this fellowship each year.

Walter J. Jensen Fellowship for French Language, Literature, and Culture This fellowship provides a stipend of at least $10,000 for a minimum of six months of study in France. Phi Beta Kappa will also cover a single round-trip, economy-class ticket for the recipient to travel to France; some additional support may be available to those with dependents. The purpose of the award is to help educators and researchers improve education in standard French language, literature and culture and in the study of standard French in the United States.

Degree Requirements

Course requirements.

Students in the doctoral program must complete ten courses, including one course in the history of French language (French 201) and one course in literary criticism (French 270 or French 274). Courses completed at Berkeley for the M.A. phase count toward the ten-course requirement.

Students must also fulfill a historical comprehensiveness requirement. This entails completion of a graduate seminar in Medieval literature; two seminars in 16th-, 17th-, 18th-century or early modern studies; two seminars in 19th-, 20th-century, Francophone Studies, or Modern Studies. Outside of these requirements, students are allowed, and indeed encouraged, to pursue their interests in other departments. Students wanting to improve their general background are also permitted to take up to two undergraduate courses for credit towards their degree.

The first French proseminar (French 200A) is taken during the first semester of graduate study at Berkeley. This one-hour-a-week class, which does not count toward the Ph.D. requirement, is designed to give new graduate students a broad view of the Department’s faculty, the courses they teach, and their fields of research. In addition, it introduces students to aspects of their graduate career, issues pertaining to research methodologies, and critical debates across the profession.

The second French proseminar (French 200B)   gives first-year graduate students a general introduction to reading, analyzing, and writing about French texts. The selection of works is intentionally diverse and reflects both the traditional canon as well as current interests and trends in French studies.  At the end of the course, students produce a final reflection which will serve as a starting point for their own preparation for the M.A. exam.

Foreign Language Requirement

Students may fulfill the foreign language requirement either by demonstrating a reading knowledge of two languages (Option I) or by demonstrating an exceptionally thorough reading knowledge and an adequate knowledge of the grammatical structure of one language (Option II). If you have questions about how to fulfill the foreign language requirement, contact the Graduate Student Services Advisor at  [email protected] .

The language(s) will be chosen after consultation with the Head Graduate Advisor, and in view of the student’s intended Ph.D. Program Proposal. For example, for students intending to work in the Middle Ages or Renaissance, it could be advisable to choose Latin, Italian, or Spanish. For students interested in modern philosophy, German might be wise. Arabic might be a sensible choice for students interested in Francophone literature. Whatever the choice, it should have an intellectual or scholarly relationship to the student’s area of specialization, or with the field of Romance languages more broadly.

Additional Requirements

Doctoral students must fulfill additional requirements, including passing the Qualifying Exams and composing a dissertation prospectus, which must be approved by the student’s dissertation committee. For more information on additional requirements, consult the  Guide to Higher Degrees in French .

• M.A. / Ph.D In French
• Ph.D In Romance Language and Literatures (RLL)
• Applying to The Graduate Program
• Teaching Assistantships
• Job Preparation and Placement Record
• Guide to Higher Degrees in French
• Commencement

Department of French

Graduate Program

Introduction

Yale’s graduate program in French literature offers both a rigorous grounding in French Literature and an interdisciplinary approach to French theory, thought, and culture.  The graduate curriculum covers the Middle Ages to the present, and the literatures of Africa, the Caribbean, and the Maghreb.  

Our faculty are involved in programs outside the department, including African and African-American Studies , Comparative Literature , Film and Media Studies , Middle East Studies , Judaic Studies , Medieval Studies , and Renaissance Studies . These institutional affiliations provide bridges to related disciplines around the campus. 

Students have at their fingertips the holdings of one of the best research libraries in the world, the Sterling Memorial Library .  The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library is an incomparable resource for scholars in French, holding treasures ranging from medieval illuminated manuscripts of the Roman de la Rose , to the holograph manuscript of Camus’s Myth of Sisyphus and selections from Proust’s correspondence. 

The Program

The French Ph.D. degree normally takes five or six years.   The first two years are devoted to course work, including one required course in Old French.  Students are required to take at least two and up to four courses outside the department in departments such as Comparative Literature, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, History of Science and Medicine, History of Art, and Film.  Students must also fulfill the language requirement by the end of the second year.  

Read what current students have to say about our courses

In the third year, students take their oral qualifying exam and prepare their dissertation prospectus. Students typically teach one course per semester during two of their years of graduate study, beginning in the third year.  They receive training in language teaching methodology and teach two semesters of French language. Opportunities also exist to be teaching assistants in advanced undergraduate literature courses.

Hear students talk about their teaching experiences

In the fourth or fifth year, most students choose to pursue dissertation research in France or a francophone country.  Many students partake in the exchange program with the Ecole Normale Supérieure, rue d’Ulm, in Paris.

Students complete their dissertation in the fifth or sixth year. 

To recognize expertise in a particular area of study outside French literature, Yale offers several certificates of concentration    Students may also apply to the combined Ph.D. programs with the Department of African American Studies , the Program in Film and Media Studies , and Renaissance Studies .

[click here for the calendar of progress through the program]

All Yale students receive full financial support (tuition plus full stipend, including health insurance coverage) for five years of graduate study. This includes two years of coursework without teaching, two years of teaching, and a dissertation fellowship year.  Students in the French Department who choose  to pursue dissertation research in France or a francophone country receive an additional year of support without having to teach.

Basic Program Requirements  

• Fourteen term courses during the first two years of study. These must include Old French and at least two graduate-level term courses taken outside the department. French 670, Methods and Techniques in the French Language Classroom, is also required in the second year of study.
• Proficiency (defined as one year of college study) in any two languages (beyond English and French) that are relevant to the student’s research interests, to be approved by the DGS. For details, see the Rules document.
• At least one year of teaching experience.
• The qualifying oral examination, to be taken no later than the end of the sixth term.
• The dissertation prospectus, prepared in consultation with the student’s adviser and approved by the faculty.
• The doctoral dissertation, prepared in close consultation with the adviser, approved by the faculty and Graduate School, and completed by the end of the sixth year of study.

For details see the Program Guidelines for Graduate Studies in French (in the left sidebar.)

Policies of the Graduate School can be found at the  Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Programs and Policies Bulletin.

Job Placement

Students in their last year of study take a seminar with the Director of Graduate Studies to prepare for the job market.  Although the market remains challenging, our students have fared remarkably well [ click here for a list of recent placements ].

French and Francophone Studies

Graduate program, graduate program handbook.

The graduate program curriculum covers fields in French and Francophone literature from the Ancien Régime to the present and from a variety of theoretical perspectives.

The doctoral program in French and Francophone Studies offers a lively intellectual environment where students explore French and Francophone literatures and cultures across a broad chronological and topical range and through a wide variety of critical approaches.

Our goal is to train scholars and teachers who have a solid grounding in all periods of French and Francophone literatures and who think, write and teach creatively.

Program Benefits

Students in the graduate program profit from an annual calendar of lectures, mini-seminars and conferences, including Equinoxes , the annual graduate student conference. The Department of French and Francophone Studies shares, with the Department of Hispanic Studies, the beautiful  Rochambeau House , where students have access to dedicated study space with computers, printers and scanners.

