Graduate Program

Overview

The Department of French and Francophone Studies offers a Ph.D. program that emphasizes original scholarly research in a selected field, combined with a solid general knowledge of French and Francophone literature and culture. The department's requirements are flexible and are suited to highly motivated students who want to chart their own path of intellectual development, while acquiring a solid grounding in their specialization through work with a broad range of faculty in our department as well as in other related departments or programs such as African Studies, Women's Studies, Diaspora Studies, Comparative Literature, History, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Art History.

The Department admits candidates for the Ph.D. only. Students may be awarded an M.A. degree if they decide to leave the Ph. D. program and if they complete all the requirements for the MA degree (see Review Requirements).

Admission to the program is by application to the Graduate Admissions Office (1247 Murphy Hall, 825-1711). Students should be aware that all general regulations for graduate study at UCLA are set forth in the UCLA general catalog and in the Program Requirements for Grad. Degrees at UCLA, accessible on the web (http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/gasaa/pgmrq/french.asp ) or available from the Departmental Office (212 Royce Hall). The following overview of the program is intended to present its structure and degree requirements. More personalized programs of study may be designed by students with special interests and needs, particularly if the latter involve other departments or programs. It is therefore imperative that students consult early and regularly with the Director of Graduate Studies.

Graduate Courses

See the Year Course Schedule for current offerings and descriptions

Consult the official University Catalogue course listing.

French 200 Contemporary French Theories
French 201 Literary Analysis
French 202 Cultural Studies
French 203 Francophone Studies
French 204 Studies in Autobiography
French 205 Studies in Cinema and Literature
French 206 Studies in Generative Anthropology
French 207 Studies in History of Ideas
French 208 Studies in Literary Criticism
French 209 Studies in Literary Genres
French 214 Problematics of Medieval language and Literature
French 215 Studies in the Middle Ages
French 216 Studies in the Renaissance and the Baroque
French 217 Studies in the 17th Century
French 218 Studies in the 18th Century
French 219 Studies in the 19th Century
French 220 Studies in the 20th Century
French 297 Directed readings

Language pedagogy:

French 375 Teaching Apprentice Practicum
French 495 Teaching French at College Level

Individual studies:

French 596 Directed Individual Studies or Research
French 597 Preparation for Ph.D. Qualifying Examinations
French 599 Research for and Preparation of Ph.D. Dissertation

First and Second Year Requirements

• FR 200, preferably in the first year.

• at least 11 other courses in the department, with at least five before and at least five after 1800 (neither the teaching practicum nor language courses can count towards these; students are advised to take three substantive courses per quarter if they do not teach);

• two satisfactory progress reviews for continuing the PhD program, at the end of the third and sixth quarters;

• timely progress towards fulfilling the language/interdisciplinary requirement.

Third and Fourth Year Requirements (C. Phil.)

• three or more graduate courses in the department;

• any additional courses that may be recommended by the student's guidance committee;

• two or more graduate courses outside of the department;

• the language/interdisciplinary requirement;

• the doctoral qualifying examinations.

Fifth and Sixth Year Requirements (Ph. D.)

The degree of Ph.D. is awarded upon the successful completion and filing of the doctoral dissertation in the fifth or sixth year of study.  Requirements for the Ph.D. degree also include one year or more of teaching experience and completion of the Teaching apprentice practicum, which are normally undertaken during the first four years.

Students should be aware that all general regulations for graduate study at UCLA, as well as those for the Department of French and Francophone Studies specifically, are set forth in the UCLA General Catalog and in the Program Requirements for UCLA Graduate Degrees in the Department of French and Francophone Studies, a separate publication from the Graduate Division available from the Departmental Main Office (212 Royce Hall). The following general overview of the Ph.D. program is intended to introduce and summarize the program's structures and degree requirements. More personalized programs of study may be designed by students with special interests and needs, particularly if the latter involve departments or programs outside of French. It is therefore imperative that students consult early and regularly with the Director of Graduate Studies.

Review Requirements

The Third Quarter Review

Before the end of the third quarter, each student is evaluated by the faculty, both in the department and in other departments, with whom he or she has taken classes. This first review is based on academic performance and other evidence of professional promise, and it is meant to be advisory in nature. After being provided with a departmental evaluation letter, the student discusses with the DGS any suggestions formulated by the faculty.

The Sixth Quarter Review

The second review is conducted in the student's sixth quarter of studies by a departmental review committee, which is appointed each year by the Chair and consists of four departmental faculty members, including the DGS ex officio. The review is based on four components:

1. Three term papers;
2. One expanded term paper;
3. A self-statement;
4. An oral examination.

1. Three term papers written for courses taken during the previous five quarters and their respective evaluations. At least two out of the three papers must be written in French and no more than one paper from a course outside the department may be submitted.
    
