Frequently Asked Questions

Below you will find answers to frequently asked questions about Programs of
Study, Funding, Coursework, Teaching, Studying in France and Abroad, Department
Life, and Job Placement. If you should have more questions about the graduate
programs in French at NYU, please contact the Graduate Aide at french.grad@nyu.edu.

What kind of doctoral programs do you offer?

Doctoral students must complete 72 points of post-undergraduate coursework (about 18 courses). This may include credits earned during M.A. work at NYU or transfer credits from another graduate institution. 

Ph.D. in French

The Ph.D. program in French prepares students to teach in all areas of French and
Francophone literature, stressing both breadth and depth through research seminars
and qualifying exams. Ph.D. students in French have a considerable degree of freedom
in devising their plan of study—the only requirement is to take a minimum of three
courses covering the period before 1800, and three after, as well as a proseminar in
textual analysis. The program trains students to be outstanding researchers and
important contributors in the field which best speaks to their intellectual passions.
Students in the French track are allowed to take on an interdisciplinary approach to their
studies that will enable them to conjoin the study of literature with cinema, fine arts,
music or with the social and human sciences (history, linguistics, politics, sociology,
anthropology). Students design a course of doctoral study that reflects their special
interests and takes advantage of the exceptionally rich resources of New York
University (Institute of French Studies, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Dramatic
Literature, Theatre History, Cinema Studies, etc.). Interested students should meet with
the Director of Graduate Studies to discuss their desired track.

Joint Ph.D. in French Studies and French

The Institute of French Studies (IFS) at NYU is an interdisciplinary program devoted to
the study of modern and contemporary France and francophone countries. The
Department of French Literature, Thought and Culture and the IFS offer a joint Ph.D. in
French Studies and French that is designed for students interested in developing
research expertise in the history and analysis of literary texts closely linked to their
social, cultural, and political contexts. It prepares students to teach both literature and
civilization in French departments, and gives them the scholarly expertise to integrate
the two. The Joint program combines strong training in literary analysis with substantial
exposure to the study of France, Europe, and the Francophone world, offered by
historians and social scientists. The program covers 19th and 20th-Century France and
French literature, although students ordinarily develop a narrower research specialty
within this time period.
The specific focus—and challenge—of the joint degree is the marrying of a social
science research approach with a literary one.  Students applying to the program should
have a background both in French literature and in history and the social sciences.

Admission to the joint Ph.D. program must be granted by both the IFS and the
Department of French Literature, Thought and Culture.

What kind of masters programs do you offer?

M.A. in French Literature 

The course of studies leading to the M.A. in French Literature is comprehensive in that
candidates are expected to acquire a broad knowledge of all areas of French literature.
The program of study includes satisfactory completion of graduate studies totaling at
least 32 points and a Comprehensive Examination. Students in French Literature are
expected to acquire a solid background in critical practice and a broad knowledge of
French literary history by completing at least three courses on the period before 1800
and three after.

BA/MA in French Literature, Thought and Culture

If you are an undergraduate in the College of Arts and Science (CAS) who is interested
in French literature and culture, you may be eligible to earn credit towards a Master's
degree while still pursuing your Bachelors. These graduate credits cannot double-count
towards any requirement (major, minor, Core, total credits) for your Bachelors degree -
they need to be reserved for your Masters degree. Undergraduates begin taking
graduate courses in their junior or senior year and then fulfill remaining requirements
after obtaining their B.A. degree.

What kinds of funding are available for doctoral students?

All students admitted to Ph.D. programs at the Graduate School of Arts and Science
(GSAS) will receive a Henry M. MacCracken Fellowship, for a period of five years. This
fellowship includes full tuition remission, waiver of registration and services fees, and
health insurance through NYU, as well as a competitive fellowship stipend toward your
expenses. GSAS also provides a one-time start-up stipend for first-year students. 
Students who enter with external funding may still be awarded a MacCracken fellowship
to ensure that they are receiving full-funding from both sources combined.
Following the MacCracken Fellowship, students are encouraged to apply for both
internal and external fellowships. 

Is teaching a requirement of the MacCracken Fellowship?

No. However, our doctoral students are strongly encouraged to teach for four semesters
to gain invaluable experience for their careers. Teaching as an adjunct instructor
provides compensation over and above the MacCracken stipend.

How do I apply for other scholarships and loans?

Additional information on Financial Aid and Fellowships is available through the GSAS
website and through the NYU Office of Financial Aid.

Do I have to have an M.A. to apply for a doctoral program?

No, an M.A. is not required to apply to the doctoral program. Students who intend to
pursue a Ph.D. at NYU should apply directly to the doctoral program.

