Department of French

Studying French means engaging with a dynamic, varied and constantly evolving tradition of literature, cinema, criticism, modern philosophy and political ideas, as well as mastering a language that is widely used not only in Europe but across the five continents of the world.

Undergraduate study of French offers the chance to reach a high level of proficiency in the spoken and written language, as well as providing a deeply enriching cultural and intellectual experience.

The Department of French at King’s is one of a select number of departments that still offer the possibility of study across the whole range of French literature from the Middle Ages to the present day, as well as modules in French history, contemporary French institutions, film, politics and philosophy.

In addition to its strengths in all periods of French literature, the department is also one of the few institutions in the country with specialists in Francophone literature (literature written in French, but produced outside France, for example in North Africa or Canada) and Occitan (Provençal) literature.

In the 2008 UK-wide research assessment exercise, the department was ranked second in the UK. 65 per cent of our research was deemed by a panel of experts to be ‘internationally excellent’, indicating a worldclass research community in French literature, culture and history at King’s.