Honours in French Language, Literatures and Cultures

Prepare for teaching or graduate studies through the Honours program, taught in French, at UBC Vancouver.

This program is highly specialized and designed for students with at least a B+ average in both their French courses and their overall degree program. It provides the necessary background for graduate study and a particularly strong preparation for those intending to teach French at the secondary level.


Admission Requirements

To enter the Honours program, a student must have:

  • Attained third-year standing (54 credits completed), or be entering Year 3
  • Maintained a B+ average in both their French courses and their overall degree program
  • Completed FREN 311 and 352
  • Completed FREN 401 and 402, or demonstrated a proficiency level of B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)

Student wishing to enter the Honours program must apply directly to the Major and Honours using the online Advising Contact Form.


Degree Requirements

  • FREN (3) 321 Critical Writing
  • FREN (3) 353 Advanced French Grammar

Cluster A: French Literature and Culture from the Middle Ages to the Revolution

  • FREN 331 (3) Arts, Cultures and Society from the Middle Ages to the Revolution
  • FREN 407 (3) Medieval French Literature
  • FREN 408 (3) Renaissance: Studies in 16th-century French Literature
  • FREN 409 (3) Ancients and Moderns: Studies in 17th-century French Literature
  • FREN 410 (3) Enlightenment and Revolution: Studies in 18th-century French Literature
  • FREN 450 (3) Old French
  • FREN 484 (3) History of the Book
  • FREN 485 (3) Early Encounters: Travel Literature and Colonial Writing in French

Cluster B: French Literature and Culture since the Revolution

  • FREN 341 (3) Arts, Cultures and Society from Romanticism to the Present Day
  • FREN 413 (3) Tradition and Modernity: Studies in 19th-century French Literature
  • FREN 414 (3) The Modern and Contemporary French Novel
  • FREN 415 (3) French Digital Culture
  • FREN 416 (3) Contemporary French Literature and Culture
  • FREN 417 (3) Popular Fiction
  • FREN 427 (3) French Cinema
  • FREN 480 (3) French Theory

Cluster C: Francophone Literatures and Cultures

  • FREN 330 (3) Introduction to Quebec Literature
  • FREN 418 (3) African and Caribbean Francophone Literatures
  • FREN 428 (3) Francophone Cinema
  • FREN 430 (3) Quebec Literature and Culture
  • FREN 440 (3) Francophonie: History and Current Debates
  • FREN 441 (3) Francophone Literatures and Cultures of North America
  • FREN 442 (3) Cultures of the Francophone World
  • FREN 443 (3) Postcolonial Studies

Cluster D: Language and Linguistics

  • FREN 357 (3) Translation
  • FREN 370 (3) Introduction to French Linguistics
  • FREN 451 (3) French Phonetics
  • FREN 457 (3) Advanced Translation
  • FREN 460 (3) History of the French Language
  • FREN 470 (3) Studies in Modern French Linguistics
  • FREN 472 (3) Morphology and Syntax of the French Language
  • FREN 474 (3) Lexicology and Semantics of the French Language
  • FREN 476 (3) French Language and Societies
  • FREN 477 (3) Contemporary Varieties of French
  • FREN 496 (3) Research Seminar in French Language and Linguistics

Special Topics

  • FREN 419 (3) Women’s Writing
  • FREN 420 (3) Selected Topics in French Literature and Culture
  • FREN 455 (3) Creative Writing in French
  • FREN 495 (3) Research Seminar in French Literature and Culture
  • FREN 498 (3) Directed Reading

  • FREN 499 (3) Honours Essay

The Honours Essay represents an extended personal research project (in finished form usually about 20-25 pages typewritten) carried out under the supervision of two members of the Department’s Graduate Faculty: a supervisor who will meet regularly with the student and a second reader.

Preliminary research on the topic chosen is expected to be completed by mid-term, at which time the candidate is required to submit for approval a detailed outline of the projected work. The finished essay is due on the last day of lectures of the term.

The Honours Essay is seen less as an original contribution to knowledge than as a means for providing the student with an opportunity to become familiar with the methodological problems of research as well as with the techniques and problems of scholarly writing.

Students who are planning to do an Honours Essay must submit a proposal to the Major and Honours Advisor. The proposal must include a one-page abstract, a bibliography, and the names of the two professors who are willing to supervise the work.

The proposal should be submitted by November 1, if the student intends to register in this course in January (FREN499-201).

The proposal should be submitted by March 1, if the student intends to register in this course the following September (FREN499-101)

Program Diagram

Click on the diagram below to download the PDF.


Applying for an Honours


Course Planning

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