Graduate students at Brown also benefit from the accessibility of faculty across campus as well as the vitality of the humanities and associated fellowship and funding opportunities. Providence, Rhode Island is  an affordable city  with  a vibrant cultural scene and an excellent quality of life .

The Ph.D. Year by Year

All graduate students must complete the Graduate School requirement of 24 tuition units.

In their first year, graduate students normally take 8 courses: 3 departmental seminars plus one other relevant course in the fall semester; and 2 departmental seminars, French 2900 (Teaching Methods), plus one other relevant class in the spring. Courses and schedules, and other matters relating to students’ individual programs are determined in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. For each course the student receives a Course Performance Report after the conclusion of the course (for courses taken in departments that depart from this practice the CPR may consist in communications between the appropriate instructor or DGS and the French DGS).

First-year students receive a mid-year evaluation from the DGS near the beginning of the spring semester. At the end of the academic year each student receives a Performance Evaluation which is uploaded to the online GSIM system. The faculty mentor assigned to each student upon entering the program serves as the student's advisor for the first academic year.

Students are on fellowship and do not teach during their first year.

Students entering the program with a Masters degree for which they have received 8 graduate credits take the 1 st  Prelim. Exam at or around the time of the Labor Weekend holiday and, presuming they pass, proceed to prepare the 2 nd  Prelim. Exam. 

In their second year, students (entering with the Bachelors degree) normally take 6 classes in their second year (3 departmental seminars in the fall semester, and 2 departmental seminars plus one other relevant class in the spring). They proceed to prepare the 1 st  Prelim., beginning by consulting with the DGS and forming a committee as outlined in the Graduate Handbook.

Students begin their teaching practice as TAs during the second year.

Until they have completed the 1 st  Prelim. students are required to take all graduate seminars offered by the Department. In instances where the DGS deems it necessary a student may be required to take classes beyond the 1 st  Prelim.

In their third year, students complete remaining coursework. All students are expected to have completed the 2 nd  Prelim. Exam by the end of their third year.

Subsequent years are devoted to preparation of the Dissertation Prospectus and to research for and writing of the Dissertation.

Students receive a second year of Dissertation Fellowship support during their period of research and writing, following consultation with the DGS.

Milestone Requirements for all levels of the Ph.D. program are listed at the end of the Graduate Handbook. Continued funding is dependent on students’ completion of appropriate Milestones. Students who do not meet Milestones may have their GSIM status changed to Satisfactory or Warning.

Required Courses

All students must pass FREN 2900: Teaching Methods, and fulfill the language requirement. They must take departmental seminars as required before taking the 1 st  and 2 nd  Prelims., or as directed by the DGS. In some instances, and with the approval of the Graduate Committee, students may be exempted from these requirements on the basis of previous work or experience.

Students are paired with a faculty mentor in the first semester of their program so that they are immediately in contact with an informal advisor for any questions they wish to discuss. That relationship continues at least until the student begins work on the 2 nd  Prelim. Exam, and often continues beyond that time.

Once they begin the 2 nd  Prelim. Exam on, students work closely with the faculty member who will supervise their exam research, and eventually with their dissertation director.

Pedagogical Training

A notable strength of our program is the in-depth training and experience students gain in language teaching, under the expert guidance of our Department’s language acquisition specialists. Students serve as Graduate Teaching Assistants in our language program during their second, third, and fourth years, teaching one section per semester. Our TAs are fortunate to work with some of the very best undergraduates in the country and to avail themselves of the certificate programs offered by the  Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning .

Professionalization

As students progress within the program they are encouraged to give conference presentations and eventually to publish their work. To that end, financial assistance is offered for attendance at academic conferences; and workshops are given on a regular basis on topics such as preparing an article for submission and publication. The 2 nd  Prelim. Exam is designed to have students produce a publishable article by the end of their second or third year in the program.

Students are also encouraged to avail themselves of professionalization workshops and programs offered by the Graduate School or the university, including those designed to prepare students for non-academic positions.

Students preparing for the job market work closely with their director, committee, and other faculty to prepare CVs, application letters, writing samples and teaching portfolios.

Master's Degree

Students may graduate with the A.M (Masters degree) by completing one year of course work and a thesis of 50-60 pages; or two years of coursework. They must also demonstrate a reading knowledge of a foreign language other than French.

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Department of Romance Languages & Literatures

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French and Francophone

Welcome to the French and Francophone Studies Graduate Program.

Our program here at Harvard is driven by collegiality—the collegiality that reigns among the faculty in the program and is generated, in turn, among our graduate students. We share a common cause in studying the languages, literatures, arts, cultures, and histories that characterize the Francophone world in its most capacious conception. In our teaching and in our research, we address the relation between individuals and communities, humans and the world, the aesthetic and the political, in historically situated contexts that allow for meaningful comparisons across national, spatial, and temporal boundaries. The intellectual life of our unit is marked by mutual respect and an egalitarian ethos that treats students and faculty alike as partners in our mission to understand our present and our past through the cultural objects—both material and abstract—we engage with, and to imagine the future in an age of increasing chaos and instability. As we contend, globally, with natural, social, and political catastrophes that threaten to dehumanize and displace on an unprecedented scale, the study of what makes us human and what can be envisioned beyond the human, as epitomized in the works we grapple with, seems more important than ever.

We look forward to getting to know you in courses, and also, to sharing our intellectual passions and areas of expertise, which we hope to extend to you as a resource as you make your way through to the dissertation. Working with the other sections of RLL, as well as with other departments, we support students in building a singular program of studies that meets their aspirations, including a year abroad at the École normale supérieure, rue d’Ulm. You will find at Harvard, within the program and outside it, a cornucopia of conferences, panels, workshops, performances, seminars, and institutions that will both whet and nourish your intellectual appetites: the Mahindra Humanities Center, where we lead seminars on France and the World, the Renaissance, and Cartography; the Weatherhead Center; the Center for European Studies; the Harvard Film Archive; the Radcliffe Institute; the Center for Early Modern History; and many others. We are also a member of the consortium of French and Francophone graduate programs that, together, award the annual Goncourt américain.

Other wonderful resources to the program are Harvard's Widener Library and its incredibly learned and helpful research staff. Whatever books or journals the library doesn't have, it will get for you on interlibrary loan. We hope also that you will have the occasion to become acquainted with the Houghton Library, Harvard's rare book library, which is a mine of treasures. You will also be able to benefit from Harvard’s museums, the Arnold Arboretum, as well as the research centers it has at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. and I Tatti in Italy.

Last but not least is the city of Cambridge itself, a truly cosmopolitan city on the banks of the Charles, and Harvard Square, with its many cafes, restaurants, and bookstores, where you can experience a veritable carnival of books, food, films, and theater, following your particular passions. And beyond Cambridge you will find the Greater Boston area offers the Boston Symphony, the Museum of Fine Arts, but also an abundance of places to get away from the city, be it to the beaches of the North and South Shore and Cape Cod, the Berkshires, or the forested space of the Fells. You will add to this list many, many personal discoveries, if you join us and study here.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have questions!

The French Section

To see our program requirements, see the GSAS Policies .

