French Studies (Graduate Program)

For information regarding the UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM, click here.  

Program Overview

The LSU French program, comprising the Department of French Studies & the Center for French and Francophone Studies, has gained international recognition of its position at the forefront of the North American study of French and Francophone literatures and cultures. The program is recognized by the Cultural Services Office of the French ambassador to the United States as a centre d’excellence, an honor given to only 20 university French programs in the United States. Our faculty, whose interests and expertise cover a broad spectrum of fields in French and global Francophone language, literature, and culture, are recognized as among the nation’s most outstanding and productive researchers in the field, according to the most recent National Research Council Survey of US Doctoral Programs.

The program’s work reflects the historical importance of Francophone languages and cultures for Louisiana, as well as the leadership provided by French studies in the European intellectual tradition. Located in Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, the program finds itself at the crossroads of the Francophone world, tied to Francophone Canada by Cajun history, to France, Francophone Africa, and the Caribbean by Creole history.

Administration

Admission

Applications and supporting materials for all graduate study must be submitted through the online application site for the LSU Graduate School. Official transcripts, official test scores, and other materials that come from third-party sources must be mailed to: LSU Office of Graduate Admissions, 114 West David Boyd Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. These paper documents are stored electronically and departments have access to all materials submitted by and/or on behalf of a student applying to graduate study.

Applications for admission are received and evaluated by the department on a continuing basis. Applicants must adhere to the application deadlines established by the Graduate School. Students seeking admission must submit satisfactory credentials from previous study, acceptable GRE scores, three letters of recommendation, and a writing sample. International students whose native language is not English must also submit an acceptable TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE score.

Financial Assistance

Financial assistance is available to some students. Support may be available in the form of research or teaching assistantships. To ensure consideration for financial aid, all application materials should be submitted in accordance with deadlines established by the LSU Graduate School.

Graduate Faculty

(check current faculty listings by department here)

Frank Anselmo (3A) • 19th and 20th century literature and culture; World Wars I and II
Kevin Bongiorni (3A) • 19th and 20th century French and Italian language and literature; film and culture; literary theory and criticism
Sylvie Dubois (M)  • Sociolinguistics; archival research; bilingualism; Cajun French and varieties of English spoken in the U.S.; minority languages; linguistics policies                                                              
Katharine Ann Jensen (M) • 17th and 18th century French literature; women’s writing; feminist theory; mother-daughter relations; epistolary writing
Jeffrey M. Leichman (7M) • 18th century literature and intellectual history; ancien régime drama and theatrical theory; esthetics and politics in the French Enlightenment; performance theory; theatre and cinema.
Alexandre Leupin (M) • Medieval literature; literary criticism and theory; psychoanalysis; epistemology
Nkashama P. Ngandu (M) • Semantics of metaphor; Francophone literature; narrativity; gestural semiotics
Rosemary Peters (M) • 19th century literature and cultural studies; liturgy and theology; monastic traditions in France and Italy; translation; law and literature
John Protevi (M) • Contemporary French philosophy (Foucault, Deleuze); the biological, cognitive, and affective sciences
Francois Raffoul (M) • French Post-Structuralism
Adelaide Russo (M) • 19th and 20th century poetry; literary theory; hybrid discourses; Belgian Francophone literature and culture
Gregory Stone (M) • Medieval and Renaissance literature; literary theory and criticism
Nathaniel Wing (EM) • 19th century French literature; critical theory; gender theory
Jack Yeager (M) • Southeast Asian Francophone literature; Francophone women’s writing; gender studies

Programs

• French Studies, Ph.D.

• French Studies, M.A.