Ph.D. Program in French

The Ph.D. Program in French at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York offers an innovative combination of traditional training in French and Francophone Literatures with highly progressive interdisciplinary curricular options. While specializing in one of the traditional literary periods, our graduate students are offered the possibility of enriching their professional and academic dossier with the option that would best suit their particular interests.

These options, namely Translation Studies, Comparative Studies, Cultural Studies, International Human Rights in the French-Speaking World, and Performance Studies, draw from a wide array of disciplines with courses readily available either within our own program or in the many other prestigious programs of The Graduate Center. In addition, students are strongly encouraged to opt for a multidisciplinary Certificate, which they can fulfill at the Graduate Center. These include: American Studies, Film Studies, Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, Medieval Studies, Renaissance Studies, Women’s Studies. Combined with the students’ literary interests and interdisciplinary options, these certificates are valuable assets to ensure success with their future job search in an ever-increasingly competitive market.

Among our 24 faculty members, we are proud to have Distinguished Professors Mary Ann Caws, Nancy K. Miller, and the past President of the MLA, Domna C. Stanton. Recently, Professor Evelyne Ender became a member of the board of the PMLA. Not only do our students have access and exposure to top scholars, but, during their very first year, they undergo a rigorous seminar in research and writing in which they can hone their interests and intellectual skills. In addition to this training, our students are encouraged to teach French as a foreign language in one of our CUNY colleges, comprising ten senior colleges and six community colleges, where they can benefit from a hands-on training in cutting-edge learning methodologies under the supervision of a local pedagogical coordinator.