Graduate Contacts

Kathy Hanley (Graduate Program Coordinator)

Ph.D. Program in Modern French Studies (FRMS)

Our Ph.D. program combines training in literary, cultural and language studies with individualized research to open new, innovative understandings of the French-speaking world of yesterday and today. 

Related Links

• Application fee waiver
• Ph.D. Handbook (PDF)
• French Program Graduate Funding
• French Graduate Placement

The Ph.D. in modern French studies at the University of Maryland offers comprehensive training in French and Francophone studies, including teaching, research and professionalization. The program offers seminars in French and Francophone literature, culture and film, in addition to French language and linguistics. With the guidance of internationally recognized faculty specializing in a range of genres and issues and reflective of the diversity and complexity of the French-speaking world, students develop competencies in innovative research methods and approaches such as critical theory, gender and sexuality studies, colonial and post-colonial studies, cultural and media criticism, ecocriticism and digital humanities, among others. The French Ph.D. program fosters collaborative work across disciplines, languages, media, centuries and fields. Students may pursue graduate certificates in affiliated programs such as women, gender and sexuality studies, comparative literature and digital humanities, as well as participate in Graduate School field committees in film studies and in medieval and early modern studies. Students are encouraged to pursue independent and innovative thinking through individualized curricula and research projects with the support of the French program’s intellectual community.

Students are normally granted full funding for four years, with the possibility of an additional year, contingent upon availability of funds. Annual renewal of financial support is based on satisfactory performance and progress in the program. The program also provides thorough pedagogical training and teaching experience in French language, literature and culture courses.

Students who have graduated from our program have pursued careers in higher education and beyond. For a complete list of Ph.D. graduate placements .

Admissions Information

Entry into the Ph.D. program is open to students who have already completed an M.A. in a field related to French studies. Students with a B.A. in French or a related field should begin with the M.A.

All foreign applicants whose native language is not English are required to take the TOEFL examination (Test of English as a Foreign Language).

Course Requirements

Ph.D. students are required to take for credit a minimum of eight courses beyond the M.A. at the 600-level or above.

All students must take one course in each of the three following core categories: 1. History of Ideas 2. Issues in Literature 3. History of the French Language

Apart from those core courses, with the help of the director of graduate studies and their advisor, students will create an individually-tailored program of study that best matches their interests to complete the course requirements towards their degree.

Additionally, graduate teaching assistants are expected to take a 1-credit practicum in their first semester (FREN709) and FREN611 (The Structure of the French Language) in their second (spring) semester.

For additional information, please see the Graduate Student Handbook.

Language Requirement

All Ph.D. students are required to demonstrate a sound reading knowledge of one other language in addition to French and English. Students should choose a language that provides an appropriate background for the projected dissertation. The fulfillment of this requirement is one of the prerequisites for advancement to candidacy.

For additional information on how to fulfill this requirement, please see the Graduate Student Handbook.

Entering students are advised in their first semester by the director of graduate studies or by some other designated professor. By the end of their second semester, students should choose a permanent advisor and register this choice with the director of graduate studies. Final responsibility for meeting Graduate School requirements and deadlines rests solely with the student.

Qualifying Examinations

In order to advance to candidacy, Ph.D. students are required to pass two Qualifying Examinations consisting of:

 a) one two-part Comprehensive Examination; and  b) one Prospectus Defense.

In both cases, the committee will be composed of three members of the French faculty. An additional fourth member from outside the department is possible for the prospectus defense if the topic warrants it.

A ) The first Qualifying Examination is a two-part comprehensive exam, first written, then oral, taken over two consecutive days. It assesses whether students have acquired sufficiently broad knowledge of French and Francophone literature as well as of a range of theoretical approaches to be able to successfully take on the dissertation project. This exam should be taken by the end of the student’s third semester in the Ph.D. program. If students choose to submit their written response in English, the oral portion will be in French, and vice versa.

For the written part of the examination, students will have four hours to respond to one of two questions based on the standard Ph.D. reading list. The exam is taken without notes, in an examination room with a computer provided by the department.

For the oral part of the examination, which lasts approximately an hour, students will be asked to discuss their written response and the reading list with their committee.

To obtain the current reading list for the Ph.D. examination, contact the director of graduate studies.

B) The second Qualifying Examination is the oral defense of a written dissertation prospectus (approx. 5,000 words) and accompanying bibliography. The prospectus is a formal project proposal for the dissertation. The prospectus should lay out the proposed area and object of study, explain the relevant context, a research question, how your project is inscribed within the larger field (what has and has not been done in this area), a theoretical approach and a description of the methodology to be adopted, as well as a bibliography.

*Please note that, following a successful prospectus defense, doctoral students are required to submit the most recent version of their dissertation draft as an email attachment to the three departmental members of their Dissertation Committee one year date-to-date after their prospectus defense, and every six months thereafter until the submission of the final version of their dissertation two weeks prior to the defense date. As a rule, students will receive written feedback on these drafts within four to six weeks.

Dissertation

Doctoral dissertations must receive the preliminary approval of the three departmental members of the Dissertation Committee before being submitted to other readers. All readers must be given at least two weeks in which to read the dissertation. At the beginning of the semester in which the dissertation will be defended, the dissertation director will ask the dean of the Graduate School to approve the Examining Committee. At least one member of this five-person committee (normally the dean's representative) will be external to the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, and one may be drawn from another university. A date will then be set for the oral defense, which can be expected to last about two hours.

Application Instructions

Application deadline is January 15 for admission in the fall and may be submitted here . Before completing the application, applicants are asked to check the Admissions Requirements site for specific instructions about the Ph.D. program .  

As required by the Graduate School, all application materials must be submitted electronically through the Graduate Application Portal :

• Non-refundable application fee for each program
• Statement of Purpose. The statement should address relevant aspects of your educational experience, the focus of your academic interests and reasons for applying to our program.
• Unofficial transcripts of your entire college/university record (undergraduate and graduate), including records of any advanced work done at another institution. Electronic copies of these unofficial transcripts must be uploaded along with your online application.
• Three letters of recommendation. In your online application, please fully complete the information requested for your recommenders and ask them to submit their letters electronically.
• Two samples of critical writing in French. While we encourage you to submit your best writing sample, we prefer a writing sample in your declared field of interest. If you are submitting an excerpted selection, please include a brief description or introduction to the selection. The MLA citation format is preferred.
• Description of Research/Work Experience (optional)
• Publications/Presentations (optional)
• Academic CV/Resume

  Completed applications are reviewed by an admissions committee in each graduate degree program. The recommendations of the committees are submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School, who will make the final admission decision. To ensure the integrity of the application process, the University of Maryland authenticates submitted materials through TurnItIn for Admissions .   For questions related to the admissions process, prospective students may contact the Graduate School.

Information for International Graduate Students

The University of Maryland is dedicated to maintaining a vibrant international graduate student community. International applicants are encouraged to contact the office of International Students and Scholars Services (ISSS), a valuable source of information and assistance for prospective and current international students. Admitted international students will receive instructions about obtaining the appropriate visa to study at the University of Maryland which will require submission of additional documents. International students admitted by the Graduate School are responsible for obtaining the appropriate visa in order to enroll.

