The Department of French Studies gives students at all levels the tools they need to understand the intellectual and cultural contributions of French-speaking regions of the world.   At the undergraduate level, we offer a full range of rigorous and innovative language classes and a wide selection of advanced courses in literature and culture.  In conjunction with OIP, the Department administers study abroad programs in Paris and Lyon.  At the graduate level, our curriculum covers fields in French and Francophone literature from the Ancien Régime to the present and from a variety of theoretical perspectives. Our faculty are leading scholars with specialties in periods from the 16th to the 21st centuries and with interests in anthropology, creative writing, cultural studies, the history of ideas, gender and sexuality studies, film, postcolonial studies, poststructuralist thought, second language acquisition, and translation.  Through all its endeavors, the Department of French Studies provides a venue for exploring the place of linguistic and cultural differences in our increasingly interconnected world.