Letter from the Chair

Summer 2008 L’Arc Volume 22 New York University French Programs Newsletter Letter From The Chair For some years now, much time has been devoted and the other in its Western suburb, raised questions of at every level of academic institutions in this country, but redundancy, overlap, and integration. But it was not sim- also elsewhere, to discussing the impact on Academia of ply a case of duplicates. The respective contexts and thus what is known in today’s public vocabulary as globaliza- the identities and status of these two superficially identi- tion. Is it but the latest version of one of Academia’s found- cal units were in fact very different. A worldwide seriali- ing ideals, that of translation studies? Is Academia con- zation of American satellite campuses (or European ones cerned by it? Should it be? Should it join it? Resist it? Can for that matter) is one thing (a university delivered, as it it not join it? What would either of the two outcomes entail? were, clés en mains.) A strong NYU French program in Paris, with organic ties to the Department These questions have prompted a and the IFS (the Institute of French whole gamut of commentaries and reac- Studies), is another. Needless to mention tions, ranging from the high-flown world the oddity that a NYU-sponsored French historical and philosophical to the minute Department in Paris with no organic ties budgetary practicalities of resource man- with the Department of French of NYU in agement, and from triumphal missionar- New York would constitute. Our NYU-in- ism to sarcastic skepticism, defensive France program predates the globaliza- indifference, and even to the fear that tion motto. Its existence doesn’t owe much history would hold a de facto retaliation to a formal cult of expansion per se, but to in reserve against those disciplines the subject matter or matters that are which, for whatever reason (objective or part and parcel of our curriculum. It is not subjective), wouldn’t be able to join in. a mere exportation, nor simply a geo- For the Department of French, graphical expansion or extension. It is an during the past few years, these discus- outside that was preinscribed in the very sions haven’t been a purely theoretical, definition of the field. Here, isolationism purely “academic” exercise: they were fed, would simply be unthinkable. For a even if in an uneven manner, by two proj- French department, as for many others, ects. On the one hand, that of the long such ventures abroad did not wait for the lasting negotiations between New York discourse of globalization to be launched. University and the American University Such exchanges are part of their organic in Paris and, on the other, more margin- development, not only with France and ally, that of the fast moving NYU-Abu Francophone Europe, but also with these Dhabi project. Will the Department of French ever be other sub-fields that are developing so fast: Maghrebian, present in the Emirates? Probably not as such. The situ- Sub-Saharan, and Caribbean Studies. It may be that glob- ation was more of a close call with the American alization can only be specific, inscribed in a history and a University in Paris merger, which was of direct import for discipline or a field. our Paris program. In any case, after a few years of suspense, it Considering the fact that AUP already had its own seems that the merger between NYU and AUP has been French Department, the coexistence of two NYU units definitively put to rest. Thanks in particular to Caroline next to each other, one in the Western districts of Paris Montel-Glénisson, the suspension of the negotiations 2 turned out for the better as far as NYU in France is con- organized their own conference: in November, those from cerned whose rue de Passy premises are being expanded the Joint program in French Studies and French to accommodate the influx of new students. Literature had a day devoted to the question of “Regime change.” And in February, those from the Ph.D. in Whatever the futuristic anticipations of Academic French Literature two days devoted to “The Life of the visionaries, the core of our activities still remains Work.” I should also mention the very promising initia- anchored around ”the Square,” between 19 University tives of several of our language lecturers: Olivier Berthe rench Place and the Mews where this past year has been a very and Nils Froment, who organized a series of monthly dis- f active and positive one for the Department, and I have to cussions for undergraduates (“Exagon”) at the Maison thank Judith Miller for having helped me get through it Française that are taking over the traditional Table as Acting Chair, even though she was on leave. I have to française, and