About us

Welcome to the French Department

The French Department is the largest discipline within the School of Modern languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies (SLLCS) in TCD. Founded in 1776 it is one of the oldest in Europe. It is also currently one of the most modern in the range and sophistication of its teaching at undergraduate level, offering courses in Renaissance and 17th-century literature, 19th and 20th-century literature, extra-metropolitan literature and French linguistics. The department also makes a significant contribution to interdisciplinary courses in European Studies and Business Studies. In addition, it has major input into four masters courses within the School: Comparative Literature, European Studies, Literary Translation, and Textual and Visual Studies. The area of Textual and Visual Studies is a particular strength, with a personal chair (1995) dedicated to this field of study (the only named chair in this discipline in Ireland), and a chair of French (1776) currently occupied by a specialist in the relationship between fiction and photography.