New Faculty Profile

Eric Touya
(Assistant Professor, Department of Languages and International Studies)

A brief overview of your area of expertise, research and teaching.

I am originally from south-west of France. I pursued my advanced studies in the United States. I received my BA at the University of California at Berkeley then an MA and a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. I also have an advanced degree from the Université de Paris IV (Sorbonne). Academically, my areas of interests include European languages and literatures and their relation with art, history, culture, and politics. Studying, teaching and/or doing research in my field today requires one to be familiar with all these disciplines.
Because of my background, I also have a great interest in news around the world. I am particularly interested in the perspective that each person has on a vast array of issues, in the relation among cultures and countries for example. What I like about teaching and/or doing research is that I am able to incorporate in these activities questions that concern everyone at a university but also outside the ivory tower.

Why did you come to Adelphi? What has been your experience so far?

I chose to come to Adelphi because it is a university on the move. Based on what I have heard and what I have seen, the university is enjoying a rebound. There are better students. The departments are growing and all this is very positive. Another reason that made me chose Adelphi is the challenge to bring a new dynamic to the French program.
Since the beginning of the year, the students at Adelphi have the possibility of working toward a BA degree in French. I have been asked to organize a program in Paris designed for Adelphi students that would last for three weeks every two years at the end of the Spring semester. We also need to define strategies that will enable the program and the department to continue to be successful. These challenges have allowed me to gain experience since I have arrived.
One last reason finally that brought me to New York is a better possibility for my wife, also an academic, to find employment in the New York metropolitan area than in many other places in the country. My experience at Adelphi has been positive. I enjoy the students who are imaginative and can think for themselves, but also the faculty and the administration who both have been supportive.

What do you wish to contribute? What do you feel strongly about in regards to teaching or your specialization?

Many possibilities of career exist for students who major in French and/or International Studies. French is the second most frequently taught language in the world after English. It is also an official working language of the United Nations, including UNESCO and hundreds of international organizations. France is the fourth economy in the world. The US is the largest investor in France and France is one of the three largest investors in the US. This means that tens of thousands of jobs are offered to those who are able to speak, write or "think" in French. What I feel strongly about in teaching is that French is not a difficult language and that one can have a fun experience learning it. What I also feel strongly about is that learning a foreign language goes beyond speaking words, it goes to the core of what our modern world needs: an understanding of other people, cultures, and traditions, and an appreciation of their heritage and ways of life.

What do you wish to impart to your students?

With the knowledge of a foreign language, culture and literature which, as I indicated above, is absolutely necessary to a college education, I would like to impart to the students a better understanding of themselves and the world. I am particularly interested in the progress a student can make. I know that our activities go beyond the simple mechanics of acquiring a technique or a strategy. The students gain power by reading, speaking and writing in a foreign language and, through this process, they open themselves to the world. They acquire the ability to encounter a person beyond their borders, and be able to exchange ideas, find compromises and/or make agreements. They also have the capacity to read and understand a text written in a foreign language. Many of the most critical writing in the fields of Arts and Sciences derive from France today. In this context, what I would like to impart to my students is at the same time a sense of enjoyment, in and outside the class, and also a certain rigor. I think the two are not irreconcilable.