French Major, MA

Thesis Option

• Completion of a minimum of 27 credit hours of course work plus 6 credit hours of FREN 500 - Thesis . A maximum of 6 credit hours may be taken at the 400-level; the rest at the 500-level. Under certain conditions, the student may take 600-level seminars.

• The thesis committee must be established and a formal proposal approved by the end of the second semester of course work. The thesis must be completed by the end of the fourth semester of course work. The thesis will contain 10,000 to 15,000 words. Any student who fails to receive a passing grade in FREN 500  in their third and fourth semesters will be required to complete the non-thesis option.

• A written examination covering the course work and selected items from a master reading list.

• A final oral examination covering the thesis.

Non-Thesis Option

• Completion of at least 30 credit hours of course work with a maximum of 9 credit hours at the 400-level and the rest at the 500-level. Under certain conditions, the student may take 600-level seminars. If the student chooses to have a minor (such as Italian or Portuguese), at least 24 credit hours must be taken in the major and 6 credit hours in the minor.

• A research paper from a course, which the candidate substantially expands with the approval of the committee.

• A written examination covering the course work and selected items from a master reading list.

• A final oral examination to discuss the research paper.

Five-Year BA-MA Program – French Major

For qualified students, the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures offers a 5-year BA-MA program with a BA major in French and Francophone Studies and a non-thesis MA major in French. The primary component of the program is that a qualified student may take up to 9 credit hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both the BA degree and the MA degree. Qualifications for admission to the program are:

• The student must have an overall cumulative GPA of 3.0 and a cumulative GPA of 3.5 in undergraduate French courses to be considered for admission to the program.
• Conditional and full admission of a student into this program must be approved by the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures and by the Graduate School.
• Conditional admission may be granted after completing 64 credit hours of the requirements for the BA in French and Francophone Studies, as specified by any Undergraduate Catalog in effect during that student’s attendance at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, provided that the Catalog has been in effect within six years of the date of graduation.
• Conditional admission must be obtained before taking a graduate course that is to be used to satisfy the requirements of both the BA degree and the MA degree.
• Full admission may be granted after completing 96 credit hours of the requirements for the BA in French and Francophone Studies, as specified by any Undergraduate Catalog in effect during that student’s attendance at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, provided that the Catalog has been in effect within six years of the date of graduation. A cumulative GPA of 3.5 in undergraduate French courses is required for full admission.
• Any course taken for graduate credit prior to satisfying all requirements for the BA degree must be approved by the department head (or designee) and by the Graduate School.
• A student will not be eligible for a graduate assistantship until the student has satisfied all of the requirements for the BA degree.