Professor Eglal Henein does what she loves. As a French professor at Tufts since 1977, she has been reading, researching and teaching literature in her search for truth.
"Truths are my big thing," she said.
After reading a series of books her father gave her for her First Communion when she was seven years old, Henein was set on her career plans: "I decided I was going to spend my life reading. I didn't think of anything different," she said.
Though she has taught at Tufts for nearly 30 years, Henein's path to the Hill was a long one.
"You can say that I am colonized," said Henein, who was born in Egypt and grew up speaking French. While she was still living with her parents, both native Egyptians, the family moved from Egypt to Montreal. "For political, economic and religious reasons, it was impossible to stay," she said.
After completing high school, Henein received a grant from the French government to study in Paris and seized the opportunity. She stayed in Paris for 10 years and obtained her doctoral degree. "As long as your grant is renewed, you stay in Paris," she said.
After Paris, Henein traveled back across the Atlantic to Yale, where she was an assistant professor for three years. Finally, she ended up in Medford and has taught French courses in Olin Hall ever since.
Henein, who is currently teaching a survey of early French literature and an upper-level French theater course, said her favorite part of teaching is her students. "Usually, they are very happy to be here, and that is satisfying," she said.
Because she often finds the students who only take French to fulfill language requirements apathetic, Henein explained that she prefers teaching higher-level students. "The toughest course I gave was French III," she said, explaining that only one of the students in the class was planning to continue in French and that the others showed no enthusiasm.
Henein believes this lack of enthusiasm is a signal that the language requirement at Tufts could use some rethinking. She focused on the state of literature classes at Tufts: "The romance [languages] department is a disaster," she said. "Four tenure-track positions have not been renewed." Because of this disorder, Henein explained, the French department is lacking experts in 18th-century and 20th-century literature.
Henein hopes for the administration to recognize the separate disciplines within the romance language department. "French, Spanish and Italian are all European languages, but they are different languages," she said.
Despite her frustrations, Henein said that she enjoys her work, especially when reading and teaching her favorite genre: the fairy tale. She explained that fairy tales are all about finding truth.
Henein's love of fairy tales is evident in her current work: The compilation of a new expandable Web edition of the 17th-century French novel "Astr?©e." "The [plot of the] novel is totally impossible," she said. "C'est fou."
Henein's work on the novel sent her to Paris last spring, where she spent a semester on leave digging up the five original volumes of the novel, located only in a Parisian library. "You can't find them anywhere else," she said. Henein also traveled to Paris over the recent Thanksgiving break to do some work on her new edition.
She recalled some of the differences between life in Paris and life in the United States. "The library is different," she said. "If you want a drink of water, you have to go outside to the bar, and Coke is more expensive than wine."
A focus on food and drink is another cultural difference in France that Henein enjoys when abroad: Though her favorite Parisian food depends on the season, she highlighted her love for fresh sardines. "I've never seen them here," she said. She also loves French salads, such as endive salad, and Paris' great chocolate desserts.
Henein also cooks when she travels to Paris, leading her to stay in her favorite Parisian hotel, the Citadines, whose apartments contain kitchens.
When back at Tufts, Henein shares her love of French food and culture with her students. She recently hosted a murder mystery dinner, during which she served French cheeses, bread, salad and dessert, for her students at her apartment in Cambridge.
The evening was a social success. "[The students] got to know each other and make fun of each other," she said.
Henein also hopes to expand the social use of French on campus by starting a club based on her favorite game: Scrabble. Though she owns the French version, Henein doubts the likelihood of such a club succeeding, though she hopes it might be possible.
Though Henein said her research, cooking and Scrabble-playing have not led her to find any "truths," her search is never finished. "Otherwise, why would I keep living?" she said.
