French

Welcome & Bienvenue!

Want to register for a French class, declare the French Major or Certificate, plan for Study Abroad in a French-speaking country, contact a French Professor for advice, or learn about all things French at Williams? Click on the menu items to the right for detailed information!

Introduction: French at Williams

The Williams French Program offers a diverse range of courses in French language and Francophone literature, film, and culture. Whether you want to improve your French language skills, prepare for study abroad in France or Morocco, or learn more about the Francophone literary and cinematic tradition, we encourage you to explore our courses and activities.

Taught entirely in French, our language courses accommodate all levels, from beginning to intermediate and advanced, and incorporate lively communicative approaches and technologies to help you improve your speaking, comprehension, reading, and writing. Taught by specialists in their field, our literature courses explore the riches of French and Francophone fiction—as well as cinema, art, politics, and culture—from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Revolution to the Nineteenth,  Twentieth, and Twenty-First Centuries, from Europe and North America, to Africa and the Caribbean. In addition to courses offered at Williams, we encourage students to study abroad with programs in France, Switzerland, Morocco, Sénégal, Martinique, Québec, and other Francophone countries.

The French Program regularly sponsors film festivals, invited speakers, political debates, and discussion tables. Each year, we host two Teaching Associates from France who take active teaching roles in our courses, offer individual help with pronunciation and writing, and organize extracurricular activities in French as heads of our French Club, including cooking lessons, group dinners, film and media discussions, political debates, radio shows, game nights, and karaoke…tout en français!  

Whether you are exploring French for the first time, plan to Major in French, or want to complete a French Certificate (Minor), we invite you to explore our courses, meet our faculty, and take part in our activities. Bienvenue! 

Sign-Up for our Email List

In order to get invitations and announcements for French Program and French Club activities, you must first sign up for the French Special Interest Group on Glow. Simply click here and add yourself to our email list. Once your name and email is added to this list, you will receive email invitations for French activities on campus. For more on the French Club’s cultural activities, click here or the menu to the right.