James Franco showed some love for NYU at the Oscars, and now he’s coming back for more. Next year, Franco will teach a section of graduate film students.

Franco mentioned the news in an email to WSN, responding to a question on why he hasn’t been very vocal about his time at NYU.

“I love NYU,” Franco wrote. “My fellow NYU film students are some of my closest friends. I mentioned NYU at the Oscars and on David Letterman; I don’t know how to be more vocal about it. I will be teaching NYU graduate students next year.”

Franco will teach a section of third-year directing in the fall, according to John Tintori, the chair of the graduate division of the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television. Each of the 10 to 12 students in the class will adapt a Louise Gluck poem; Tintori said Franco has met with Gluck and has secured permission to adapt her work.

Franco said his class will develop a book of poems into a feature film, and that he will teach at NYU “probably for a year.”

“The book of poems has not been decided upon,” he said. “I love the idea of working with students, especially NYU students.”

“James’ own film work has been based on poems, or about poets, so this is a nice fit for him,” Tintori wrote in an email. “James has an amazing mind. And limitless energy. Our students will be fortunate to learn from him.”

Christine Nguyen, a second-year graduate student in the Tisch Interactive Telecommunications Program, said she hopes Franco wasn’t hired only because of his name.

“Hopefully they’re basing this decision on the fact that he’s qualified to do it, not because he’s James Franco,” she said. “It’s not such a bad idea for NYU [to have] a celebrity or an actor teach at the school. It’s a smart move for NYU.”

Andrew Scott, a Tisch freshman studying film, thinks Franco is a valuable addition to the faculty, despite the actor’s quirks.

“He’s a crazy guy,” he said. “He does what he wants.”