The Department of French, Francophone, and Italian Studies offers a comprehensive graduate program (M.A. and Ph.D.) in French and Francophone language, literature, and culture. Our faculty is dynamic, professionally active, and committed to excellence in scholarship and teaching. The major emphasis of teaching and research is French and Francophone literature. The department also offers courses in literary theory, cultural studies, and film. The department offers a balanced emphasis on periods from medieval through twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Our students represent a diverse group, and we encourage equally applicants from traditional and nontraditional backgrounds. Excellent facilities, strong library holdings, and a faculty dedicated to both teaching and research assure students of a challenging and professional graduate preparation. Please visit the Graduate Program page of the department website and see our Graduate Handbook for additional information.
Departmental Funding
The department does its best to provide funding in the form of Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) appointments to all incoming graduate students. GTA appointments are awarded for the academic year, .50 full-time equivalent (FTE) appointments come with:
- a competitive academic year (9 month) salary
- a 100% tuition waiver for all courses at KU
- 100% of student fees for 3 credits, and the student wellness fee (for students enrolled in at least 3 hours) are covered
- optional University-subsidized group health insurance
The appointments are guaranteed, based on funding availability and performance, for up to 5 years for Ph.D. students and 6 years for students who receive both an M.A. and a Ph.D. at The University of Kansas. GTAs in the department receive thorough training in language instruction, close mentoring, and the opportunity to teach French at a variety of levels, providing them with a strong base of teaching experience upon entering the job market. Additional information about teaching for the department is available on the Graduate Funding page of our departmental website.
Additional Funding
Other funding opportunities for graduate students include the Office of Study Abroad’s Springer award; the department’s Cornell, Mahieu, and Magerus fellowships; awards for research abroad; and French university exchanges.
Visit the Graduate Studies website for additional information about funding opportunities for graduate students at KU.
Financial Aid and Scholarships administers grants, loans, and need-based financial aid.
Admission to Graduate Studies
Admission Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree: A copy of official transcripts showing proof of a bachelor's degree (and any post-bachelor’s coursework or degrees) from a regionally accredited institution, or a foreign university with equivalent bachelor's degree requirements is required.
- English proficiency: Proof of English proficiency for non-native or non-native-like English speakers is required. There are two bands of English proficiency, including Admission and Full proficiency. For applicants to online programs, Full proficiency is required.
Admission to the Ph.D. Program in French
In addition to the general admission requirements from the Office of Graduate Studies, applicants should have the equivalent of the M.A. in French offered at KU.
Required Supplemental Documents
In order to complete the application online, please prepare the following items ahead of time to be uploaded with the online application.
Please note that the department cannot complete the processing of your application until all supplemental documentation has been received.
Prior to applying, we also encourage you to look at the faculty page and current graduate course offerings page see which faculty members do research or teach in your areas of interest.
- A current resume or C.V.
- The résumé or C.V. should include academic, employment, and extracurricular background
- Statement of Purpose
- This statement should provide the admissions committee with a sense of what you hope to encounter in the graduate school experience, your experience and general research interests at this point in your career, what skills you most need to work on, and what shape you think your career might take--in the academy or outside of it.
- A sample essay or research paper in French
- A written work to demonstrate your writing skills and basic research capacity in French. For the M.A. program, submit a 12 to 15 page writing sample. For the Ph.D. program, submit a 20-page writing sample.
- The names and contact information of three references
- These references, preferably academic, will be contacted directly by KU for letters of recommendation. Please alert your references in advance.
- Copies of official transcripts
- Transcripts are required from all institutions from which a degree was obtained, or any institutions attended post-bachelors. Official transcripts that you have opened may be uploaded to the application online and used for admissions consideration, but if you are admitted, official (sealed) transcripts showing degree conferral, if applicable, must also be provided.
- For applicants whose native language is not French
- upload an mp3 audio file on which the applicant speaks extemporaneously (do not use a prepared script) for approximately five minutes in French, giving an account of background, training, and interests.
- For applicants whose native language is not English
- upload an mp3 audio file on which the applicant speaks extemporaneously (do not use a prepared script) for approximately five minutes in English, giving an account of background, training, and interests.
- GRE scores - if you are a North American applicant
- While you may enter your scores on the application, confirmation of scores will need to come directly from GRE. KU's GRE institutional code is 6871. International applicants do not need to submit GRE scores.
Additional Required Supplemental Documents*
*For applicants who want to be considered for the Haitian Creole Studentship
- A sample essay or research paper in Haitian Creole
- A written work to demonstrate your writing skills and basic research capacity in Haitian Creole. For the M.A. program, submit a 5-7 page writing sample. For the Ph.D. program, submit a minimum 10-page writing sample.
- For applicants whose native language is not Haitian Creole
- Upload an mp3 audio file on which you will speak extemporaneously (do not use a prepared script) for approximately five minutes in Haitian Creole, giving an account of background, training, and interests.
Submit your graduate application online.
