This course draws upon knowledge acquired in Linguistics Seminars I, II, and III. It will focus on the study of partial questions (featuring an interrogative expression such as "who," "what," "where," "when," etc.) and their answers. French is characterized by having a wide array of structures to convey what appears to be the same request for information (e.g., "Qu'est-ce que tu lis ?", "Que lis-tu ?", "Tu lis quoi ?", "C'est quoi que tu lis ?"). Following a review of the primary empirical studies, we will investigate the diverse hypotheses that have been proposed to account for this phenomenon. Do these structures correspond to distinct grammars of French (e.g., standard vs. dialectal)? Are they genuinely equivalent on the semantic and discursive levels? Is French truly distinct from other languages (such as German or English) that do not display the same wealth of structures? We will explore how constraints on the proper syntactic and prosodic formation of answers to questions can help in understanding the coexistence of a multitude of interrogative constructions in French. This will allow us to introduce concepts in Optimality Theory and Prosodic Phonology.

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

Although French is typically a language in which the subject comes before the verb, we also find constructions where the subject is in a postverbal position (through simple inversion with the verb, but also through more complex structures, such as existential and cleft constructions). In this seminar, we will investigate the syntactic structure of these sentences in different varieties of French. We will also explore the factors, particularly prosodic and discursive, that prompt the appearance of a subject in a position other than its canonical position. The features of French will be contrasted with those of other languages related to French (Romance and Germanic languages) as well as more distant languages (Bantu languages). Some concepts of Optimality Theory and Prosodic Phonology will also be introduced.

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

This course aims to introduce the basics of the medieval French language through examination of a selection of original text extracts. We will study the morphology and syntax of Old French, with a glimpse into the appearance of Old French in manuscripts. The selected texts will allow students to acquaint themselves with various dialects and offer a panorama of the main literary genres of the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries; however, the emphasis will be on reading, and interpretative aspects will not be explored in depth.

This course is also available at the undergraduate level. The common components of the course will focus more on the synchronic dimension than on the diachronic; graduate students will additionally learn some fundamentals of historical phonetics and other aspects of French development since Latin.

The course will be taught in French. Students from departments outside the Department of French who are interested in taking this course but believe they have not achieved the required level in modern French should contact the instructor. Efforts will be made to accommodate these students with the aid of online resources.

Research objectives — The principles of scholarship and research. The dissemination of original research and scientific popularization. Expanding the frontiers of knowledge. Positioning oneself within an academic conversation. Defining a research problem of demonstrable value on which one seeks to solve or shed new light.

The thesis — Types of theses and choice of subject. From subject to research problem, from research problem to questions, from questions to answers through the description and analysis of the corpus. The sequence of steps: from courses and exams, preparing the research field; from the Field Examination to the thesis; from the thesis to publication, a book or articles derived from the thesis, subsequent projects.

The tools of research — The plan, as the main working tool. The table of contents as a working hypothesis and continuous reference point. The bibliography as an instrument to be used for research, as an instrument provided with the dissemination of results. Writing adapted to media through which research is disseminated: thesis, article, conference presentation.

Professional skills — Time management: establishing a list of priorities, planning activities, breaking the cycle of procrastination. Teaching: course preparation, classroom delivery, grading, tips of the trade. Developing an academic persona: remaining professional in all circumstances, the CV. Establishing a network of colleagues and experts.

This required half-course focuses on the presentation and application of concepts and tools for literary analysis. It features a methodological component and its applications. The course is guided by a single question, addressed through various methodological approaches (for example: the subject; interpretation; language; literature and politics; literature and society; literature and philosophy; literature and gender...).

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

This required half-course covers a broad chronological period, explored in its coherence, distinctiveness, and in light of its developments (for example: medieval literature; literature of the early modern period; literature in the Age of Enlightenment; literature in the 19th century; literature in the 20th century; Francophone literatures...). It features a methodological component and practical applications.

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

This required half-course focuses on a literary genre (theater, poetry, novel, essay) from both a formal/synchronic and historical/diachronic point of view. This course explores texts from diverse periods, enabling students to gain a critical understanding of the invariants and variations that constitute the life of literary genres. It features a methodological component and its applications.

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

Introduction to Middle French literature and the cultural changes of the late Middle Ages in France through the in-depth study of Christine de Pisan. Often presented as the inventor of feminism and as a fighter for the economic autonomy and intellectual authority of women, she was a prolific writer in various genres and also directed a workshop producing manuscripts. The seminar will be divided into several units, each of which will combine the study of single texts of each genre with more general aspects of her work. Three units will be dedicated to: 1) her lyrical poems (familiarizing students with the language and existing tools), 2) the Cité des Dames (role of women, use of sources, ideology, etc.), and, 3) religious poetry (women and devotion, manuscript production, etc.). A fourth section will concentrate on two further texts (an allegorical-autobiographical text and a political or historical treatise), to be chosen by the students.

