Language and culture are inseparable; the study of other cultures also offers new perspectives on one’s own.
The Lois ’51 and J. Harvey Watson Department of French and Francophone Studies offers a wide range of courses in French and Francophone language and literature, contemporary France, cinema, and more—all taught entirely in French.
Le Château was built in 1929 as one of the first maisons françaises in the country. It houses the French Department, our faculty offices, a theater for foreign language productions, and classrooms for our courses. Learn more about our courses.
The French and Francophone Studies Department provides students with a thorough training in French language and culture, enabling you to interact freely and easily with French native speakers in all areas of linguistic competency.
Students acquire an active command of written and spoken French, and discover and appreciate French and Francophone cultures. In addition to building linguistic and cultural competence in all students, we seek to provide more advanced students with the analytical skills necessary to understand the expressions and manifestations of these cultures through the study, in French, of literature, cinema, history, the arts, and the social sciences.
Middlebury has its own School in France, with sites in Paris, Poitiers, and Bordeaux, as well as a school in Cameroon, Africa. It is possible to begin French at Middlebury and study abroad in your junior year, sometimes in combination with a summer at Middlebury’s renowned Language Schools.
Please check out our News & Upcoming Events.
Students have many opportunities to use their French skills beyond the classroom, including field trips, at the French tables in dining halls, and at the Maison Française, the residential house on campus.
