Ellen Di Giovanni

Undergraduate Discipline

French

BA, Tufts University. Licence ès Lettres, Université Paris 8. MA, Columbia University. Special interest in the use of literary texts as source material for the stage. Creator of How to Write a Letter, an ensemble-based theatre piece based on the 17th-century letters of Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Madame de Sévigné. SLC, 2019-

Undergraduate Courses 2023-2024

French

Beginning French

Open, Large seminar—Year

This class is designed primarily for students who haven’t had any exposure to French and will allow them to develop, over the course of the year, an active command of the fundamentals of spoken and written French. We will use grammar lessons to learn how to speak, read, and write in French. In-class dialogue will center on the study of theatre, cinema, and short texts, including poems, newspaper articles, and short stories from French and francophone cultures. During the spring semester, students will be able to conduct a small-scale project in French on a topic of their choice. There are no individual conference meetings for this level. The class meets three times a week, and a weekly conversation session with a French language tutor is required. Attendance at the weekly French lunch table and French film screenings are both highly encouraged. Students who successfully complete a beginning and an intermediate-level French course are eligible to study in Paris with Sarah Lawrence College during their junior year.

Faculty

Intermediate French I (Section 2): Scène(s) de littérature

Intermediate, Seminar—Year

Prerequisite: admission by placement test (to be taken during interview week at the beginning of the fall semester) or completion of Beginning French.

This course will offer a systematic review of French grammar and is designed to strengthen and deepen students’ mastery of grammatical structures and vocabulary. Students will also learn to begin to use linguistic concepts as tools for developing their analytic writing. Over the course of the year, we will study a series of scenes from French and francophone literature from its origins to today. From the 11th-century Chanson de Roland and 12th-century “lais” and fables of Marie de France to 20th-century works by Aimé Césaire, Aminata Sow-Fall and Annie Ernaux, we will look at scenes specific to literature. What is it about literary scenes that differs from those created in other media? And what happens when we encounter them as part of a class rather than on our own? Where possible, our discussion will include points of comparison with scenes in visual media such as theatre and photography. Readings will include excerpts from Marie de Rabutin-Chantal (Madame de Sévigné), Madame de La Fayette, Gustave Flaubert, or Léon-Gontran Damas. At regular intervals, we will also study the headlines of Libération, a major Parisian daily. In this part of the course, we will consider the way climate change, food, or secularism are discussed, as well as aesthetic and ethical choices in presenting the news. In addition to conferences, a weekly conversation session with a French language assistant(e) is required. Attendance at the weekly French lunch table and French film screenings are both highly encouraged. The Intermediate I and II courses in French are specially designed to help prepare students for studying in Paris with Sarah Lawrence College during their junior year.

Faculty

Previous Courses

French

Beginning French

Open, Seminar—Year

This class is designed primarily for students who haven’t had any exposure to French and will allow them to develop an active command of the fundamentals of spoken and written French over the course of the year. In class and in group conferences, emphasis will be placed on activities relating to students’ daily lives and to French and francophone culture. The course will rely heavily on the the study of French songs, cinema, newspaper articles, poems, and short stories. During the spring semester, students will be able to conduct a small-scale project in French on a topic of their choice. There are no individual conference meetings for this level. The class meets three times a week, and a weekly conversation session with a French language assistant is required. Attendance at the weekly French lunch table and French film screenings are both highly encouraged. Students who successfully complete a beginning and an intermediate-level French course are eligible to study in Paris with Sarah Lawrence College during their junior year.

Faculty

Intermediate French I (Section II): Scène(s) de littérature

Open, Seminar—Year

This course will offer a systematic review of French grammar and is designed to strengthen and deepen students’ mastery of grammatical structures and vocabulary. Students will also learn to begin to use linguistic concepts as tools for developing their analytic writing. Over the course of the year, we will study a series of scenes from French and Francophone literature from its origins to today. From the 11th-century Chanson de Roland and lais of Marie de France to 20th-century works by writers Aminata Sow-Fall and Fatou Diome, we will look at scenes specific to literature. What is it about literary scenes that differs from those created in other media? And what happens when we encounter them as part of a class rather than on our own? Our discussion will include points of comparison with scenes in visual media such as theatre and photography. Readings will include works by Marie de Rabutin-Chantal (Madame de Sévigné), Madame de La Fayette, Aloysius Bertrand, Flaubert, Léon-Gontran Damas. We will also look at the daily press at regular intervals. Becoming familiar with today’s issues will allow us to consider our own culture(s) in light of what we read. In this part of the course, we will look at some of the questions being debated in France today, such as climate change, immigration, transportation, food politics, laïcité, etc. In addition to conferences, a weekly conversation session with a French language assistant(e) is required. Attendance at the weekly French lunch table and French film screenings are both highly encouraged.

Faculty

Intermediate French I: Scène(s) de littérature

Intermediate, Seminar—Year

Prerequisite: placement test to be taken during interview week at the beginning of the fall semester or completion of Beginning French

This intermediate course will offer a systematic review of the most fundamental aspects of French grammar. The aim of this course is to give students greater fluency in French and to prepare them for possible study abroad with the SLC in Paris program. The class will emphasize developing oral proficiency by working on specific grammatical structures and conjugations, as well as idiomatic expressions. We will also focus on writing skills through in-class short essays and exercises with the primary goal of strengthening students’ grammatical agility and technical vocabulary. Students will also be introduced to modern French and francophone culture by studying short texts (articles, short stories, poems, excerpts from novels), visual media, music, and film. Recent courses for this level have focused on French and francophone identities in the 20th and 21st centuries, French film and theatre, and education and childhood in the modern age. In addition to conferences, a weekly conversation session with a French language assistant(e) is required. Attendance at the weekly French lunch table and French film screenings are both highly encouraged. The Intermediate I and II French courses are specially designed to help prepare students for studying in Paris with Sarah Lawrence College the following year.

Faculty

Intermediate French II: Between the Work and the World: The Literary Preface

Intermediate, Seminar—Year

Prerequisite: placement test to be taken during interview week at the beginning of the fall semester or completion of Intermediate French I

This French course is designed for students who already have a strong understanding of the major aspects of French grammar and language but wish to develop their vocabulary and their grasp of more complex aspects of the language. We will review the fundamentals of French grammar while also stressing nuances and special cases in order for students to speak and write in a more authentic French. This course is designed to prepare students to do advanced work with the SLC study-abroad program in Paris; students will be introduced to different forms of French academic writing. Students are expected to be able to easily read more complex texts and to express themselves more abstractly. A major component of the course will be the study and discussion of literary texts in French. We will read both short texts and longer works in their entirety in order to develop skills of reading comprehension and analysis. Recent courses for this level have focused on the literature of the everyday in French, on existentialism, and on French and francophone autobiographies. In addition to conferences, a weekly conversation session with a French language assistant(e) is required. Attendance at the weekly French lunch table and French film screenings are both highly encouraged. The Intermediate French I and II courses are specially designed to help prepare students for studying in Paris with Sarah Lawrence College the following year.

Faculty