Our annual guest DJ series with UA professors in conjunction with the Humanities Festival continues with Dean Alain-Philippe Durand!

Dr. Alain-Philippe Durand is the Dorrance Dean of the College of Humanities at the University of Arizona. His research interests include French and Brazilian literatures and cultures, French Cinema, Hip-Hop studies, and the promotion of the Humanities disciplines in the professions.

He is the author and editor of six books, including two centered on rap music and hip-hop culture in the francophone world.

In 2025, the French Government bestowed him with the Order of Academic Palms (l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques) rank of Officer, France’s highest academic honor.

Other recent awards include the University of Arizona’s Five Star Faculty Award, the Richard Ruiz Diversity Leadership Faculty Award, and the African American Community Council’s Distinguished Faculty Award. The French publication France-Amérique named him among its list of 50 French talents living in the United States.