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Course Description

Summary

Montaigne considered conversations as the “most fruitful and natural exercise for our minds.” From 17th-century French salons to the diverse forms and voices of online media, conversations reflect and shape our lives. This natural penchant for causeries not only continues to permeate the whole society, it also impregnates other forms of representation. Magritte’s “Art of conversation” where stone letter blocks spell out a capital “RÊVE,” is reminiscent of a political utopia conversation embodies. In this course, students will both study and practice the French art of conversation. Tuesday classes will be devoted to the study of conversation as an object of cultural and philological inquiry, while Friday classes will allow students to exchange with students of the Université de Tours (Loire Valley) and students of the Université des Antilles (Carribean), around pre-selected topics that will include race, class, gender, culture, and education. Intermediate-high. Conducted in French.