In addition to perfecting language skills, the student will take several courses surveying the major periods and genres of French and Francophone literature, from medieval romances to Enlightenment essays, nineteenth-century novels to contemporary short stories from the international Francophone community. In this regard, the program has particular strengths in the study of Quebec, the Caribbean, and Africa. The student may also take courses exploring the new areas of literary theory and philosophy pioneered by Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault.

However, the study of French need not be solely literary or theoretical; the recent pivotal role played by France and Belgium in the development of the European Union underscores the centuries-old international presence of French in the spheres of business and politics. Accordingly, our program affords students the opportunity to improve their knowledge of commercial French, teaching French as a second language, and research methodologies.

Furthermore, we believe that practical classroom experience is a vital preprofessional qualification that is critical in today's job market, and so each of our graduate students can expect to teach elementary French under the supervision of a professional classroom instructor. Our students can also expect to become proficient at using the research tools available at the University of South Florida Tampa Campus Library which houses over 900,000 bound volumes, 4500 periodical titles, two milli