Current students completing the French MA, who pass the M.A. exams and wish to pursue a doctorate at the University of Kansas, should so inform the Director of Graduate Studies, who will convene the graduate faculty. The student will submit a 15-20 page writing sample, a statement of intent, a transcript, and one letter of recommendation from a department faculty member. The graduate faculty will evaluate the materials and vote to admit or deny admission into the Ph.D. program.
For any questions regarding the application process, department-specific deadlines, or required supplemental documentation, please contact the department's Graduate Program Coordinator, Aley Pennington, aleypennington@ku.edu.
Ph.D. Degree Requirements
In addition to the general requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy, a student must complete the following departmental coursework and requirements:
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| FREN 995 | Investigation and Conference (Taken during final semester of coursework) | 3 |
| FREN 704 | Methods in Foreign Language Instruction (*) | 3 |
| FREN 720 | Introduction to Graduate Studies in French (*) | 3 |
| |
| Advanced French Phonetics | |
| Studies in Film: _____ | |
| Structure of Modern French | |
| Colloquium in Methods of Teaching French Language | |
| Francophone Studies | |
| Masters Seminar | |
| Studies in: _____ | |
| Studies in Medieval French Literature: _____ | |
| Studies in Sixteenth Century French Literature: _____ | |
| Studies in Eighteenth Century French Literature: _____ | |
| Studies in Twentieth Century French Literature: _____ | |
| Total Hours | 30 |
*Ph.D. students who have taken equivalent courses for either or both of these requirements as part of their M.A. studies elsewhere may petition the department for a waiver of FREN 704 and/or FREN 720 to reduce the total required hours. To determine equivalency, the student must submit course materials from the previous institution. Students petitioning this requirement should first consult with the DGS. Ph.D students who recieved their M.A. in French at KU are except from these requirements as they would have been completed during the M.A. program.
**Students may apply these 6 hours of graduate-level coursework outside the department toward one of KU’s Graduate Certificates (e.g. African Studies, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, etc.).
Teaching Requirement
One year (two semesters) of GTA teaching required; semesters need not be consecutive.
Research Skills & Responsible Scholarship Requirement
The university requires that every doctoral student have training in responsible scholarship and research skills pertinent to the field of research and appropriate to the doctoral level. This requirement must be met before attempting the comprehensive oral exam. For French doctoral students, this requirement is met by the following:
- FREN 704
- FREN 720
- Proficiency in a second language, which can be a second Romance language, Latin, Greek, German, Arabic, or another language pertinent to the student’s career path and approved by the faculty. (Students specializing in medieval or Renaissance literature are strongly encouraged to take Latin. Students specializing in Francophone Studies are strongly encouraged to take Arabic, Wolof, or Haitian Creole.) Proficiency may be demonstrated by completion of the fourth-semester course (or equivalent) or by examination.
- Departmental new graduate student orientation, held each Fall semester during the week prior to the first instructional week of classes.
Comprehensive Exams
A successful written and oral comprehensive exam, which will be based on a portfolio containing the following items:
- The 3 reading lists, highlighting which works have already been read
- Prospectus draft and bibliography
- Website. The website will include a professional profile, a CV, and pedagogical materials
- A research paper that has been published or is publishable
Doctoral Dissertation
A dissertation prospectus should clearly state the topic of the proposed research and what questions and problems the work proposes to address and answer. Since the dissertation must be an original contribution to the discipline of French and Francophone studies, the prospectus should make clear how the proposed work develops, challenges, or departs from previously published research. It should demonstrate that the student has a sufficient and critical command of the literature and the present state of the field. A tentative outline of chapters should provide some sense of the work’s overall plan and structure. Finally, the prospectus should include a substantial bibliography.
When the dissertation has been approved by the dissertation committee, the final examination (or defense) may take place. The dissertation is accepted or rejected (or accepted subject to revision) by a majority of the faculty members on this five-person committee. At least three weeks prior to the scheduled defense, the candidate must provide copies of the dissertation in essentially final form (and the dissertation abstract) to members of the committee. At the final examination, questions and discussion will normally center on the dissertation, but may also range beyond it, to related material, to the general literary area or genre, etc.
Handbook for Graduate Students
A detailed presentation of departmental processes and regulations may be found in the department’s Graduate Student Handbook.
Summer Language Institute in Paris
The department conducts a 6-week summer institute in Paris focusing on French language and culture. Students take courses in intermediate and advanced French language at L’Etoile, a private language institute in the center of Paris. Before the stay in Paris, students spend 10 days to 2 weeks touring regions such as Normandy, Brittany, and the château country along the Loire River. Some scholarship aid is available. Consult the department or the Office of Study Abroad for information.
Graduate Study Abroad
Graduate students have the opportunity to serve as program assistants for the department’s Paris Summer Language Institute. The department also has a graduate exchange agreement with the Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon, France.
At the completion of this program, students will be able to:
- show critical knowledge of French and Francophone literary and cultural history.
- show critical knowledge of French and Francophone literary and cultural history.
- show proficiency in the teaching of French and knowledge of major language-learning pedagogical approaches and theories.
- show in-depth mastery of a significant research field of specialization (author or authors, historical period, literary or cultural movements) within French and Francophone literary filmic, and cultural studies.
