Claude Duval

Foreign Languages

Began in 1965
Retired in 2000

In late 1956 I became a naturalized citizen of the US in Brooklyn, NY. In less than three months, the beginnings of my college days at CCNY would be interrupted for almost 6 years in the US Army, mostly in Korea and Germany. In 1962, after a few unsuccessful attempts to resume my education in NY, an old Army friend, then working for Aerojet in Sacramento, convinced me that the college opportunities in California were most encouraging. The State College System provided sound, inexpensive education (if I remember correctly, semester tuition was only $48 then) and so, after a 3-day cross-country bus ride, I discovered Sacramento State College.

In the mid-sixties, 64/65, the Foreign Languages Department assigned me to teach intermediate French conversation and language lab: my first teaching responsibilities at Sac State. After graduate school at the University of British Columbia, Canada, I was hired for a permanent position in the Sac State Department of Foreign Languages. And so it lasted for over 30 years until I retired in 2000.

I taught a variety of French courses, French Canadian Literature and Civilization, French Cuisine for Home Economics, Foreign Language Methods for Teacher Ed. and English as a Second Language to Japanese teachers and students during several Summers for Continuing Education. All of that plus serving as Department Chair for about 10 years kept me busy - and in occasional difficulties. I particularly enjoyed working in the Academic Advising Center for many years and supervising student teachers in dozens of secondary schools. I know I was not as academically successful as my scholarly gifted department colleagues. I did find much happiness in students and in teaching. I managed to meet and develop friendships with many faculty members from other departments because, in part, I moved into at least 14 different offices in 7 or 8 different buildings; that might qualify as a unique, insignificant accomplishment for a Sac State professor.

My fondest memories of Sacramento State College go back to the first day I arrived on campus in 1962. I was immediately rewarded by the warm welcome of professors from different disciplines. I developed dozens of life-lasting friendships, some of which are still vibrant today. I was most fortunate to become familiar with many of the "pioneers" (many now deceased) of the Sac State faculty. The academic legacy they established has always been very important to me, in and out of my department. That will always be Sacramento State College to me.

In retirement, I am as busy as most other retirees: projects around the house and garden, some short (San Francisco and Oregon mostly) and long voyages (we have daughter who lives in London), cooking every day (a passion) and reading as much as possible in different languages. I only get to campus on Emeritus events, always hopeful to see some old familiar colleagues to keep the memory of Sacramento State College burning brightly.