Business Management

I. Program Requirements

Students in the Business Management Track will complete their coursework by taking the core courses (15 units) and electives (15 units) outlined below. Up to three thesis units (FREN 910) may count toward the total of 30 units in all MA options. Thesis units (FREN 910) may not be combined with Internship units (FREN 593) or Independent Studies units (FREN 599) as part of the total of 30 units (they may be taken in addition. Coursework substitutions may be possible, but are subject to DGS approval. 

Part 1
Core Courses (15 units)

FREN 532 French Translation
FREN 533 Business French 1
FREN 534 Business French 2
*FIN 510A Finance (2 units)
*ACCT 540 Introduction to Financial Accounting (2 units)
MKTG 510 Market Based Management (2 units)

*ACCT 550 is listed as requisite for FIN 510A. However, students take ACCT 540 in August to mid-Oct followed by FIN 510A from mid-October to December (that's how those courses are sequenced). ACCT 540 is a suitable substitute for ACCT 550. 

Part 2
Electives

Electives in French (12 units)
FREN 550 French Cultural & Literary History: Renaissance to Revolution
FREN 551 French Cultural & Literary History: Revolution-World War II
FREN 552 French Cultural & Literary History: Contemporary France (20th-21st)
FREN 553 Literature in Context: Focus on a Historical Period
FREN 540 Topics in French Literature
FREN 542 French Narratives and Film
FREN 543 Contemporary Francophone Literature and Cinema
FREN 544 Topics in French Culture
FREN 545 Francophone Cultures and Traditions
FREN 547 Topics in Francophone Studies
FREN 544 French Theory
FREN 555 French Cinema
FREN 556 Topics in the Maghreb and the Near East- Peoples and Cultures
FREN 557 Topics in Sub-Saharan Africa- Peoples and Cultures
FREN 558 Topics in the Francophone Caribbean- Peoples and Cultures
FREN 561 French Linguistics
FREN 563 Simultaneous and Consecutive Interpretation
FREN 567 Topics in French Linguistics
FREN 593 Internship
FREN 599 Independant Study (1-3 units)
FREN 910 Thesis

Electives in Business Management (3 units)
MGMT/ENTR 514 International Management of Services (3 units)
MGMT 535 International Management (3 units)
MGMT 564 Negotiation (3 units)
MIS 513 Business Foundations for IT (3 units)
MIS 578 Project Management (3 units)
MKTG 500 Marketing Management (3 units)

Sample Course Sequence
  • Year 1
    • Fall Semester (9 units)
      • FREN 533, Business French 1 (3 units)
      • *FIN 510A, Finance (2 units)
      • *ACCT 540, Introduction to Financial Accounting (2 units)
      • MKTG 510, Market-Based Management (2 units)
    • Spring Semester (6 units)
      • FREN 532, French Translation (3 units)
      • FREN 534, Business French 2 (3 units)
      •  (student files Plan of Study) 
  • YEAR 2
    • Fall Semester (9 units)
      • FREN 5XX, Elective (3 units)
      • FREN 5XX, Elective (3 units)
      • FREN 5XX, Elective (3 units)
    • Spring Semester (6 units)
      • FREN 5XX, Elective (3 units)
      • + One of the following: 
        • MGMT/ENTR 514, International Management of Services (3)
        • MGMT 535, International Management (3 units)
        • MGMT 563, Doing Business In/With Africa: A Cultural Perspective (3)
        • MGMT 564, Negotiation (3 units)
        • MIS 513, Business Foundations for IT (3 units)
        • MIS 578, Project Management (3 units)
        • MKTG 500, Marketing Management (3)