In this seminar, we intend to investigate Baudelaire's poetic and critical writings and gauge their significant impact on the literature of the second half of the 19th century. We will examine how these writings shape a common vision of poetry in Mallarmé, Verlaine, Rimbaud, and among other representatives of poetic modernity, despite their various differences.

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

Far from a recent development, the relationship between ethics and literature has been reimagined in both contemporary literary works and theory. In a world where ethics are persistently highlighted in various discourses (political, scientific, cultural, economic), it becomes increasingly compelling, if not essential, to examine the way in which literature interacts with and reshapes these discourses or new ethical challenges. In this seminar, we will concentrate less on ethical theory (or moral philosophy) and more on the complex and conflicting relationships between ethics and literary aesthetics. In relation to ethics, we will explore a diverse range of issues, be they philosophical, cultural, political, or otherwise (e.g., posthumanity, torture, "self-care"), and endeavor to link them to literary concepts and practices at play in the texts under study: fiction, essay, narration, intertextuality, irony, etc. While making connections to other periods or cultures, the seminar will primarily focus on contemporary French and Quebecois works (novels, essays, plays) that not only depict new ethical conflicts but also provoke reflection on the ethics of writing or the responsibility associated with the act of writing.

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a resurgence in publications, both in English and in French, criticizing established religions while exploring the issue of atheism, agnosticism, skepticism, unbelief and free thought. If atheism has been a current of thought since antiquity, and if this concept expanded substantially in the 19th century with the many proclamations of "the death of God," contemporary Western society has seen important developments in anti-religious or atheist reasoning, partly motivated by the imposing return of religious discourse in the public sphere. This seminar seeks to explore this new corpus of texts written in French by philosophers, essayists, novelists, scientists, and journalists. The two main objectives of our inquiry will be to first study the discourses (literary and philosophical) that contribute to issues related to belief and unbelief, and then to explore the ways in which these discourses function in the world of ideas. The great diversity of atheist thought will lead us to consider atheism as an "art of thinking against." This counter-thought is expressed in different ways: through conviction, openness, struggle, etc. Using a wide variety of narrative texts and essays, we will study the construction of argumentative discourses and the effects of these discourses on the reader. The first part of the seminar will be devoted to developing a historical perspective; the second part will focus on philosophical texts and essays; and the third part will deal with novels and autobiographical writings. We will be particularly attentive to recent fiction renewing the utopian or dystopian novel and reveal new conflicts between religions and civil society, or between religious culture and secularism. Our methodology will include the use of history and of the history of ideas, of philosophy, of ethics and of various literary theories (narratology, sociocriticism). By historicizing atheism and by building bridges with other periods and cultures, we will foster a broad conception of literary studies in order to better analyze this important 21st-century phenomenon.

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

The growth and richness of various forms of intimate writing in France, along with the blossoming of recent feminist theories on personal writing, represent major developments in the realm of feminist literary studies. This course seeks to explore and analyze the diverse forms and poetics of writing one's self in France, such as those practiced by many contemporary women writers. To accomplish this, we will draw upon feminist theories addressing personal writings and female subjectivity. In the analysis of the texts under study, special attention will be given to textual strategies that emphasize the connections between intimate writing and the agency of the female subject, i.e., her capacity to act on and within her social, political, and cultural context through writing. While the literary texts in the program are from the end of the 20th century, the theories examined will offer valuable contributions to the study of any intimate text, regardless of its publication date.

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

The issue of gender is one of the major challenges, if not the most significant, in various recent feminist theories and practices. While gender is typically described as a set of constituent elements of social relationships based on perceived differences between the sexes, and also as a means of signifying power relations, there is no agreement on its meaning and function. As a category of thought intrinsic to subjectivity and identity, gender raises several key questions: sexual difference, the connections between the biological and the cultural, the contribution of socialization to identity construction, the critique of social roles (often stereotyped) assigned to individuals, the definition and composition of the category of women, etc.

First, we will analyze and compare the multiple conceptions of gender among certain French (Delphy, Guillaumin, Mathieu, Wittig) and Anglo-American (Butler, de Lauretis, Scott, Showalter) feminist theorists. Then, we will examine contemporary works by women writers to uncover the textual and epistemological strategies that underpin different literary representations of gender and the impact of these strategies on the diverse methods of constructing the female subject. It is important to note that the theoretical and analytical components of this course will be beneficial to those working on issues of identity and the subject, regardless of the period of their specialization.