2. An expanded version of one of the term papers submitted under category I. The student must select this paper by, at the latest, the end of the fifth quarter, and write an expanded version in consultation with a departmental faculty member of his/her choice, usually (though not necessarily) the person for whose course the paper was written. A two-unit individual preparation course (FR-597) will normally be taken with the faculty member supervising the rewriting. The paper must be written in French, be 20-25 pages in length, include additional research, and be approved for submission by the consulting faculty member.
    
3. A two-page single-spaced self-statement outlining the student's progress and direction of future study. The self-statement will cover the student's evaluation of his/her academic development, addressing such topics as: (re)focusing of perspectives or interests; future goals; how the papers submitted reflect these goals; reflections on teaching and involvement in departmental activities; French language progress; strong and weak points, and how the latter are being addressed.

Students must provide the DGS with the items detailed above in I, II, and III two weeks prior to the oral examination.

4. The oral examination is conducted by the departmental review committee. This one-hour examination tests the student's general literary coverage and is based on a reading list consisting of 5 works per period/area (a total of 35 works from the Middle Ages to Francophonie, effective Fall 2003). Works selected for the second-year review are indicated on the department's comprehensive reading lists and are available on the department's website and in the main office. Prior to the oral examination each student will receive two questions from the review committee based on works selected from the reading list and will have one week to prepare them for presentation before the review committee. Presentation, including discussion, should take no more than 10 minutes for each question. The remaining 25 minutes of the oral examination are devoted to questions on other works from the reading list and discussion of the expanded paper submitted under II.

Following deliberation, the committee meets with each student to assess what has been achieved and will subsequently provide him/her with a departmental review letter. Students who have obtained a satisfactory review will be invited to continue in the Ph.D program in French and Francophone Studies.

Students who decide not to pursue doctoral research and writing immediately are responsible for contacting the graduate adviser to make arrangements for the M.A. degree as early as possible, but no later than the third week of the sixth quarter. Students will receive the M.A. degree if they have passed the sixth quarter review and have satisfactorily completed the 12-course, first foreign language, grade, and residency requirements.

Language / Interdisciplinary Requirement

Interdisciplinarity is integral to a contemporary conception of scholarship and criticism. Doctoral candidates are expected to acquire proficiency in two additional disciplines pertinent to their dissertation research. Fulfillment of the additional proficiency will be discussed beforehand with the DGS.

1. One of these disciplines is a foreign language other than French in which the student achieves a high degree of proficiency, as demonstrated by obtaining a B or better grade in at least two upper division or graduate courses in another language department, reading texts in the original language. These two courses must be taken for a letter grade.

2. The second discipline requirement may be satisfied in either of two ways:

a) by taking three courses in another department in an intellectual discipline pertinent to the dissertation project, of which at least two must be graduate courses and one may be an upper-division undergraduate course. These two courses do not necessarily have to be taken within one department or program.

b) by a second foreign language, in which the candidate demonstrates reading proficiency by taking reading or placement exams where these are available, by passing language courses (level 3), or graduate reading courses offered by some departments (level 2G). Students fulfilling the second discipline requirement by studying a language are still required to take two graduate courses outside the department.

Students must complete the language/interdisciplinary requirements before nominating a doctoral committee and taking the oral qualifying examination.

The Doctoral Guidance Committee

A doctoral guidance committee is to be selected by the student no later than the eighth quarter of his/her studies. Composed of a committee chair, normally in the proposed period of specialization, and at least one more faculty member in the department, this committee is in charge of directing the student up to the doctoral qualifying examinations and of administering these examinations. When established, the doctoral guidance committee will hold a meeting at which the student will propose a general topic for the dissertation. The student will follow the guidance committee's suggestions for possible additional coursework.

Prior to administering the doctoral qualifying examinations, the doctoral guidance committee is joined by at least one more professor from the department, and one professor from another department. It then becomes the doctoral examination committee.

Doctoral Qualifying Examinations

The doctoral qualifying examinations consist of two parts: 1) two written examinations normally taken in the 11th quarter of the fourth year of study; and 2) and an oral examination in the quarter following the written examinations.  Prior to the oral examination, the student must submit a dissertation prospectus.  The oral examination can only be taken after completion of course and language requirements. 

The Written Qualifying Examination

The Oral Qualifying Examination

The oral qualifying examination, taken during the quarter following  the written examinations, takes two hours and includes a review and discussion of the dissertation prospectus.

After successfully passing the doctoral qualifying examinations the student is said to have been "advanced to candidacy" (C. Phil.) for the Ph.D. degree in French and Francophone Studies and begins work on the dissertation.