English Proficiency Requirement

Non-native speakers of English must submit TOEFL exam results to the Graduate School with their application. Based on these results, students may be advised to take a written expression course from the Maryland English Institute or a basic writing course given by the English Department. This course will not count towards the degree.

Please see the Graduate Admissions Process for International applicants for more information.

Program Contact

Director of graduate studies, sarah benharrech.

Associate Professor, French Affiliate, Classics Associate Professor, School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

3104 Jiménez Hall College Park MD, 20742

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• PhD in French Language & Literature

The doctoral program in French Language & Literature provides each student with a thorough knowledge of French and Francophone literature, its history, and its major works. The program offers professional preparation through the acquisition of extensive knowledge of the field of study; advanced skills in the use, evaluation, and production of critical scholarly and research materials; experience communicating knowledge in a range of contexts; and substantial training in pedagogy and other relevant practical and professional training. Candidates for admission should be able to demonstrate foundational knowledge of the appropriate literature and written and oral competence in the language of study. The PhD program is open to those with a BA or MA in an appropriate field. A broad training in the humanities is advantageous.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate a mastery and appreciation of language and literature in French in a global context and from all historical periods.
• Demonstrate a near-native mastery of the French language.
• Demonstrate the skilled application of research methodologies and techniques, and produce and defend an original and significant contribution to knowledge in the field.
• Be prepared to communicate and teach specific works and literary concepts at the college and university level.
• Adhere to ethical standards in the discipline.

Course Requirements

Sixteen courses (64 units) on French literature and cultural studies at the 500 level or above are required for this degree, including at least one seminar per term, as well as coursework and training in pedagogy (e.g., CAS LL 690/LL 691 Proficiency-Based Language Teaching 1 and 2 and CPT), as per departmental and GRS policies. At least three courses in the intended area of specialization are strongly recommended; this guideline may be satisfied in part through directed study.

Language Requirement

Degree candidates are expected to possess a near-native command of written and spoken French by the time they receive their PhD. Students must demonstrate reading knowledge of at least one language in addition to French that will be useful in their research work. In some areas of specialization, two or more additional languages may be required in order to ensure research competence.

Qualifying Examinations

Qualification for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy is achieved through: (1) successful completion of the written Comprehensive Examination based on a reading list of major works and (2) successful completion and oral defense of two qualifying papers, substantial and thoroughly researched works of 25–40 pages. Detailed information concerning the content, format, and schedule of these examinations are described fully in the graduate program handbook. As a general rule, entrants should have completed all coursework and examinations by the end of their third year.

Dissertation and Final Oral Examination

Candidates shall demonstrate their abilities for independent study in a dissertation representing original research or creative scholarship. A prospectus for the dissertation must be completed and approved by the readers, the Director of Graduate Studies, and the Department Chair/Program Director. Candidates must undergo a final oral examination in which they defend their dissertation as a valuable contribution to knowledge in their field and demonstrate a mastery of their field of specialization in relation to their dissertation. All portions of the dissertation and final oral examination must be completed as outlined in the GRS General Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree .

Any PhD student who has fulfilled the requirements of the master’s degree program, as stated here , can be awarded a master’s degree.

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DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN

Phd in french/francophone studies, the program.

The PhD Program in French and Francophone Studies focuses on literary and cultural production throughout the French-speaking world and provides students with a strong theoretical background. Historically dedicated to training students in various periods, genres, and media of cultural production in French, the Program is also distinguished by its pioneering commitment to a broadly inclusive conception of the field of French and Francophone literatures and cultures, as well as its sustained engagements with developments in literary theory, philosophy, and critical thought that have indelibly impacted humanities scholarship of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Program aims to develop students’ metacritical perspectives through exposure to the range of theoretical and methodological approaches represented by our faculty. These include poststructuralist, psychoanalytic, cultural historical, postcolonial, feminist, visual arts, gender studies, and historical materialist perspectives, as well as film and media theories.

The research and teaching of our combined faculty exhibits particular strength in the areas of twentieth-century literature and contemporary theory (Ty Blakeney, Christopher Bush, Matthieu Dupas, Scott Durham, Michal Ginsburg [Emerita], Nasrin Qader, Alessia Ricciardi, Domietta Torlasco, Sam Weber [Affiliated], Jane Winston [Emerita]); film and visual culture across periods (Ty Blakeney, Christopher Bush, Matthieu Dupas, Scott Durham, Bernadette Fort [Emerita], Michal Ginsburg [Emerita], Alessia Ricciardi, Domietta Torlasco, Jane Winston [Emerita]); Francophone Studies (Christopher Bush, Doris Garraway, Nasrin Qader, Jane Winston [Emerita]); seventeenth and eighteenth-century studies (Matthieu Dupas, Bernadette Fort [Emerita], Doris Garraway, Sylvie Romanowski [Emerita]; nineteenth century-century studies (Ty Blakeney); Medieval and Early Modern (Christopher Davis, Matthieu Dupas, Cynthia Nazarian, Bill Paden [Emeritus], Sylvie Romanowski [Emerita], and gender studies (Ty Blakeney, Matthieu Dupas, Bernadette Fort [Emerita], Cynthia Nazarian, Bill Paden [Emeritus], Sylvie Romanowski [Emerita], Jane Winston [Emerita]).

In addition, the Program is strongly committed to interdisciplinary research and scholarship and allows students the flexibility to tailor their course of study so as to reach across disciplinary and departmental boundaries. In so doing, students may choose to participate in the  Interdisciplinary Cluster Initiative , a program designed to help Northwestern graduate students foster connections with students and faculty in other departments and programs around interdisciplinary subject areas such as African Studies, Critical Theory, Gender Studies, and Rhetoric and Public Culture. All students benefit from a wide array of interdisciplinary resources, including Northwestern Library’s outstanding Africana collection, and close interaction with experts in related fields of gender studies, film, art history, philosophy, and comparative literature. In addition, the Department regularly hosts conferences and invites internationally acclaimed writers and scholars to Northwestern to lecture and teach. Recent guests include Jacques Rancière, Adelkébir Khatibi, Georges Didi-Hubermann, Hélène Cixous, Frederic Jameson, Ross Chambers, Tariq Ali, Peter Hallward, Boubacar Boris Diop, and Abdourahman Waberi.

The Program is dedicated to meeting the intellectual needs of each student and to supporting students throughout their training through formal and informal mentoring.

Additional Resources

For additional resources, please see our Resources page .

For Program Information contact Lisa Byrnes, Graduate Program Assistant, at [email protected] or email [email protected].

Department of French & Italian Northwestern University 1860 Campus Drive, Crowe Hall #2-107 Evanston, IL 60208-2204

(847) 491-4148

For information about the application/application process, please see our Admission Requirements .

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PhD Program in French

Our doctoral program focuses on the literatures, films and cultures of the Francophone world. Students with traditional backgrounds in French Studies - but also students with atypical backgrounds - are encouraged to apply, provided they satisfy the requirements of the School of Graduate Studies.

The humanities teach a breadth of soft skills that graduates need to succeed in the job market.