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

Throughout a century marred by wars, the crumbling of the communist ideal, the dissolution of community bonds, and the unstoppable rise of consumer society, the French novel features a passion for (or against) political, humanist, or even doctrinal commitment. The social critique that such a novel undertakes implies an individual ethic (testimony, resistance, commitment, mobilization), but calls primarily for the literary expression of ideas. Without necessarily framing the question in terms of the social critique that is expressed elsewhere than in the novel, but also without ignoring ideological affiliations or the discourse of the "prophets" (Malraux, Sartre, Camus, for example), we will explore the relationships between the novel and its ideas. What is the status of the literary in this context? How can we evaluate the "message"? Which methods, among didactic exhortation, catalog of horrors, staging, parable, or realism, allow for the reconciliation of the critical position and romanesque creation? How does one reflect the other, but also by what means to they reflect upon each other, or provoke our own reflection? We will revisit, when appropriate, critical and polemical discourses surrounding the "roman à these" and committed (or "disengaged") literature.

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

The question of literary knowledge (Dumoulié, Engel) emerges in the contemporary period, referred to as the "information age," in different terms from the moral and humanist educational capacity with which literature has long been endowed (Badiou, Bouveresse).

In a contemporary context scaffolding the collapse of modern knowledge (Lyotard), many variants of the contemporary novel are championed by the public and critics who question the integration of ways of knowing into the world of fiction. Meta-historical novels (Mertz-Baumgartner) build their narrative on the recall and recording of facts, but with the aim of probing obscure zones and questioning the processes of the fabrication and archiving of History. However, in the thriving genre of contemporary exofiction, "minuscule lives" coexist with biographical supplements and the margins of famous biographees, revealing a desire to revise or uncover counter-examples and the forgotten. Furthermore, literary documentary narratives play on the function of attestation and the challenging of various documents marked by narrative or textual procedures, while, simultaneously, the term "wikinovel" arises (Vilain). Instead of a once productive interaction in the educational possibility between the work of the text and material supplied by the sciences (Marot, Pierssens), the contemporary novel (Blanckeman, Marx) triggers instead a critical unease before the archive (Prstojevic). Thus, we will examine the dramatization of the quest for information that underpins the detective novel (Demanze) and the novel based on current events, other flourishing contemporary examples. Based on a selected corpus aimed at illustrating contemporary genres that insert the document into the novel, while questioning their relationships and raising new questions about literature's ability to convey knowledge, this seminar seeks to explore a wide range of contemporary means of inscribing figures of knowledge.

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

This graduate course will focus on the main issues related to Indigenous cultural productions made in French in Canada. Working from the idea of minority community, a theoretical framework from the Anglo-Canadian Indigenous Studies and Maurizio Gatti's seminal work, this course aims to answer various questions; Who is an Indigenous artist? What are the criteria for Indianness? What is the importance of language, place of residence, physical appearance, social engagement or so-called Indigenous themes? From the 1970s up to the present day, we will address the transformations in Indigenous cultural productions, more specifically the ones about language, themes, genres and aesthetics. Theoretical texts and the body of work will be studied in their context and special attention will be given to the differences among the Aboriginal nations at stake, too often seen as a homogeneous block. The course will take the form of a mini-conference; each student (and the instructor) will have a specific role during every class (presentation of a theoretical text or an artistic work, respondent for a colleague, etc.).

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

In Les Transclasses ou la non-reproduction, published in 2014, the philosopher Chantal Jaquet coined the term "transclass" to refer to those who experience the transition from one social class to another. In this influential work, characters like Julien Sorel (Le Rouge et le Noir), Eugène de Rastignac (La Comédie humaine), author Annie Ernaux, and sociologist Didier Éribon are presented as representatives of this category.

While the figures of the "arriviste" (or "social climber") and the "transfuge" (or "social class defector") seem to merge here, what is their role in literature? What sets them apart? How are they interconnected? How have each of them contributed to the emergence and success of certain literary genres and forms? This seminar seeks to juxtapose the character of the "arriviste," as found in the works of Stendhal, Balzac, and Maupassant, with the figure of the "transfuge," which has risen to prominence since the late 20th century.