I already have a Masters degree. Will you accept it for credit toward doctoral
coursework?

Absolutely. You may transfer credit earned from your masters degree toward your
doctoral coursework in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies and pending
approval from the Graduate School.  

Do you have a foreign language requirement?

Native or near-native fluency in French is expected of all graduate students in the NYU
Department of French. This requirement is filled by passing any graduate-level course
taught in French.
Doctoral students in French are also required to fulfill a requirement for a second foreign
language apart from French or English, preferably by the end of the second year. The
hard deadline for completing this requirement is the end of the 4 th year. The requirement
can be fulfilled in several ways: (1) having taken and passed an intermediate-level
language course no more than two years prior to matriculation into the graduate
program, (2) taking and passing such a course while in residence at NYU, (3) passing a
GSAS-administered foreign language exam. If a student is a native speaker of a
language other than French or English, he or she may petition the Director of Graduate
Studies for a waiver of this requirement.
The joint Ph.D. in French – French Studies and all M.A. programs do not have a second
foreign language requirement.

What kinds of courses would I take as a graduate student in French at NYU?

The Department of French offers a diverse range of graduate seminars each semester,
covering a broad spectrum of topics in French literature and civilization, critical theory,
the history of ideas, cultural studies, film, Francophone studies, and translation.
See current course offerings and the bulletin course descriptions.

What if I want to take courses outside the department?

Even if not formally enrolled in an interdisciplinary program, students in the French
Department are welcome and encouraged to take courses outside the department and
through the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium which are germane to their research
interests. 

What is the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium?

The Inter-University Doctoral Consortium (IUDC) offers eligible GSAS students the
opportunity to take graduate courses at distinguished universities throughout the greater
New York area. The IUDC has been in existence for over 25 years and offers students an enormous array of courses and opportunities for contact with faculty and students in their fields. Participating schools are: Columbia University, Princeton University, CUNY Graduate Center, Rutgers University, Fordham University, SUNY Stony Brook, the Graduate Faculty at New School University, Teachers College at Columbia University, and New York University. The IUDC is open to doctoral students from participating schools who have completed at least one year of full time study toward the Ph.D. Terminal masters students and non-GSAS students are not eligible.

Are there opportunities to take courses at the IFS even if I am not a joint student? / Is there a certificate program?

Absolutely! You are encouraged to take courses at the IFS--or any department--that
pertain to your research interests. Doctoral students in the Department of French may
complete a Certificate of Achievement in French Studies by completing four courses at
the IFS while in residence at NYU.

Are there other certificate programs within NYU?

Yes, there are. Students may apply to earn a certificate in Poetics and Theory, in
Comparative Approaches to the Literature of Africa, the Middle East, and the Global
South (CALAMEGS), in Digital Humanities, or a Concentration in Medieval and
Renaissance Studies.

Are there opportunities to teach as a doctoral student? Is it a required component
of the MacCracken Fellowship?

The NYU Department of French instructs over 1,000 students per semester in its
language and content classes, many of which are taught by students in the Ph.D.
program as adjunct instructors. The Department of French feels that teaching is an
essential experience for its doctoral students to grow in their skills and confidence as
educators and to be competitive on the job market. Teaching as an adjunct instructor
provides compensation over and above the MacCracken stipend. Ph.D. students in the
Department of French typically teach for two years, usually beginning in their second
year of coursework. Doctoral students may also have other opportunities to teach, such
as undergraduate summer language or literature courses.

What kind of training is provided?

First-time adjunct instructors receive training in the form of a week-long intensive
Teaching Orientation the summer before they begin teaching. Training continues in a bi-
weekly Teaching Seminar and Workshop through the fall semester, in which students
examine the theoretical underpinnings of second language acquisition and explore
praxis through sample lesson plan and exercise creation, test writing and analysis,
textbook analyses, and peer- and self observation. This Teaching Orientation and
Workshop is a required course for all doctoral students in the Department of French
who opt to teach and carries two points toward the 72-point Ph.D. requirement.

Are there opportunities to teach as a masters student?

M.A.-track students are not eligible to teach classes through the Department of French
at NYU.

Are there opportunities to study in France?

Ph.D. students may elect to take a graduate masterclass at NYU Paris in the summer.
The Department of French also has an agreement with the Ecole Normale Supérieure in
both Lyon and Paris that allows up to two doctoral students to spend a year or semester
at the ENS and participate fully in its seminars.

Are there opportunities to conduct research in France or abroad?

