Spring 2027

French Language and Francophone Cultures

This course improves French proficiency and Francophone cultural understanding through literature, film, advertising, journalism, grammar review, and discussion.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Ritt Deitz4.4/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Ritt Deitz

The course required extensive reading, including finishing a book within a two-day window, and mandated attendance with a written insight submitted after every class.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Analyze contemporary French and Francophone cultures by engaging with diverse media, including texts, films, podcasts, and articles.

  • Interpret and identify main ideas from a variety of French-language texts and respond to those texts coherently through both spoken and written French.

  • Enhance written and oral communication skills in French by producing structured compositions, presentations, and leading class discussions.

  • Expand vocabulary and master important grammar concepts to improve accuracy and clarity in communication.

  • Compare cultural practices and perspectives in French-speaking regions with those in the United States, using critical thinking to reflect on similarities, differences, and underlying values.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

FRENCH 204, 205, or placement into FRENCH 228

FRENCH 228 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

Ritt Deitz

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.87/5 from 30 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 4.7/5 raw quality · 2.1/5 difficulty · 13 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Ritt Deitz

Ritt Deitz required heavy reading and a written insight after each class. Assessments included three essay exams, which students found easy if they did the work, and one memorized presentation that was nerve-wracking but graded generously.

Students described Deitz’s lectures as funny and engaging, though some found homework tedious. A recurring concern was that he did not post grades on Canvas, forcing students to track them manually, while others noted frequent participation and cold calls.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.77 GPA, 90.0% A/AB (n=60 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.66 GPA, 90.0% A/AB (n=50 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.65 GPA, 84.6% A/AB (n=26 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Joshua Armstrong, Vlad Dima

Past students found Joshua Armstrong's class manageable, with nightly homework that was rarely checked and easy grading, though participation was required. Vlad Dima's lectures were engaging and fun, with a workload that felt just enough to support learning without being overwhelming.

EWA MIERNOWSKA is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2020, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

HILARY ANN HEFFLEY is recorded teaching in Fall 2012, Fall 2013. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JENNIFER GIPSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2014. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JENNIFER MISRAN is recorded teaching in Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JOSHUA ARMSTRONG is recorded teaching in Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2021. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

NELLY HALZEN is recorded teaching in Spring 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2016. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

NEVINE EL-NOSSERY is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2021, Spring 2025, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

RITT DEITZ is recorded teaching in Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

VLAD DIMA is recorded teaching in Fall 2013, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Spring 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 260
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 260

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Ritt Deitz

Professor Deitz taught a course on the francophone world and humanitarian aid that felt like an open conversation, and students reported gaining more insight than expected.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.78 GPA, 93.3% A/AB (n=45 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.74 GPA, 86.8% A/AB (n=68 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.80 GPA, 91.8% A/AB (n=49 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Ritt Deitz

The course required extensive reading, including finishing a book within a two-day window, and mandated attendance with a written insight submitted after every class.

Past student reviews · Ritt Deitz

Students described classes as involving cold calls and nerve-wracking memorized presentations, though the generous grading helped improve their French speaking skills.

Topics

  • French-language literature, film, advertising, journalism, and other forms of expression
  • Core grammar review
  • Contemporary French and Francophone cultures
  • Spoken and written responses to French-language texts
  • Cultural comparison with the United States

Skills

  • Interpreting main ideas in French-language texts
  • Responding coherently in spoken and written French
  • Producing structured compositions and presentations
  • Leading class discussions in French
  • Expanding vocabulary and mastering grammar concepts
  • Using critical thinking to compare cultural practices and values

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.14 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
FRENCH 228 · Spring 2027

French Language and Francophone Cultures

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:400:007751",
    "course_id": "FRENCH 228",
    "course_uid": "course_c9ea7f229f197dc5f8eb22c9",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "007751",
    "source_subject_id": "400",
    "title": "French Language and Francophone Cultures",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1Download part 2
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "6655957e63fc1d3f643e2dc0eb0ca6a1eaea115c119236c8aa6740cf2109df84",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}