II. Completing the Professional M.A.

Preparing for your Professional M.A. Written and Oral Exams

Just before the semester of the expected graduation date, the candidate and DGS should confer about the choice of an Exam Committee chair, and the candidate should meet with the prospective chair to make plans for the upcoming semester. No later than the beginning of the semester of the expected graduation date, the candidate, the Exam Committee Chair, and DGS should also agree upon and contact the two additional Exam Committee Members, who will be formally appointed by the DGS. Early in the last semester of the MA program, the candidate (not the Department is also responsible (1) for checking Graduate College deadlines and for completing and submitting to the Director of Graduate Studies the Master/s/Specialist Committee Appointment Form through GradPath; and (2) for providing Exam Committee Members copies of all course syllabi of FREN courses covered in the Professional M.A. program, alerting them to the proposed date of the written examination, and ascertaining their times and dates of availability for the Oral Exam. Students are responsible for communicating these times and dates to the DGS, who together with the SILLC and French and Italian staff will schedule a provisional time, date, and classroom for the Oral Exam. All fees must be cleared with the Bursar's Office. 

The Professional M.A. Written Examination
  • The Professional M.A. examination is typically given twice a year, in October-November and March-April.  It consists of two parts, written and oral.*
  • The written examination will be based on the candidate's coursework in French and/or Francophone literature, culture, and/or theory, as well as related areas of the graduate curriculum when appropriate (as determined by the DGS and Exam Committee Chair).
  • The written component of the examination consists of three take-home exams (sent via e-mail) that typically take the following form: (1) a textual or cinematic analysis; (2) an essay based on a specific work of literature (to be chosen by the candidate, the faculty member in charge of this part of the examination, and the Director of Graduate Studies); and (3) an essay on a wider, more general topic in literary and/or cultural studies.
  • All three essays should be written in French, typed, double-spaced, and 4-6 pages in length.

The student has one week to complete all three exams and return them to the DGS, who will distribute them to the committee members for evaluation.

The Professional M.A. Oral Examination

The candidate is not permitted to undertake the oral component of the MA Examination until s/he has performed satisfactory on the written part. Satisfactorily is determined as a passing grade on the written part from at least of the three committee members. A student required to retake one or more parts of the written examination must do so before proceeding to the oral examination, normally in the semester following the one in which the original attempt was made, but not sooner. The Oral Examination (1-2 hours maximum) will cover works on the candidate's course syllabi as well as areas considered in the written examination*. The oral examination is usually scheduled within a week to ten days of the written examination. The Graduate College sets deadlines each semester for the completion of this examination; students are responsible for knowing these deadlines and scheduling their exams accordingly. The examination committee shall be composed of the three committee members in French for the written examinations (one of them all be designated by the Director of Graduate Studies). The examinations committee shall meet prior to the oral examination to determine time limits and questioning sequences. It shall meet once more after the completion of the oral examination to determine if the candidate has:

  1. Passed
  2. Failed: In which case the student must wait until the following semester before retaking the oral examination. A second oral examination will take place no sooner than four months after the initial one.

Note: Two adverse votes results in failure. An abstention counts as a vote for failure. Results are tallied by the committee chair, who informs the candidate only as to whether the vote was Pass or Fail.

M.A. Thesis

In lieu of the written exam, Professional M.A. students may request the option of presenting an M.A. thesis, written in French, on a topic of interest that combines their French and professional skills. For students presenting an M.A. thesis in lieu of a written examination, the oral examination will consist of 1) a defense of the thesis, and 2) questions on works and topics covered in the candidate’s course syllabi.

III. Financing Your Studies

Students in this program are not eligible for Graduate Assistantships in Teaching (GATships). But the Africana Studies Program awards two Research Assistantships (RAships) at 0.50FTE per academic year to candidates in any of the emphases of the Professional MA in French. 

For the total Tuition and Fees for the Academic Year, click here.

IV. Curricular Emphasis in Business Management

With the help of their faculty mentor and the Director of Graduate Studies, Professional M.A. students have the flexibility to construct a Plan of Study that suits their own particular needs and interests. What is listed above is a sample Plan of Study for the Emphasis in Business Management. If one or more of the courses listed is not available in regular rotation, or if the students and their advisors determine that a different class would be better suited to the students’ individual academic interests and professional goals, substitutions may be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies on a case-by-case basis. 

While students are required to successfully complete a minimum of 9 units in Business, they are encouraged to complete 15 units (in addition to the 21 units required in FREN).

Eller MBA