Options & Sequences

The program offers two basic options: the Simple Option, leading to an ordinary BA in French and an MA in French, and the Honors Option, leading to an Honors BA in French and an MA in French. The Simple Option will be recommended to students who do not plan (but may subsequently decide) to pursue graduate studies at the doctoral level. The Honors Option will be recommended to students who do plan to pursue graduate studies at the doctoral level. In either case, the department’s decision to recommend that a student go on to doctoral research will depend on performance at the graduate level in both coursework and the MA Comprehensive Examination.

The sequence of courses and year-by-year course loads for each of the two options is as follows:

Simple Option

First Year

FREN 3010 and 3050 plus two semesters of a second language (if necessary)
19 or 17 credits*

Second Year

FREN 3100, 3110, 3120 plus two semesters of a second language (if necessary)
15 or 17 credits*

Third Year

One course at FREN 3000 level plus two courses at FREN 4100 level (or three courses at FREN 4100 level or above) plus two courses in a “related field” at the 4000-level or above
15 credits

Forth Year

FREN 4990 (Senior Seminar and Essay), three courses at FREN 5000 level
12 credits

Fifth Year

Five courses at FREN 5000 level (three in fall, two in spring) plus MA Comprehensive Examination
15 credits

Total credit hours (including 6 in “related field” and 16 in a second language) = 76 credits

* Note: The exact number of first- and second-year hours depends on the organization of first- and second-year language courses in different departments. Thus, in French, first-year courses carry 5 credit hours each while second-year courses carry only 3. By contrast, in German, both first- and second-year courses carry 4 credit hours each.

General Distribution of Credit Hours 

Year Hours/Major Other Hours Total
1st 9 21 30
2nd 9 21 30
3rd 15* 15 30
4th 12 18 30
5th 15 6 21
  60* 81 141

*Note: includes 6 hours in a “related field” other than French

First Year

FREN 3010 and 3050 plus two semesters of a second language (if necessary)
19 or 17 credits*

Second Year

FREN 3100, 3110, 3120, 3200 plus two semesters of a second language (if necessary)
22 or 20 credits*

Third Year

One course at FREN 3000 level plus two courses at FREN 4100 level (or three courses at FREN 4100 level or above) plus two courses in a “related field” at the 4000-level or above
15 credits

Forth Year

FREN 4840 (Independent Study if only two 4100 level courses were taken), 4980 (Senior Honors Thesis), three courses at FREN 5000 level
15 credits

Fifth Year

Five courses at FREN 5000 level (three in fall, two in spring) plus MA Comprehensive Examination
15 credits

Total credit hours (including 6 in “related field” and 16 in a second language) = 82

General Distribution of Credit Hours 

Year Hours/Major Other Hours Total
1st 9 21 30
2nd 12 18 30
3rd 15* 15 30
4th 15 15 30
5th 15 6 21
  66* 75 141

*Note: includes 6 hours in a “related field” other than French.