While 19th-century novels focused on the themes of ascent and descent, power, and money, the narratives of the following two centuries, often autobiographical, delve increasingly into the experience of cultural displacement or the conflict between two worlds, exploring feelings of shame or an inevitable betrayal. In several of these works, literature takes on the mission of unveiling the mechanisms of social dominance and reproduction. Understanding the difference between these two figures requires an examination of their respective historical, political, and socio-economic contexts. Additionally, we must analyze the ways in which they are represented in literature, including genre, narrative devices, language, scenes, and recurring motifs, as well as their connection to the history of literary forms and their reception.

Finally, the "polyphony" that inhabits these works, often creating tension between different forms of the French language, offers an opportunity to analyze the diverse nature of language and its socio-political implications.

Since the turn of the 21st century, the literary and cultural history of the press has been examining the newspaper through the lens of its connections and interactions with literature. Studies focusing on men and women of the press and letters, media genres, supports, or a potential imagination of the press have demonstrated the existence of a culture in the West that combines the grand narrative of information with a diverse and fragmented set of writing strategies, forms, sensibilities, and discourses inscribed around, within, and through print media.

This seminar encourages students to familiarize themselves with this vibrant research context and to test their methods of literary analysis using the press as object, large-scale media corpora, and the poetics specific to them. What relationships of subordination, complementarity, and circulation does literature maintain with the press? How do literary studies provide a toolkit to help read and understand the history and challenges of 'media communication' (Vaillant)? To attempt to answer these questions, we will focus our thoughts and discussions on three concepts: event, celebrity, and community. We will endeavor to articulate these notions based on important periodicals (daily newspaper, magazine, review, almanac) and discursive practices (column, report, interview, essay, women's page) that have thus favored the emergence of modern media culture in Quebec. We will also pay particular attention to fiction in which the 'media imaginary' (Pinson) seeps in and to the romanesque, poetic, or dramatic staging of the figure of the journalist.

Students from other graduate programs may submit assignments in English with approval of the instructor.

This is a self-directed research course. Please consult with the Department for eligibility and enrolment procedures.

This course is reserved for master's students writing a Research Essay (mémoire). Please consult with the Department for eligibility and enrolment procedures.

This course is reserved for master's students writing a Research Essay (mémoire). Please consult with the Department for eligibility and enrolment procedures.

Open to master's and PhD graduate students who need to fulfill their graduate language requirement.

This course is designed to develop students' reading skills particularly as they pertain to research interests. Some remedial grammar, but the primary emphasis is on comprehension of a wide variety of texts in French. Note: this course is taught in English.

On a case-by-case basis, students with prior language qualifications can access the exam-only option (still with course registration) after prior screening by the home department in support of the exam-only option. A grade of CR/NCR (credit/no credit) (70% is the minimum grade for CR) will be entered on their transcripts.

Students are not permitted to audit this course.

This course introduces students to research design and the logic of particular methods of data collection and analysis in food studies. Through readings of illustrative articles and case studies, students will understand and critique methods in the social sciences and humanities in the study of food production, distribution, and consumption.

This course introduces students to recent scholarship on the place of food in the study of culture, politics, and society. Specific topics will be selected annually, but will bring multidisciplinary focus to topics such as: food and equity; the political economy of food; food and migration; and gender and food.

Students enrolled in the Collaborative Specialization in Genome Biology and Bioinformatics are required to present and discuss their research projects in this seminar series. This graduate seminar course covers topics in genome biology and bioinformatics and emphasizes critical thinking skills and the synthesis of ideas crossing disciplinary boundaries. It consists of student presentations and course discussions among peers, facilitated by faculty.

This team-taught course covers some of the seminal debates in theory relevant to advanced students of German. Students are introduced to key theory texts. They are confronted with processes of problem-formation in theoretical writing; they have the opportunity to weigh different kinds of theory debates against one another; they familiarize themselves with the components and structure of theoretical argument.

This is the core course for the Field of Yiddish Studies, focusing on methods of analysis of major literary, historical, religious, and sociological texts created in Yiddish language from 1500 until 2000. Conducted fully in Yiddish, the course trains the students both in advanced understanding of the Yiddish civilization as well as how Yiddish societies incorporated cultures of neighbouring communities. The texts analyzed will include Tsena Urena (1616) (Woman's Companion to the Bible), stories by Nakhman from Bratslav (1700s), works by Alexander Abramovich, Sholem Rabinowitch, Itskhok Perets, Dovid Bergelson, Yankev Gladshtein, and others.

The course is designed as an intensive Yiddish language training. The goal is to teach German speakers to read, write and speak in Yiddish. The curriculum relies on the German language skills of the students, and focuses on differences between Yiddish and German grammar and vocabulary. Upon the completion of the course, students should be able to read Yiddish literary texts with a minimal use of dictionary. Note: graduate students can take the course in preparation for their Yiddish competency test.