My Class Schedule for the Semester

Conversation and Composition in French
Systematizes and reinforces the language skills presented in earlier level courses through an intensive review of grammar, written exercises; an introduction to composition, lexical enrichment, and spoken skills. (French)

European Painters II: From Post-Impressionism to after WWII
This course studies the rise of modern and contemporary art in Europe in relation to its cultural, historical and social contexts. The works of Matisse, Picasso, Duchamp, Dali, Miro, Magritte, among others are considered. the course includes both class lectures with slides and museum visits. (In French)

Writing Workshop: Reading and Writing Autobiography
Given in the form of a workshop, this course will allow students to improve their written expression through study and practice of a variety of literary registers, mostly drawn from contemporary literature. Beyond the questions of genre that we will address, the workshop, will allow students the opportunity to produce their own texts, improve their understanding of literary creation, and hone their writing skill.s ( In French)

Topics in French Literature: Twice-Told Tales: Contemporary Readings of Classic Texts
In this course we will focus on contemporary novels in which the world of the character, the narrator, or the author is "read" through a literary classic. Between a reverential affiliation to the past and a creative misreading and/or rewriting of it, these intertextual encounters raise the question of identity, both real and literary. The world of the contemporary novels is explicitly measured against the authority and prestige of "great" Western classics, shifting perspectives, and re-shuffling notions of center and periphery. Classics include works by Defoe, Dickens, Balzac and their "re-readings" by Tournier, Sijie, Jones, Barnes. ( In English)

Experimental Theatre Workshop
In this course we work to create an original performance based on texts by French-speaking authors. Students work in collaboration with the professor, trained in the experimental methods of the French director Jacques Lecoq to define their roles and the mise en scene. An original production with music will be performed at the end of the semester in a prestigious Paris venue. The show is based on texts by numerous Haitian writers, in which highlights of Haitian history are related by a group of carnavalesque jesters inspired by voodoo spirits. Both mysterious and sacred, these irreverent jesters poke fun at society, power, and religion in chorus, rythmic speech and song. (In English)

Visual Arts Workshop
This course provides a coherent framework for students to produce and present a sustained body of visual work that will constitute an intergrated part of the end of semester theatre performances. Students may work in a variety of media including but not limited to drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, sound and video, and will be creating in the profession's studio. Course includes museum visits and galleries to explore the wide range of subjects and material available to contemporary artists and culminates with an exhibition/ theatre performances.