Katarina Todić '15

Bachelor of Arts Honours French and History

About the Program

Our objective is to help students gain a comprehensive understanding of the Francophone world across time, space and socio-cultural discourses and practices, and to facilitate their professional integration in an increasingly globalized world. Admitted candidates will design their own academic journey jointly with their PhD committee. They will take six half courses, including one required course that will expose them to various literary theories, and a series of professionalization workshops (Eg. How to write articles and for various journals, How to prepare for a job interview, etc.) If approved by the Department of French and the instructor, and if relevant to their field of research, students will also be able to take courses in other departments. Courses, comprehensive examinations ( or publishable articles) and a thesis will structure the four years. Part-time students will be admitted on an exceptional basis.

One of the most salient and innovative features of the program is the option of spending up to one year in a Francophone country or region (in Europe, Canada, US, Africa, Asia or the Caribbean). The research study abroad must be approved by the Graduate Committee upon its evaluation of the proposal. During their study abroad, students will be able to expand their research, enrich their professional and personal experience, immerse themselves in a Francophone environment and experience its diversity. While we wish to prepare students for academic professions, we also strive to facilitate their access to other professions which demand highly skilled individuals in fields such as in international relations, the media, human resources, NGOs, business, diplomacy, environment or the arts.

Students may opt to specialize in one or more of the following areas:

• Francophone literatures (African, Asian and Caribbean)
• Quebec literature
• Franco-Ontarian, Acadian and Francophone literatures from elsewhere in Canada
• Indigenous literature in French
• French literature
• Visual culture and intermediality
• Women’s studies and feminist research
• Philosophy of the Enlightenment
• Queer theory
• Utopia and science fiction
• Critical and literary theory

Admission Requirements

Admission requirements conform to the general University regulations. Applicants whose specialization is in French or Francophone literatures and cultures or in a program deemed equivalent are encouraged to apply. The English language proficiency test (TOEFL) is not required to enter the PhD Program in French.

Students will be admitted to the PhD program with a completed MA in French or in a program deemed equivalent. Equivalence will be granted on a case by case basis in consultation with the School of Graduate Studies. Students must obtain a minimum B+ average or equivalent at the Master’s level to be considered for admission. As a rule, part-time studies will not be an option at the PhD level. However, in exceptional circumstances, permission to pursue the Doctorate part-time might be granted, provided the student adheres to a rigorously scheduled plan of action for completion of all degree requirements within a reasonably limited timeframe.

Application Process

The application process is completed  online . You may apply only if you are planning to begin your graduate studies in September 2025   and note that close date for applications is March 31, 2025.

The application includes the following documents which must be uploaded:

• A letter of intent in French, stating why you want to do a Ph.D. degree in French with us, your intellectual and academic background that prepared you and what you intend your research focus to be (one page).
• Your Ph.D. project description (one page to one page and a half in length).
• A sample of your writing (10-12 pages of your M.A. project in French)
• All your official transcripts since the first year of university.
• Two reference letters written by your professors. We recommend that students ask for these letters very early, communicate the deadlines to their referees (professors providing a letter of reference) and provide them with relevant documents (CV, copy of transcripts, study plan, etc.).
• Your resume (Curriculum Vitae).
• A non-refundable amount of $110 Canadian dollars must accompany your application form for administrative fees. This fee must be paid in Canadian dollars by means of a credit card payment or electronic transfer.

The main criterion is the excellence of your grades and the quality of your letters of recommendation. Offers of admission will be normally sent in the spring by the School of Graduate Studies upon the recommendation of the department’s Graduate Studies Committee.

If you are an international student intending to undertake full-time studies in Canada, you must first notify the officials of the Canadian Immigration Service in your country of origin. Applicants must not leave their country until they have in their possession an offer of admission, issued only by the Faculty of Graduate Studies of McMaster University, and a valid study permit to study at McMaster issued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Please note that students from certain countries must obtain a Temporary Resident Visa before being allowed to study in Canada. For further information, please visit the website Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada  (French and English version).

Canadian equivalency for grades obtained at foreign universities will be calculated following the guidelines of the Ontario Universities Registrars’ Association (OURA).

For more information, we invite you to consult  International Student Services.

Language Requirement

Candidates will successfully pass a proficiency examination in a language other than French or English.  The examination consists of the translation of a passage from a third language to French or English. The choice of language should be made by the candidate in consultation with her/his supervisory committee. The department should be informed of this choice as soon as possible.

With the approval of the Department of French Graduate Studies Committee and the candidate’s supervisory committee, this language requirement may be substituted by:

• Successful completion of the course EDU 750/751 Principles and Practices of University Teaching offered by MIIETL (McMaster Institute for Innovation & Excellence in Teaching and Learning). The description of the course may be found in the following section of the SGS Calendar: Faculty of Humanities – French – French Courses .
• Successful completion of a three-unit, doctoral-level course in another discipline relevant to the candidate’s research topic.

This requirement may be fulfilled at any time before completion of the degree.

Program Timelines

A supervisor must be declared within the first 5 months of study and the supervisory committee must be declared within the first 12 months of study. The supervisor will recommend, for the student’s approval, at least two other colleagues – to a maximum of four – as members of the supervisory committee. We recommend that the supervisory committee be wholly established by the end of January of the year following the beginning of the program. Students and supervisors should meet regularly and a report on the student’s progress must be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies at least once a year.

The PhD degree program will normally be four years in length. Students are expected to participate in professionalization workshops offered during the academic year. All PhD students must complete six half-courses (three units each) within the first year of the program. One of them, FRENCH 705 Introduction to Literary and Critical Theory, is required. The listing of all courses can be found in the following section of the SGS Calendar: Faculty of Humanities – French – French Courses . The minimum passing grade is a B-.

Before December 1st of the first year of the program, all graduate students, including part time students, must also complete courses SGS 101 (Academic Research Integrity and Ethics) and SGS 201 (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act – AODA). A graduate student may not obtain a graduate degree at McMaster without having passed these courses.

Candidates are expected to complete comprehensive field examinations. PhD. candidates in consultation with their supervisory committee will choose two areas of concentration: the first will be literary and theoretical in nature and the second interdisciplinary. Candidates will submit an extensive bibliography for each area of concentration and will be assessed by way of a written examination. Candidates will be given one week to complete a 10- to 15-page paper for each area. Full-time students will write these examinations within the first twenty months of their program, that is, before the end of April of their second year of residency, assuming the student began residency in September of the first year. These exams are intended as opening stages of the doctoral dissertation. For each examination, candidates must prove their proficiency in the French language and their competence in their selected areas of specialization. They must display in-depth knowledge, not only of the primary texts, but also of the existing scholarship in their areas of concentration. Candidates must obtain a passing grade. In the event of a failing grade, candidates will have one opportunity to rewrite their exams; this second and final attempt should occur within three months of the date of their first examination. In place of a comprehensive examination paper, students will have the choice to write an original article that will be submitted to a recognized, peer-reviewed journal in their field. The article will be a minimum length of 7000 words.

Students will prepare a 25-page thesis project in consultation with their thesis supervisor. This project will then be presented and examined by the candidate’s supervisory committee. An oral defence of the project, conducted by the supervisory committee, must be successfully completed before the candidate can proceed with research and preparation of the thesis manuscript. This requirement should be completed within the first 24 months of the candidate’s program.

