Facts & figures
Modern Languages
- #1 in Sydney
- Top 30 in the world
- 2020 QS World University Rankings
Faculties and schools_
Department of French and Francophone Studies
Immersed in the language and cultures of the French-speaking world
Discover and expand your knowledge of French and Francophone literature, culture and history as you develop your fluency in the French language.
Since our inception in 1853, we have a long tradition of teaching and researching French and Francophone studies. We provide three pathways to a French and Francophone major: introductory, intermediate and advanced. Our mission is to teach the French language and provide students with a deep understanding of the literature, culture and history of the French and Francophone worlds.
We are a vibrant community of researchers, teaching staff and students with academic expertise in the fields of modern and contemporary literature, cinema, art, theory, linguistics and translation.
Our study offering
Experience the rich history and cultural diversity of the official language of 29 countries (la Francophonie), spoken by more than 300 million people worldwide.
Undergraduate
- French and Francophone Studies (Introductory)*
- French and Francophone Studies (Intermediate)*
- French and Francophone Studies (Advanced)*
- French and Francophone Studies (Honours)
- Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Languages)
- Diploma of Language Studies
*Available as a major and minor within the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Visual Arts, as well as all combined Bachelor of Advanced Studies degrees.
Research
Our research
Our researchers focus on a wide range of research areas, including:
- Artists’ writings, word and image studies
- Autobiographical writing, life writing and diary writing
- Feminist theory and women's writing
- Film and media studies
- Film festivals
- Francophone films and world cinema
- French and Francophone theory
- Hoaxes, fakes and forgeries in literature
- Intersection of genre and gender
- Linguistics and sociolinguistics
- Modern and contemporary art
- Modern and contemporary literature and culture
- Pedagogy of French as a foreign language
- Representations of Paris in literature and culture
- South Pacific literature, art and culture
- Translation, self-translation and translingual writing.
Learn more: Languages and cultures research
Exchange
Our exchange programs provide life-changing experiences in France, Switzerland and Canada where students exercise their language skills and develop an understanding of cultural intricacies first hand. Partner institutions include:
- McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Université de Montréal, Canada
- Sciences-Po, Paris, France
- Université d’Aix-Marseille, France
- Université Denis-Diderot (Paris VII), France
- Université Grenoble Alpes, France
- Université Jean-Moulin 3 Lyon, France
- Université Lumière Lyon 2, France
- Université de La Rochelle, France
- Université d’Orléans, France
- Université Paris, France
- Université de Tours, France
- Université de Genève, Switzerland
- Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
Learn more: Study abroad and student exchange
Our people
- Dr Francoise Grauby
- Dr Caroline Lipovsky
- Associate Professor Michelle Royer
- Dr Clara Sitbon
- Dr Carolyn Stott
- Dr Lea Vuong
- Dr Sonia Wilson
- Undergraduate and Exchange Coordinator: caroline.lipovsky@sydney.edu.au
- Honours and Postgraduate Research Coordinator: sonia.wilson@sydney.edu.au
Language level coordinators:
- Beginner stream: caroline.lipovsky@sydney.edu.au
- Intermediate stream: sonia.wilson@sydney.edu.au
- Advanced stream: carolyn.stott@sydney.edu.au
- Nathalie Camerlynck
- Annabel Gassman
- Corinne Mesana
- Jacqueline Murguet
- Eve Nachin
- Rita Orsini
- Christel Rome
- Victoria Souliman
- Emeritus Professor Ivan Barko
- Emeritus Professor Angus Martin
- Emeritus Professor Margaret Sankey
- Dr Althea Arguelles-Ling
- Dr Edward Duyker
- Dr Elizabeth Rechniewski
Events
UPDATE: In light of COVID-19 developments, please be advised this University event will no longer take place in the short term. Some of our events are transitioning to online, and these will be advertised accordingly. Let us know what event you're interested in via our online form, and we'll update you as the situation changes.
Learn more about the University’s advice regarding COVID-19 here.
We hold regular seminars and events that seek to engage with the French-speaking community at large and provide a platform for new and exciting research in French and Francophone studies.
Visit the School's Events website to see our full listing of upcoming events.
Each semester, we hold monthly research seminar events with presenters from our department including research staff, students and associates, as well as other disciplines within the University of Sydney and external institutions from Australia and beyond.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
When: Wednesdays, 1–2 pm
Check our event calendar for upcoming French Connections seminars.
The Sonia Marks Memorial fund was set up in 1985 to commemorate the life and achievements of Sonia Marks, whose untimely death deprived the University of a much-appreciated teacher and colleague. Each year the fund provides prizes for students from the introductory language stream and a memorial lecture on French and Francophone Studies.
Past lectures
2019: Teaching ‘French’ in Brexit Britain
2012: Learning from Teaching
Please check the SLC Events website for our next Sonia Marks Memorial Lecture.
The third international congress of the World Literature Association on 'World Literatures and the Global South' was proudly hosted by the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Sydney from 23–25 August 2019.
Co-convened with the Peking University Australian Studies Centre and the World Literature Association, this international conference engaged with literary production on and from the Global South in their own languages as well as in translation.
School of Languages and Cultures
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