We know that James Franco is a multi-faceted and very talented individual. Can he include the title of professor in his list of professions?
James Franco did indeed teach college classes, thus you could call him a ‘Professor’. While his teaching stint was relatively short-lived, James Franco taught at a few universities as well as at a high school.
James Franco has had a pretty interesting journey with education. While he initially gave up on education to pursue acting when he was young, he eventually went back and ended up teaching classes himself.
A Man With Multiple Hats
James Franco can do it all. He’s an actor. He’s a director. He’s a screenwriter. He’s a writer. He’s a poet. He’s a painter.
James Franco is also a professor.
With a deep passion and respect for education, James Franco decided to share his gifts and excitement for learning with other people. The actor has a (perhaps surprisingly) impressive teaching record, spanning across various universities and even including a high school.
In 2008, James Franco got a Master in Fine Arts degree at Columbia University. He completed the degree with a major in Creative Writing before moving onto Yale for a PhD. After Columbia, he also attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Warren Wilson College, Brooklyn College, and the Rhode Island School of Design.
I think it’s pretty clear that academia is a passion of his.
He eventually made it back to Columbia University. But this time, it was to teach.
He also ended up teaching English at NYU, UCLA, USC, and CalArts.
Eventually heading back to his hometown, James Franco added to his impressive teaching resume by teaching at his very own alma mater, Palo Alto High School. He joined his former journalism teacher, Esther Wojcicki, to teach a weekend workshop to produce a film.
The eight-part education series involved working on eight different scenes for a film James Franco had written himself. Only a handful of students were lucky enough to be able to be involved in the free course.
To perhaps deter a flood of applications, the application didn’t mention Franco by name but gave a description that had people suspecting that Franco would be the teacher.