After finishing coursework, doctoral students may choose to conduct research for their
dissertation in France or other relevant locations. They may continue to draw on their
MacCracken fellowship as it is available and may also be eligible for supplementary
funding through additional competitive fellowships at NYU or externally. The faculty will
make every effort to assist students in making contact with relevant universities,
libraries, archives, and other resources. The Provost’s Global Research Initiatives
program provides infrastructural support for students and faculty studying or
researching abroad: benefits include airfare, a per diem, and a shared office at one of
NYU’s global research sites, which include Athens, Berlin, Florence, London, Madrid,
Paris, Prague, Shanghai, Tel Aviv, and Washington, D.C.

Are there any student groups within the department?

There are approximately 40 graduate students based in our department here at NYU
Washington Square. All graduate students are invited to take part in the French
Graduate Students' Association (FGSA), which serves as a forum for students on
both the master’s and doctoral level. Through meetings and a regular dialogue with the
Director of Graduate Studies, the FGSA provides an organized channel through which
graduate students voice their interests and concerns and make suggestions to the
faculty. The Graduate Student Association also organizes a series of “brown-bag
lunches,” including work-in-progress discussions. Individual students have also
convened dissertation writing groups, the teaching and training committee, and other
initiatives.
In addition to this, graduate students participate in a series of Teaching and Training
workshops organized by the graduate student instructors and Language Lecturers and
take responsibility for organizing events for undergraduate students such as the monthly
Ciné-Club, and Café et Conversation conversational hours. 

Do graduate students typically organize conferences?

Yes. Each spring, the third-year Ph.D. students organize the annual Graduate Student

Conference. Some recent graduate student conferences include F*** (2023); Taste
(2017); Conference in Progress (2012); La Bête Noire (2011); Rien/Nothing (2010);
and Unbecoming Masters (2009). In addition to the conference organized by third-
years, graduate students have the opportunity to organize events at NYU Paris; recent
events include “Scaled (In)finitudes: Problems of the Ecological Turn” (2023) and
“Freaks: trouble dans le corps” (2023).

What other resources can I benefit from as a student at NYU's Department of
French?
NYU's Bobst Library houses over 3.3 million volumes, twenty thousand journals, and
over 3 million microforms. NYU also has reciprocal borrowing privileges with several
other nearby university libraries and reciprocal on-site access with Columbia's Butler
Library. In addition, the New York Public Library is freely available and boasts four
major research centers and myriad local lending branches throughout the City. The
Avery Fisher Center for Music and Media at Bobst Library offers an impressive selection
of French film; the Department also houses a small collection of films of its own.
The Department of French is housed at 19 University Place, just north of Washington
Square Park and just across the street from La Maison Française and the Institute for
French Studies on the historic Washington Mews.

La Maison Française is one of the most active centers of French-American cultural
exchange on any American campus. Founded in 1957 on the historic Washington Mews
just north of Washington Square Park, the Maison offers a year-round program of
activities, including lectures, roundtables, conferences, film and video screenings, art
exhibits, concerts, and special presentations. All events are free and open to the public.
Established in 1978 through a major grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities, the Institute of French Studies (IFS) offers degree programs for Ph.D.
students for careers in higher education and masters programs to prepare students for
careers in international business, banking, the media, cultural organizations, and
government. In addition to its teaching programs, the Institute of French Studies fosters
research by faculty, doctoral students, research associates, and a wide array of visiting
scholars, who share their research through the French Studies Colloquia public lecture
series and weekly luncheon seminars.

At NYU Paris, students in graduate studies have the unique opportunity to immerse
themselves in French intellectual and cultural life. Students join a rich and stimulating
academic community that is small enough to provide individual attention yet is made up
of some of the very best scholars in French literature, history, and civilization. Host to a
series of conferences and lectures that bring together artists, filmmakers, politicians,
and writers, NYU Paris is a thriving center of intellectual and cultural exchange. See
the NYU Paris site for more information.

What is the job placement record for students from the doctoral program?
In 2023, graduates accepted a tenure-track position at Cal State, Long Beach; a 3-year
visiting assistant professorship at Vassar; and a position as “professeure
d’enseignement artistique” at the École des Beaux-Arts in Montpellier. Since 2019,
graduates obtained tenure-track positions at Georgetown University, Boston College,
the University of Maryland, Radboud University (Netherlands), Texas A&M, and St.
Francis College in Brooklyn. Students have also recently accepted postdoctoral or
visiting appointments at NYU, Sarah Lawrence College, the University of Pittsburgh,
and Notre Dame, as well as a 5-year renewable position at Robinson College,
University of Cambridge.  See the Job Placements page for more information about
academic job placements.