French Master of Arts
The MA in French allows students to deepen their study of the literatures and cultures of the French-speaking world. Graduate students work closely with department faculty who specialize in interdisciplinary approaches to French and Francophone literature, queer and gender studies, philosophy, literary theory, film and visual culture, and medical humanities.
You Will Go Places
Combined BA + MA Degree
Designed for maximum flexibility, the combined BA/MA program in French allows high-achieving undergraduate students majoring in French to challenge themselves with advanced work and deepen their study of the literatures and cultures of the French-speaking world. Most of our students complete both the BA and the MA within four years.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis during the academic year from undergraduate French majors who have earned Junior or Senior standing with a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or greater.
Learn More and ApplyAssistantships
Our MA program is highly selective. Successful applicants are awarded graduate assistantships in exchange for teaching language courses in our department. The assistantship includes a modest stipend ($15,330 in 2023-24) and tuition waiver (in 2023-24, tuition is $13,931 for Ohio residents and $34,005 for nonresidents).
Learning Outcomes of Our Program
- Demonstrate excellent familiarity with the major works of French and Francophone literature, film, and theory from the Middles Ages to the present;
- Formulate original hypotheses about cultural artifacts and construct an argument that is informed by a clearly stated methodological approach. Students should be capable of making these analyses in French in both written and oral forms;
- Write a Master’s thesis of at least 50 pages that develops an original topic of research, demonstrates a well-defined critical framework, advances an original reading of work(s), and is written in clear, well-articulated prose.
Admission
To be guaranteed consideration, your complete application must be received by January 15. In addition to an online application, applicants must submit a CV, statement of purpose, writing sample in French (5-10 pages), and two letters of recommendation. International applicants must also include official results of the Duolingo English Test, TOEFL or IELTS.
Meet Our Alumni
Graduates of our Master's program often pursue advanced studies at some of the finest institutions in the world (Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Stanford, and UC Berkeley). Others teach at the private or public secondary schools and usually receive a higher salary with a Master's degree. Some pursue careers in the law and in non-profit organizations.
"The MA was formative to the development of my research interests in French literary studies. Now, several years into my PhD at UC Berkeley, I can recognize that my current research project – which focuses on the concept of the "contemporary" in the early modern period – was formed by the conversations I had with my professors and colleagues at Miami. Special thanks go to Audrey Wasser, Elisabeth Hodges, and Jonathan Strauss for advising me on the MA thesis, providing feedback on my PhD applications, and working with me to prepare for the reading list exam. I'm very grateful to everyone who made Irvin Hall such a welcoming place!"
Caroline Goddard
PhD Candidate, UC Berkeley
Recent M.A. Theses
Lina Scally, Raconter sa biculture pour denoncer: le pouvoir transformateur de l’Art dans "Le Piano Oriental" et "Coquelicots d'Irak" (Mark McKinney, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French at University of California, Berkeley.
Murielle Sandra Tiako Djomatchoua, Sports et Routes Migratoires : entre Imaginaires (Post) Coloniaux et Experiences Individuelles dans Fais peter les basses, Bruno! et Le Chemin de L' Amerique de Baru (Mark McKinney, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French at Princeton University.
Madelyn Neal, Feminist Reclamations of the Patriarchal Representation of Linear Time in Film and Literature (Audrey Wasser, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French at New York University.
Justine Ruyer, Voyeurisme et obsession : de la femme-objet et de sa reduction au silence dans La Jalousie'Alain Robbe-Grillet et Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein de Marguerite Duras (Audrey Wasser, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French at Cornell University.
Pierre Borlée, Desenchantement et deuxieme chance: La France contemporaine dans Soumission de Michel Houellebecq (Audrey Wasser, advisor). French teacher in Belgium.
Katherine Coverdale, An Exploration of Identity in Claire Denis' and Mati Diop's (Post)Colonial Africa (Elisabeth Hodges, Advisor). French teacher at a private middle school in Fort Meyers.
Clément Dubuisson, Reading Reiser in the 21st Century (Mark McKinney, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French at Tulane University
Caroline Miller, The Dual Power of Language: Theories of Maurice Blanchot in Practice (Audrey Wasser, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in Chemistry at Colorado School of Mines.
Franklin Dargo, The Dynamics of Loss: Representations of Sororal, Maternal, and Feminine Loss in the Works of Nerval, Chateaubriand, and Baudelaire (Jonathan Strauss, advisor). Manager and Board Member at Frankie D’s, Muncie, Indiana.