During the third or fourth year of the program, candidates will write a scholarly thesis of approximately 250 pages (including notes and bibliography) and will defend it at an Oral Examination. The oral examination of the thesis will normally be conducted in French.

• Completion of 6 half courses within 12 months of start date
• Completion of a research methodology workshop
• Selection of thesis supervisor (as soon as possible, and within the first five months into the program)
• Two areas of concentration, which are the subjects of the student’s comprehensive examinations, to be determined in conjunction with committee members
• Submission of the First Year Progress Report (before the 12th month)

Second Year

• Comprehensive examinations (one of them may be replaced by a publishable article) to be completed within the first 20 months of the program. If the article option is chosen, the article will be submitted to a recognized, peer-review journal in the relevant field.
• A 25-page thesis project to be completed and defended orally within the first 24 months
• Submission of Annual Progress Report (before the 24th month)
• Submission of draft chapters of the thesis
• During their third year of the program, students may elect to study or do research abroad, audit classes in other disciplines, at McMaster or at other universities, or participate in a field work/internship program in a Francophone region or country. To spend a period of time in a Francophone region or country, students must obtain the written approval of their committee and of the School of Graduate Studies.
• Submission of Annual Progress Report (before the 36th month)

Fourth Year

• Submission of the final draft of the thesis; the thesis defence; uploading of the final, electronic version of the thesis to MacSphere.

French PhD Tuition & Program Fees

Visit Graduate Studies to learn more about tuition, supplementary fees and everything you need to know about being paid as a Teaching or Research Assistant. Tuition fees are assessed on a term by term basis, depending on the number of courses a student takes or if they are paying by term.

Faculty Scholarship Adjustments Guidelines

The McMaster Graduate Scholarship (MGS) is the most common form of scholarship support available to graduate students in our program. The MGS ensures that students receive a guaranteed minimum level of scholarship support. Adjustments to the MGS will depend on other available scholarships.

The Faculty of Humanities Adjustments guidelines policy is available for review.

REVIEW THE POLICY

Apply to the PhD Program in French

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR GRADUATE SUPERVISORS

Research your passion in French with supervision from our world-class faculty.

SEE OUR CURRENT AND FORMER GRAD STUDENTS

Supplemental information.

Graduate Course Offerings & Outlines 2024-2025

• FRENCH 6CC3 / Theoretical Reflections on Interdisciplinarity, Dr. Elzbieta Grodek
• FRENCH 6U03 / Topics in Literature and Culture of Quebec and Francophone Canada, Dr. Joëlle Papillon
• FRENCH 705 / Introduction to Literary and Critical Theory, Dr. John Stout
• FRENCH 711 / Voltaire et son siècle, Dr. William Hanley
• FRENCH 730 / Lectures Dirigées
• FRENCH 6MM3 / Sex, violence, and elegance: the eighteenth-century French novel, Dr. William Hanley
• FRENCH 6Y03 / Topics in 20th Century French Literature, Dr. Elzbieta Grodek
• FRENCH 701 / La poésie française contemporaine, Dr. John Stout
• FRENCH 730 / Lecture Dirigées
• FRENCH 733 / La Littérature Autochtone, Dr. Joëlle Papillon

Students who are accepted also have the option of taking, with the professor’s agreement, one directed (tailored) reading course (FRENCH 730) a year on a chosen subject.

McMaster Scholarships

External Scholarships

The Department offers a teaching assistantship to all students admitted to the Graduate Program by the official deadline.

Discover the resources available for Teaching Assistants and offered by the Paul R. MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation and Excellence in Teaching :

• McMaster Teaching Assistant Guide
• McMaster Teaching Assistant Guide for Remote Teaching
• Forward with FLEXibility: A Teaching and Learning Resource on Accessibility
• MacPherson Supported Teaching Tools

The MacPherson Institute is located in the McMaster Mills Library (L504) and is a resourceful and welcoming place to meet teaching and learning specialists at McMaster.

TAs’ Community of Practice

Teaching Assistants’ Community of Practice in the Department of French:

French TAs meet a couple of times each term to share best practices and discuss their teaching experiences. 

Collective Agreement 

CUPE 3906 – T.A.s (Unit 1)

A collective agreement providing terms and conditions of employment as a TA at McMaster.

Research assistantships are occasionally available conditional on faculty research funding.

With a French graduate degree, you could work as a teacher, journalist, translator, interpreter, proofreader, international aid and development worker, diplomatic service officer, education consultant, government administrator, public policy analyst, lawyer. 

You will gain marketable skills such as:

• Analytical and critical thinking
• Conceptual, systemic, interconnected thinking 
• Listening and communication
• Discussion and negotiation
• Writing and literature review skills
• Problem-solving
• Teamwork ability
• Planning and organizing activities
• Intercultural dialogue
• Understanding of diverse worldviews and practices
• Open-mindedness
• Life-long learning skills 

Academic job postings are available on University Affairs and Fabula , among other sources.

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PAST PHD THESES

See some of the research projects completed by our PhD students in recent years.

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Latest news:, besançon summer program featured in college of the liberal arts article.

November 3, 2023

Willa Silverman, The Malvin E. and Lea P. Bank Professor of French and Jewish Studies, 1959-2023.

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October 3, 2023

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(re)-envisioning francophonies: toward creative directions, practices and methods, ph.d. program in french and francophone studies, program description.

The Department of French and Francophone Studies offers a Ph.D. degree with specializations in culture & society and literature as well as dual degrees in French and Francophone Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, in French and Francophone Studies and African Studies and in French and Francophone Studies and Visual Studies. Graduate students accepted into the Department’s Ph.D. program are expected to acquire a broad factual and theoretical background in French Studies, advanced proficiency in oral and writing skills, and a thorough grasp of research and teaching methodologies. Students select one specialization and may add other subspecialties.  Many of our graduate students also pursue Minors, such as the  Social Thought  minor.

Admission Requirements

Students interested in the Ph.D. program in French may apply for admission directly into one of the two specializations (Culture & Society or Literature) or under general status with the specialization to be determined after arrival at Penn State. No admissions preference is given to either category of students; all prospective students are judged according to the admissions criteria outlined in the handbook the student receives when he or she begins graduate studies in French at Penn State.

Requirements for All Specializations

Requirements listed here are in addition to requirements stated in the  DEGREE REQUIREMENTS  section of the  Graduate Bulletin .

Students must earn a minimum of 33 to 36 credits (or equivalent) beyond the Master’s degree in French.

The Ph.D. degree prepares candidates for careers in teaching and research at the college or university level. Between 33 and 36 credits beyond the M.A. in French (or equivalent) is required in course work at the 400, 500, 600, or 800 level.  Candidates who have not taken these courses while completing their M.A. at Penn State must take FR 571 French Literacy Theory and Criticism (3), FR 580 Approaches to French Civilization (3), FR 581 Theory and Techniques of Teaching French (1-6), FR 501A Pro-Seminar in French Studies I (1.5), and FR 501B Pro-Seminar in French Studies II (1.5). Credits must be distributed in one of two areas of specialization: culture & society or literature.