The student writes the dissertation under the personal supervision of the dissertation director and the guidance of at least two other members of the committee that administered the oral qualifying examination, one of whom must be from outside the department. No defense is required unless specifically requested by the doctoral committee. The Ph.D. is awarded on approval of the dissertation by the (normally three) "certifying" members and its filing with Graduate Division. Students ready to file for the Ph.D. degree should pay close attention to the guidelines, procedures, and deadlines for submission of the dissertation to the proper university office and consult the Graduate Division for detailed information. The dissertation is expected to be written in one to two years and the department strongly encourages careful planning and timely completion of the dissertation. Students who go over the maximum allowed time to degree (21 quarters for the Ph.D.) may be dropped from the program.

Graduate Student Support

The Department of French and Francophone Studies makes every effort to provide its graduate students with financial support during their years in residence. This support may be in the form of fellowships, stipends, tuition waivers, registration fee grants, nonresident tuition fellowships, research assistantships, and/or teaching assistantships. In most cases, degree candidates entering with some form of financial aid receive continuous support for four years, provided that they show a satisfactory academic record and timely progress toward the degree. Students advanced to candidacy may receive additional support for their dissertation writing under the same conditions.

The department actively assists students in seeking out nondepartmental sources of financial aid, by keeping on file up-to-date information concerning outside sources of support for French and Francophone studies as well as a cumulative list of various fellowship opportunities. Each year several eligible students are selected as departmental nominees to compete for specific campus-wide fellowships. The Graduate Division publishes a Graduate Student Support list cataloguing fellowships for Graduate students and recent doctoral graduates. Interested students can access it on the web (http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/asis/stusup/index.html), or may contact the Student Affairs Office concerning eligibility, application procedures, and deadlines. Students should be aware that a number of funding sources within and outside the Department exist and that additional information is readily available on campus. Some highlights:

Research Assistantships

Available from individual faculty members in the department and funded by faculty research grants, as well as from research centers such as the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Center for 17th and 18th Century Studies, the Center for Modern and Contemporary Studies and others (consult the section "UCLA Research Centers").

Teaching Positions

Occasionally available for the UCLA Summer Sessions or for the Continuing Education Program of the UCLA Extension division. Interested students should contact the department Chair.

Grants and Financial Aid Programs

UCLA has a variety of grants and financial aid programs for new and continuing students, such as the Work Study Research Internship Program. Details can be obtained from the Financial Aid Office (A-129 Murphy, 206-0414), the Graduate Student Support Office (1228 Murphy, 825-1025), or the Special Fellowships Office (1252 Murphy, 825-3521), which keeps information on available funding from sources such as alumni organizations, women's organizations, scholarly organizations, state and federal agencies, and private foundations.

The Graduate Students' Association (GSA)

The GSA, along with other forms of support, awards to Ph.D. students who are advanced to candidacy grants equal to one-half of the registration fees. Further details are available at the GSA Office (301 Kerckhoff, 206-8512).

Teaching Assistantships

Most graduate students receive teaching assistantships in UCLA's French Language program. The following section provides some relevant information concerning the pedagogical development of TAs and their teaching activities. For more details, consult The Teaching Assistantship in French at UCLA.

Teaching assistantships provide direct experience in teaching at the undergraduate level. The department is strongly committed to its distinguished tradition of providing its graduate students with professional training in language teaching. TAs are closely supervised in all aspects of their teaching responsibilities.

New TAs participate in a week-long orientation held before the beginning of Fall classes, including an all day campus-wide workshop for foreign language TAs sponsored by the Office of Instructional Development. In addition, they are required to enroll in French 495 (Teaching French at College Level), in which they learn the theory and practice of Communicative language teaching, including the use of technology in the classroom. An integral component of FR-495 is daily attendance in a pilot or demonstration class that helps new TAs plan their next day's lesson. A TA consultant (TAC), an experienced French TA, assists with FR-495 and helps new TAs with exam preparation, grading, videotaping of their courses, the use of technology, and adjustment to the dual role of scholar-teacher. The TAC conducts the initial visitation of each TA's class and provides constructive feedback. TAs should not hesitate to meet with the TAC whenever they have questions related to teaching, grading, discipline, or balancing teaching with their own course demands. In addition, the French Graduate Students' Association has established a mentorship system which links new and experienced TAs and graduate students. New TAs are normally assigned to teach beginning French courses.

Continuing TA development is provided through concurrent enrollment in French 375, which includes a pilot class available for all TAs teaching a new course, class visitations by faculty, course-specific meetings, and lectures related to the discipline of second language acquisition and teaching methodology sponsored by UCLA Foreign Language Committee. TAs' linguistic and pedagogical progress is evaluated each quarter and they are encouraged to teach at progressively higher levels of the lower division French program.

