Francophone Studies

With its expansive and inclusive approach, the Francophone studies department at Bowdoin brings the rich and diverse literature, history, and culture of the French-speaking world to life.

Why Francophone Studies?

The Francophone studies major broadens your cultural awareness and gives you skills that are useful in a wide variety of professions. The linguistic and analytical abilities, cultural awareness, and excellent communication skills developed by students of Francophone studies at Bowdoin serve our alumni in a wide range of professional pursuits.

Off-Campus Study Fellowships and Grants

Ten Professors Appointed to Named Chairs
Ten Bowdoin faculty members have been appointed to named chairs at the College in recognition of their achievements as scholars and educators.
New Book Explores Significance of Skin Marking in Early Modern Era
Francophone studies scholar Katherine Dauge-Roth coedits a collection of essays examining this relatively new area of academic study. Whether it’s through tattooing, branding, beauty marks, or scarring, by the eighteenth century, skin markings had become an important mark of identity, she says.
Exploring Attitudes toward Race in Early Modern France
With the help of a summer stipend from the National Endowment for the Humanities, French literature and history scholar Katherine Dauge-Roth is in France over the break, exploring how attitudes toward skin color were shaped in the seventeenth century and why this remains important.