A maximum of 12 credits may be earned in teaching methodology (French 581) and in supervised teaching (French 602). Such credits are supplementary to the 33 to 36 credits required for a doctoral specialization, except in applied linguistics where FR 581 is required for the specialization.

Occasionally, the acceleration of course work is possible where a student has a significant academic background in a designated area. Acceleration should be requested by the student’s advisor in consultation with the student’s graduate committee. Acceleration requires the approval of the director of graduate studies and the department head.   Candidates whose prior training does not include courses prerequisite to one of the doctoral specializations are required to complete such courses.

The Chair of the Committee responsible for the specialization, in consultation with other members of the Graduate Faculty and the Department Head, evaluates the graduate training and teaching experience completed at other institutions. A record of any credit to be transferred or of course equivalencies is placed in the candidate’s file, with a copy to the candidate. Waiver of any coursework can only be granted with the approval of the advisor, the instructor of the course being waived, and the Department Head.

All students are required to take the Pro-Seminars in French Studies, FR 501A and FR 501B, within the first two years of entering the program whether at the M.A. or the Ph.D. level.  (The Pro-Seminar is offered every other year.)  Doctoral students who are preparing for the job market are required to take the Pro-Seminar a second time.

Ph.D. Committee and Examinations

All doctoral students must pass a  Candidacy  examination and a  Comprehensive  examination.

Examinations will be written and defended in French.  Exceptions are occasionally made for dual-title Ph.D.s, if serious efforts to find outside members who can read and comprehend French fail, and the DGS, Head and advisor are convinced the student does not need to prove their ability to write or speak French.  If outside members know only some French, the exam will be written in French but the oral exam will be bilingual.  Every effort should be made to locate outside and special members with some knowledge of French.

The Ph.D. Thesis

The thesis (also called “Ph.D. or Doctoral Dissertation”) is a formal demonstration of a student’s ability to conduct high-quality research that poses significant questions and proposes new approaches, implications, and insights. It should represent the culmination of work as a student and, at the same time, demonstrate a student’s expertise to colleagues and peers.

Chapters of the thesis should be submitted to the advisor as they are written. Committee members may prefer to read the thesis chapter by chapter or they may wish to review only the full draft version. This should be decided in consultation between the student and the committee members, preferably at a meeting with the full committee. Both the thesis advisor and the student are responsible for ensuring the completion of a draft of the thesis and for adequate consultation with all committee members well in advance of the oral examination.

Each member of the committee will make any suggestions he or she may have within two weeks of receiving the completed draft. If, at the end of these two weeks, no committee members request major revisions to the thesis (editing suggestions do not qualify), the final oral examination date may be set. The request for examination must be submitted to the dean of the Graduate School for approval  at least three weeks prior to the date of the exam.

The Thesis Guide

Students should consult the Graduate School  Thesis Guide  for the thesis format. This guide, available online, through the Thesis Office or in Pattee Library, contains complete and updated information regarding the thesis format, preparation, appendices, etc. The Graduate School also provides special thesis formatting templates for use on word-processing systems:  https://bulletins.psu.edu/graduate/programs/majors/french-francophone-studies/ .

Normally, the thesis defense may not be scheduled until at least three months have elapsed after the completion of the Comprehensive Examination, although the dean of the Graduate School may grant a waiver in some cases.

The final oral exam must take place ten weeks before the end of the Semester. Please check the calendar of deadlines posted every semester by the Graduate School.

Please note that this is a basic outline of the major steps leading to the award of a Ph.D. in French and Francophone Studies.  For more details and information, please see the  Graduate Handbook .

Department of French & Italian

Graduate program in french.

The aim of the Ph.D. program in French is to train scholars and university teachers of French language, literature, and culture in a thriving and diverse intellectual environment.

The academic structure of the program enables students to acquire a broad understanding of the whole field of French and Francophone studies as well as a secure grasp of their own field of concentration and prepares them to develop independently as scholars and teachers. Doctoral students will gain a solid knowledge of the foundations and evolutions of French and Francophone literature through diverse theoretical approaches and interdisciplinary areas.

Students accepted into the Ph.D. program enjoy financial support for five years, although readmission each year depends on satisfactory performance. They also hold part-time Assistantships in Instruction. Generous financial support is available for a wide array of professional training, including scholarly research, language learning, and conference presentations.

Applicants to the program should consult our own FAQs in addition to the appropriate sections of the Graduate School website .

Director of Graduate Studies: Professor André Benhaïm 331 East Pyne Building 609-258-7332 [email protected]

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Graduate Program in French

The French Ph.D Program at Emory provides an interdisciplinary and theoretically sophisticated approach to understanding how French and Francophone texts continue to make highly relevant and enduring contributions to many of the questions that are central to intellectual life and the culture of the future.

Our doctoral program in French is an interdisciplinary curriculum that trains teachers and scholars to

• engage  in conversations across disciplinary boundaries ;
• understand  the nature of French and Francophone literatures and the theory that informs and shapes our understanding of these literatures;
• become acquainted with  critical traditions that have in recent decades oriented literary critical studies;
• gain proficiency in  the theory and practice of language pedagogy

Intellectual Community

Graduate students at Emory take part in a thriving intellectual community focused around literature, critical theory and cultural studies with dynamic  lecture and film series as well as seminars across campus. These include those organized by the Disability Studies Initiative, the Institute of African Studies, the Psychoanalytic Studies Program, the Anthropocene Reading Group, the Global and Postcolonial Studies Program, along with several other faculty and student led conferences and programming.

The department also regularly brings distinguished scholars and authors to campus for seminars and lectures. One of these speakers each year is selected by the graduate students. Recent visitors include:

Ken Bugul, Patrick Chamoiseau, Michel Chion, Monique David-Ménard, Claire Denis, Fabienne Kanor, Alain Mabanckou, Raoul Peck, Pascal Quignard, Jean- Michel Rabaté, Jacques Rancière, Joël Des Rosiers, Kim Thúy, and Robert J. C. Young.

Professional Activities and Placement

Graduate students are encouraged to participate fully in their future profession by publishing papers and presenting them at professional meetings.  Generous funds are available to students for conference travel, archival research, fieldwork, and training.  Travel support is available for students who present papers at professional meetings.

Additionally, all Ph.D. students participate in the Laney Graduate School’s “Jones Program in Ethics” (JPE), which involves workshops and special sessions addressing issues of professional ethics.

We have had an excellent placement record, with graduates obtaining tenure track positions at such institutions as American University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Auburn University, the University of Arizona, UCLA, Grinnell College, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Minnesota, UNC-Chapel Hill, Princeton University, the University of Tulsa, Georgia Tech, the University of the South, Vanderbilt University, and Winthrop University.

Training in Teaching

Our graduate program provides a rich language-teaching experience in both training and praxis. Graduate students serve as instructors of record and work collaboratively with colleagues and supervisors to create and administer their own courses. In addition to the Teaching Assistant Training and Teaching Opportunity (TATTO) program offered by Laney Graduate School, students take FREN 505 “Problems in Foreign Language Teaching” in their second year, which offers a state-of-the-art snapshot of the field of language teaching methodologies.

Our graduate students are guaranteed to teach in several different levels of French, with the possibility of teaching a 300- or 400-level course themed to align with their research specializations in their final year. In this way, our graduate students build a robust teaching portfolio with the ability to put pedagogical theories into practice in a variety of courses.