Sarah Agou, Women (as) Subjects: Luce Irigaray and the Question of Limits (Andrea Righi, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French at University of Oregon
Lyna Ami Ali, Le Cinéma de banlieu : Un Regard novateur et aventureux sur un terriotoire difficilement identifiable (Mark McKinney, advisor). MA, English Literature, Civilization and Linguistics, La Sorbonne (Paris IV). Graduate student (PhD) in French at Emory University.
Abigail Culpepper, Towards an Ethic of the Lyric: Taking on the Other in “La Mort de Cleopatre” by Marie Krysinska (Jonathan Strauss, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French at Brown University
Abigail Goldman, Representations of Migration in Ousmane Sembene's La Noire De..., Alain Mabanckou's Bleu, Blanc, Rouge and Mweze Ngangura's Pieces d'Identites (Mark McKinney, advisor). Graduate student (MsC) at the London School of Economics and Political Science
Caroline Godard, 'Une sorte de vaste sensation collective': Story and Experience in the work of Marcel Proust, Walter Benjamin, and Annie Ernaux (Audrey Wasser, advisor). MA in Modern Languages at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford (UK). Graduate student (PhD) in French at University of California, Berkeley.
Anne Sophie Brian, LA LITTÉRATURE FRANCO-MAGHREBINE EN RECHERCHE D'UNE IDENTITE FRANCAISE (Mark McKinney, advisor). Graduate student in Anglo-American Studies at the Université de Bourgogne.
Majeed Masnoon, Environmental Consciousness in Joachim du Bellay's Divers jeux rustiques and 'Au fleuve de Loire' (Elisabeth Hodges, advisor).
Logan Smith, MONUMENTS IN THE MAKING: CAPTURING TRAUMA(S) OF COMMUNAL ABSENCE IN THE POST-PLANTATION FICTION OF MARYSE CONDÉ AND WILLIAM FAULKNER (Jonathan Strauss, advisor).
Jessie Motts, Listening Beyond the Image : Toward a Trans-Sensory Cinema (Elisabeth Hodges, advisor). Documentary filmmaker based in NYC
Emile Levesque-Jalbert, L’Autre de l’un : L’Experience de la négativité dans les récits de Maurice Blanchot (Jonathan Strauss, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard University
Mehdi Dastergi Izadi, 7 de Tristan Garcia: pour une poétique spéculative (Anna Klosowska, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard University
Clémentine Bernaudat-Hanin, « Elle partit, s’enfonçant dans la pluie dine comme un voile » : Esthetique de la prostitution féminine dans la littérature du XIXe siècle (Audrey Wasser, advisor)
Gwen Miranda-Caniceiro, Ecrire pour témoigner: La vérité historique dans les témoignages de la second guerre mondiale (Jonathan Strauss, advisor). French teacher at a private high school
Jacob Raterman, (Mi)lieux critiques: Hybridité et hétérotopie dans La Curée et Au Bonheur des dames (Jonathan Strauss, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French at the University of California, Berkeley
Elham Dehghanipour, La relation entre le mouvement et l'écriture chez Assia Djebar via Ces voix qui m'assiègent...., En marge de ma francophonie, Loin de Médine, L'amour, la fantasia, Vaste est la prison (Mark McKinney, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French at the SUNY, Buffalo
Jonathan Devine, Childhood Fantasy and the Look in Alain Berliner's Ma vie en rose and François Ozon's Ricky (Elisabeth Hodges, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French/Film Studies at the University of Pittsburgh
Emeline Diolot, Répétition et reconstruction de soi dans l'œuvre autofictive de Camille Laurens (Mark McKinney, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French and Italian at University of California, Davis
Tamara Tasevska, Intimate Spaces in François Ozon's Swimming Pool (Elisabeth Hodges, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French at Northwestern University
Anne-Sophie Dubosson, Sublimation et négation du corps féminin surréaliste dans l'œuvre de Man Ray, Joyce Mansour et Gisèle Prassinos (Elisabeth Hodges, advisor). Graduate Students (PhD) in French at Vanderbilt University
Sophie Chopin, Régimes d’ínteraction entre littérature et médecine dans l'œuvre de Louis Ferdinand Céline Voyage au bout de la nuit (Jonathan Strauss, advisor). Graduate student (PhD) in French at Princeton University
