The Wake Forest University Department of French Studies is committed to innovative, engaged teaching and to excellence in research. Our faculty represent scholarly areas of specialization in French and Francophone literature and cultural studies, in film, and in linguistics. Our department has a major and a minor, a concentration in French for Business, and well-established faculty-led study abroad programs in Tours and Dijon.
The French Studies faculty are dedicated teachers and mentors who are invested in the success of our students. In our department, all faculty – from the most senior professors to the junior faculty who joined our department most recently – teach courses at all levels, from elementary French to our major/minor core courses and seminars. The success of beginning French students is as crucial to our departmental identity as that of students in our capstone seminars. Student engagement and mentoring are at the heart of our vision for the department.
We firmly believe that the study of global languages and cultures is a hallmark of a quality liberal arts education. Knowing another language is key to understanding social, historical, and political events in their contexts. In particular, our program aims to provide students with the opportunity to develop the linguistic and intercultural skills that enable exploration of the French and Francophone world, to engage in critical thinking, and to hone their analytical skills.
The department has a wonderful sense of community. I made friends with my fellow students and found important mentors in French Studies professors.
Julia Mroz, French Studies minor (’20)
Statement of Inclusive Excellence
The Department of French Studies is committed to an inclusive environment in our department for all faculty, staff, and students, and to the representation of diverse perspectives in our curriculum and scholarship. Diversity is inherent to the field of French Studies. The French-speaking world is vast, multiethnic, and culturally and economically varied. The WFU French Studies faculty is a diverse group, and our research specializations and teaching interests represent the diversity of the Francophone world, geographically and temporally. We aim to engage students at all levels of French study and from all backgrounds with those rich and varied perspectives. More broadly, we share a common understanding of and a strong commitment to the importance of diversity and inclusion to our teaching and research.
I gained an understanding of the way that learning another language is learning another culture. This minor has meant the opportunity to step outside of my national context into a truly global one. It has provided me with the opportunity to transform not only my perspective on the francophone world, but on the entire world.
Alexander Holt, French Studies minor (’20)
Join us for our final public film screening of the semester: 35 Rhums, Tuesday, April 9 at 7:00 PM in ZSR Auditorium.
Students: sign up on The Link (link in bio)
Director: Claire Denis, France/ Germany, 2008 (100 min)
"From renowned director of High Life, Claire Denis’ sublime 35 Shots of Rum is the moving story of a father and daughter whose close-knit, tender relationship is disrupted by a handsome young suitor.
Sumptuously filmed and featuring an evocative score by Tindersticks, 35 Shots of Rum casts a unique spell.
Official Selection at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival."- Kanopy
For more information contact Dr. Mann at manncd@wfu.edu. #wfu #wfufrenchstudies
On Thursday 11 April at 5 pm in Annenberg Forum (Carswell Hall), we are thrilled to present Dr. Elisabeth Hodges of the Department of French, Italian, and Classical Studies at Miami University (Ohio), who will give a public lecture on Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop’s award-winning film Atlantique (2019): “Atlantics’ Corporeal Drifts.”
The ocean is a constant presence in Mati Diop’s Atlantique (2019), a ghostly love story about the ongoing migration crisis set in Dakar, Senegal. In her film, Diop explores the expansive continuity of the sea. Dr. Hodges will discuss how oceanic aesthetics emphasize the critical importance of drift. Drift disrupts narrative and temporal flows in the film, resulting in Diop’s reimagining of the cinema as a space for both poetic and political change.
This guest lecture is free and open to the public. It is hosted by the Department of French Studies, with additional support from the Department of Communication and the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. This event is sponsored by the Wake Forest University Humanities Institute with support made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Students can RSVP through The Link.
Dr. Hodges will show clips from Atlantique during her talk. The film is available on Netflix, but those who haven’t seen it yet are encouraged to attend and to discover this wonderful, fascinating film!
And last but not least, here are four more of our recently declared French Studies minors: Roman, Yilin, Mimi, and Mary – Bienvenue au département ! 💙🤍❤️#WFU26 #WFU27
We’re looking forward to our #WFUFrenchStudies celebration this afternoon at 3:30 pm. 🎉 All current majors and minors are invited – A tout à l’heure !
Meet new #WFUFrenchStudies minors Alemi, Allie, Anna, and Lexi – We’re thrilled to welcome you to the department! #WFU26
A reminder that we’ll gather to celebrate all of our current majors and minors tomorrow, Tuesday 26 March – A demain ! 🎉🇫🇷
Join us for a public film screening of Àma Gloria on Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27 at 7:00pm in ZSR Auditorium. Students: sign up on The Link and our link in bio
Synopsis: "Àma Gloria, directed by Marie Amachoukeli, France, 2023 (84min): Six-year-old Cléo loves her nanny Gloria more than anything. When Gloria must return to Cape Verde to care for her own children, the two must make the most of their last summer together" (Unifrance). This film is part of Young French Cinema, a program of Unifrance and Villa Albertine.
For more information contact Dr. Mann at manncd@wfu.edu. #wfu
It’s time to introduce a few of our new #WFUFrenchStudies minors! Here are Haley, Annie, and Anna – Bienvenue au département ! #WFU26 💙🤍❤️
A warm welcome to three more of our new sophomore #WFUFrenchStudies majors: Stephen, Graesyn, and Kaelyn. We’re so happy that you chose #WFUFrenchStudies ! #WFU26 #WFUTours
We’re looking forward to our celebration for all current French Studies majors and minors on Tuesday – Check your inbox for the invitation! 🎉🇫🇷
Meet four more of our new sophomore #WFUFrenchStudies majors: Corinne, Pierre, Abby, and Luke! 🎉🥳Bienvenue au département ! #WFU26 @wfustudyabroad #WFUTours #WFUDijon
📣 We are thrilled to welcome our newly declared #WFUFrenchStudies majors & minors! We’ll be highlighting them over the next few days and sharing some of their answers to the question “Why did you choose French Studies at WFU?”
Today, meet three of our new sophomore majors: Charlie, Mary Holland, and Charlotte Grace! #WFU26
ALL current French Studies majors and minors are invited to a celebration next Tuesday afternoon – Check your inbox for the invitation! 🎉🇫🇷