Contact Information

For further information about the Ph.D. program in French, please contact us.

French and Italian Program 537 Kilgo Circle 405 N Callaway Center Emory University Atlanta, GA 30322   Phone: 404-727-6431 Fax: 404-727-4579

Director of Graduate Studies

Vincent bruyere, associate professor and director of graduate studies.

Senior Academic Degree Program Coordinator

Leslie church hartness, graduate program administrator; senior academic degree program coordinator, laney graduate school.

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

Graduate french program.

• French Courses
• French Language Placement
• Requirements
• French National Honor Society
• French Study Abroad
• PhD Requirements
• French Faculty and Staff
• French Graduate Students
• Centre Louis Marin for Interdisciplinary French Studies
• French Modern Language Notes
• French Events

The Johns Hopkins PhD program in French has a long and distinguished history, having played a leading role in embracing and disseminating critical approaches and methodological innovations. The program focuses on research, argumentation, and writing, and is therefore especially attractive to independent-minded students.

How to Apply

Find application dates, materials, and key information on the Admissions page.

The program

The first two years of study are devoted to intensive seminar work and culminate in a portfolio of twelve or more research papers. Rather than on comprehensive exams, admission to the PhD is based on this portfolio and on the preparation and defense of the dissertation prospectus (ABD). This model enables students to fully investigate questions of disciplinary and interdisciplinary within French studies and to develop the tools of criticism appropriate to their project. These range from literary history, poetics, and discourse analysis to cultural and political theory and genetic criticism. Interested students may also subscribe to a Graduate Certificate in Film and Media, in conjunction with the department’s Media Literacy subsection and the Center for Advanced Media Studies.

Following the ABD defense, students are funded to pursue dissertation research abroad through our graduate student exchange with the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, or through doctoral internships with francophone universities. Other research opportunities, such as residences for students of early modern studies at Oxford University and the University of Warwick, are available, and students may receive funding to attend institutes, residential seminars, and other programs for scholarly enrichment, language study, and archival research.

As they supervise doctoral research, faculty mentors familiarize their advisees with the norms of the profession and train them to shape their findings for presentation in an international frame. Every other fall, students independently conceive and organize the French Graduate Conference. Themes of recent conferences include “Effects and Affects of the ‘In-Between’” (2017), “Authority and Authorship” (2015), “Entre amis et ennemis” (2013), “Normes et formes” (2011), and “Littérature et animalité” (2010).

Teaching and mentoring

Graduate students in French engage in undergraduate classroom teaching at all levels, working through a core language sequence under the guidance of French Language Program faculty. This teaching apprenticeship includes training in innovative pedagogical techniques. Advanced students are eligible to propose upper-level courses on a topic of their choosing, through the competitive Dean’s Teaching Fellowship (DTF). Program graduates are thus uniquely equipped to fill a variety of teaching duties in an academic environment where the focus lies firmly on the interdependence of language, literature, and culture.

The success of the Hopkins model, which stresses faculty mentoring at all levels—research, preparedness for the profession, and teaching— is reflected in the high number of fellowships, awards, and post-doctoral or faculty positions won by our graduates. Since 2000, tenure-track and tenured positions in French have been awarded to our graduates at the University of Basel; the University of California, Davis; the University of California, Irvine; the University of Colorado, Boulder; Dickinson College; Duquesne University; Emory University; Harvard University; Indiana University, Bloomington; Princeton University; Reed College; Southern Indiana University; SUNY; and Swarthmore College.

Related Programs

The Graduate Certificate Program in Film and Media is offered by the  Center for Advanced Media Studies .

It educates doctoral candidates of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences in the theory, aesthetics, and history of film, video, and other audio-visual media, including emergent objects of the digital age.

The French Departments doctoral program reflects the interdisciplinary priorities that have long defined the pursuit of knowledge here at Berkeley. We are thus committed not only to providing students strong coverage of the field of French and Francophone literature and culture, but also to doing so through the critical application of innovative methodologies, and by continually bringing French studies into productive dialogue with developments in parallel disciplines. Our facultys interests are both historically and methodologically diverse; their strengths are complemented by a variety of programs, centers, working groups, and so on that regularly bring scholars of the humanities together across campus. And the atmosphere, relaxed and non-hierarchical, lends itself to free and passionate inquiry. We invite you to explore our offerings.

The PhD program in French has been formulated to allow students maximum flexibility to pursue their scholarly interests while guaranteeing the acquisition of broad competence in the discipline of French and Francophone literature and culture. Students are both expected to acquire expertise in the works of all periods and given the freedom to develop interdisciplinary and specialized perspectives.

Students may consider the option of pursuing a designated emphasis (DE). Popular DEs for students in French include Critical Theory; Film Studies; Women, Gender, and Sexuality; Renaissance and Early Modern Studies; European Studies; and New Media. Students pursuing a Designated Emphasis take certain prescribed courses within these disciplines, and write a dissertation that partially encompasses the chosen field of study. In addition to providing students an institutional mechanism for incorporating this sort of work into the PhD program, the designated emphasis assures prospective employers that you have demonstrated expertise in that particular field, and it will appear on your final degree. The Program in Medieval Studies also offers a joint degree in French and Medieval Studies.

Contact Info

[email protected]

4207 Dwinelle Hall

Berkeley, CA 94720

At a Glance

Department(s)

Admit Term(s)

Application Deadline

January 8, 2025

Degree Type(s)

Doctoral / PhD

Degree Awarded

GRE Requirements

• DOCTORAL SCHOOLS DIRECTORY DOCTORAL SCHOOLS
• SUBJECTS (PHD, MASTER'S & POSTDOC TRAINING) SUBJECTS
• CALLS FOR PROJECTS CALLS

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Graduate Programs

French and francophone studies.

The graduate program in French and Francophone Studies is the home of advanced studies in French and Francophone literatures, language and civilization.

Faculty expertise encompasses many fields, from the Middle Ages to the present in several French-speaking societies and countries. Students receive training and guidance in literary and cultural theory, critical methods, research and teaching applications of information technology, modern linguistics, narratology, hermeneutics and sociocultural and psychoanalytic interpretation. Focal areas of research include the historical interactions between French-speaking cultures, questions of gender and race, and relations between writing, cinema and philosophical thought.

Additional Resources

Lectures by invited speakers, films and conferences, extensive library collections, exchange programs with the Universities of Lyon and Burgundy, and computer facilities and study areas in Rochambeau House.

Application Information

Application requirements, gre subject:.

Not required

GRE General:

Writing sample:.

Required (in French). Applications should be completed in English, except for the writing sample.

Dates/Deadlines

Application deadline, completion requirements.

Sixteen courses at the 100 and 200 levels (including two mandatory courses: History of the French Language and Theory and Methods of Foreign Language Teaching), departmental tutorials, relevant courses in other departments. Also required: two foreign languages other than French at the intermediate level or one at an advanced level, two semesters of teaching, preliminary examination during third year, dissertation, and oral defense.

Alumni Careers

Contact and Location

Department of french and francophone studies, mailing address.

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• Program Handbook
• Graduate School Handbook

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