Stéphanie Dubois and Jennifer Gordon’s thank also Richard Sieburth, who came back to the posi- “Rendez-vous à la Maison Française,” which allows tion of Director of Graduate Studies for a year, and beginner and intermediate level students to practice Stéphane Gerson, who continued his work as Director of speaking French in a casual setting. Undergraduate Studies; I extend my gratitude for their energy, their commitment to the program, to its adjust- As for the faculty, a new colleague is joining the ment to current demands, for their attention to students, Department this coming fall. After a very rewarding individually and collectively. They were helped by search for a dix-huitièmiste, Lucien Nouis, a Princeton epartment of Claudie Bernard, who served as adviser for the incoming Ph.D. who was previously teaching at The University of D first-year graduate students. John Moran, now a sea- Pittsburg, has accepted the position of Assistant soned Director of the Language Program, does a fantastic Professor. There will be movements in the other direction job in organizing the pedagogical training of the new gen- in the near future also: Nancy Regalado and Jindrich eration of graduate students who, for the past two years, Zezula, to whom the Department owes so much, have have been enjoying quite a lighter teaching load than announced their intention to retire. their elders. Before I leave this position, I want also to thank Sandi Adams, our administrator, for the help she I conclude with another type of departure, that of has provided me with, as well as our team of Assistants, students who, having defended their dissertation, are Brett Underhill, Alex Teachey, and Ellie Vance for the leaving to start their professional career: Anthony atmosphere of congenial liveliness and efficiency they Abiragi at Virginia Tech, Xiaofu Ding at The Brearly have managed to maintain on our Sixth Floor. School, Fayçal Falaky at Tulane, Karen Santos da Silva at Sarah Lawrence, Keithley Woolward at the University The Department is looking forward to answering of the Bahamas, and Yue Zhuo at Yale. the challenges of the present and the future, but it does so without forgetting its past. It is significant in this Denis Hollier, July 2008 respect that one of the first events of the year to be held at (and by) the Maison Française was an evening of homage to Germaine Brée, its founder fifty years ago at the time she was chairing what was then the department of Contents Romance Languages. The “French Literature in the Making” program, organized by Tom Bishop and the Center for French Civilization and Culture, where Department of French 3 Olivier Barrot interviews a French writer one Monday evening each month, is now in its second year, giving our - Faculty News 6 students direct access to current French literary produc- - It’s Been A Good Run: Timmie Vitz tion. The arrival of our new colleague, Ludovic Cortade, Interviews Nancy Regalado 11 put an emphasis on cinema, often in conjunction with Film Studies. Particularly successful were an event - A Portrait of Lucien Nouis 14 around Deplechin’s last movie and a round table devoted to Resnais’s documentary, Les Statues meurent aussi, in - Student News 15 conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum. Tom Bishop - Alumni News 16 organized a week of homage to our late friend and colleague Christian Delacampagne. The year concluded La Maison Française 18 with two conferences--one to honor Philippe Lacoue- Labarthe (“Catastrophe and Caesura”), organized by Institute of French Studies 20 Avital Ronell and myself, and another “The Way we Read Now” co-organized by Emily Apter and Columbia’s NYU-in-France 22 English Department. Upcoming Events 23 The Maison Française also hosted a series of successful events initiated by students. For the first time, this year’s students from each of our Ph.D. programs A Few Words About The Dulau Fellowship 3 I recently had the opportunity to speak about André Dulau died in his 80s from complications André Dulau with Tomás Ryan and Viviane Ohayon after an accident in the subway, bequeathing in 1996 Ryan, who administer the Dulau award for dissertation 300 of his books to the French Department of New York students in The Department of French. The Ryans were University, as well as the substantial sum of money that long-time friends of André Dulau, Mr. Ryan handling his serves as the basis of the Dulau Fellowships. His gift legal affairs and Mrs. Ryan, who shared his love of liter- and the careful shepherding of this gift by the Ryans rench ature and who herself had been a teacher in our depart- will enable us to award dissertation fellowships for f ment (then in a slightly different configuration) from many years to come.

Load more