The normal teaching load per quarter consists of one section of a multiple-section course, which entails five class preparations and meetings per week. Syllabi, tests, videotaping, and staff meetings are organized by the lead course instructor, a French lecturer. A number of Teaching Assistantships are also available each year for undergraduate literature, film, or civilization classes, and advanced TAs who are selected to teach them are given the opportunity to work closely with the faculty member in charge of the class, from whom they receive training and supervision. Students advanced to candidacy can propose to teach a course based on their doctoral research through the Collegium of University Teaching Fellows.

Study Abroad

Qualified graduate students in the Department of French and Francophone Studies have the opportunity to participate in several programs available on campus which allow a research or study visit in France or other Francophone countries.

The Education Abroad Program (EAP)

The University of California System's Education Abroad Program is open to graduate students enrolled in the Department of French and Francophone Studies. With the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies and the Dean of the Graduate Division, students who have completed at least one year of course work may apply at the EAP Office to enroll in the program at one of the study centers: Paris, Grenoble, Lyon, Poitiers, Toulouse, or Bordeaux. There is also a program available at the École Normale Supérieure (Ulm), reserved for graduate students. Students can spend an academic year in France working on a research project or taking courses while registered at UCLA and earning credits toward the degree. Interested students should contact the Director of Graduate Studies or the EAP Office (28 Haines, 825-4889). The deadline for application each year is in mid-January.

Graduate Student Activities

Graduate Students Association (GSA)

The Graduate Students Association in the Department of French and Francophone Studies is a self-constituted and self-managed organization of the graduate students under the auspices of the UCLA Graduate Students Association. It is responsible for identifying issues of interest to graduate students and for facilitating communication between graduate students and faculty in the Department. Elected representatives regularly take part in departmental meetings and serve on most departmental committees. The GSA also organizes the students' own lectures and symposia. The Department is strongly supportive of student initiative and active participation in departmental affairs, such as faculty appointments, program revisions, and public lectures and colloquia.

Graduate Student Journal

Founded in 1983 by graduate students in the Department of French and Francophone Studies, Paroles Gelées is a journal entirely managed and edited by the graduate students in the department. The members of the Editorial Board are elected each year. The journal appears in the Fall and publishes essays by graduate students in the areas of French and Francophone literature and critical theory. It also includes book reviews, interviews with visiting scholars, and abstracts of doctoral dissertations and faculty publications. The journal welcomes submissions from students in other French and related departments nationally and internationally. All French graduate departments in the U.S. receive the journal.

Graduate students in the Department should be aware that other opportunities exist on the UCLA campus to publish research essays in student journals. In the words of the Graduate Student Association, ours is "one of the largest student journal programs in the U.S." Of special interest to students in French are the Romance Linguistics & Literature Review (Romance Linguistics and Literature Program) and Comitatus (Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies). Both journals are managed and edited by graduate students.

The Annual Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Conference

Since 1996, Graduate Students in the Department have organized an Annual Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Conference with the participation of professors and graduate students from universities across the country. French and Francophone Studies Graduate Students have the opportunity to participate in the organization of the annual event. A list of past conferences and information on planned conferences is available at the conference web site.

Parenthèse

Parenthèse is the department's informal reading group led by the Graduate Student Association. Two or three times per quarter interested graduate students and faculty select texts for discussion and debate. Interested students should contact the department's GSA.

Graduate Student Information

The Department, along with its Graduate Student Association, compiles and distributes through electronic mail information on everyday matters of interest, including departmental and campus administrative procedures, office space, teaching tools, computer access, etc. For this reason, all French Department graduate students are required to obtain and use an email address. Electronic services are accessible through Department computers, free of charge.

Social Events

The Graduate Students Association actively works with the faculty in the planning of public lectures, colloquia, and informal social gatherings. Among the regularly scheduled social events in the Department: reception for new faculty and students, holiday party, end-of-the-year picnic, annual award ceremony. Other social activities bring the Department together regularly in a non-academic setting.

Placement

Students planning to pursue a career should establish a dossier at the Placement and Career Planning Center, where advisers are available for consultation (PCPC Building, 825-2981). In addition, the Department organizes meetings to discuss all aspects of the job search in academia, including preparing the curriculum vitae, MLA interviews, and on-campus interviews. Practice interviews are also organized as part of the Department's overall effort to assist its students in their career planning. Students who hold the UCLA Ph.D. degree in French and Francophone Studies have been successful in finding attractive positions in recent years at institutions such as U of Arizona-Tucson, Boston U, Bowdoin College, Cal State U Fullerton, Cal State U at San Diego, the Claremont Colleges, U of Connecticut, Florida-Atlantic U, Hamilton College, Loyola Marymount University, Marquette U, U of Notre-Dame, Occidental College, Purdue U, Saint Mary's College, U of Southern California, U of Texas at Arlington, U of Texas-Austin, and Whitworth College.
 

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