Bachelor of Arts in French

The French program combines a rigorous emphasis on grammar and composition with a comprehensive exploration of French literature from the 14th Century to the present.

French is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world today and is vital to any student interested in an international career. France, one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, is a world leader in scientific and medical research. When world leaders travel to Brussels, the seat of the European Union, or to Geneva, home of United Nations institutions such as UNESCO and the International Red Cross, they negotiate in French. International development organizations rely on French speakers. More Africans now speak French than Europeans. French-speaking Quebec is a major US trading partner.

Many French majors at Redlands choose to double in another major where French is an important asset, such as Education, Art History, International Relations, Global Business, Government, Music, Philosophy, History, Comparative Literature, and other language majors.

French Fellowships

The French Program offers several fellowships of $1,000-1,500 at the end of each academic year to outstanding students who have declared a French major. Students are encouraged to declare their French major by the end of their freshman year.

Degree Programs

Bachelor of Arts

For the French major, students must complete 36 credits beyond FREN 102. Sixteen credits must be taken in residence with department faculty. At least 12 of these credits in residence must be taken in courses numbered 400 or above.

A semester at the Institute of European Studies, in either Paris or Nantes, is recommended in the junior year. In addition to its own diversified offerings, the institute makes it possible for students having the proper degree of proficiency to register at the universities of Paris and Nantes, as well as the Ecole du Louvre, the Institut Catholique, and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques.

The Minor

A minor in French requires twenty-eight credits beyond FREN 102. Students starting at the third-year level or beyond are considered to have completed eight of these credits. These exempted credits apply only to the minor and not to the 128 total credits required for graduation. Students also are required to take at least one 400-level course (for four credits) in residence with department faculty.

General Education Requirements

General Education is a broad description of the curriculum that embodies our commitment to a liberal arts education at the University of Redlands. Our general education conveys the range of fields of study, ways of thinking, and practices of scholarship and creativity that enable students to graduate as critical thinkers capable of innovatively and collaboratively adapting to challenges that come their way in the future.

Our general education is comprised of a Liberal Arts Inquiry (LAI) or Liberal Arts Foundation (LAF) curriculum.

• Entering first-year students and transfer students arriving with fewer than 32 credits in Fall 2018 will follow the LAI curriculum.
• All transfer and returning students with 32 credits or more (i.e., sophomores, juniors, and seniors) in Fall 2018 will follow the LAF curriculum.