Dr. Alain-Philippe Durand is the Dorrance Dean of the College of Humanities, Professor of French, and affiliated faculty in Africana Studies, Applied Intercultural Arts Research, Latin American Studies, LGBT Studies, and Public and Applied Humanities at the University of Arizona. His research interests include French and Brazilian literatures and cultures, French Cinema, Hip-Hostudies, and the promotion of the Humanities disciplines in the professions. He is the author and editor of five books and many chapters and articles in journals and volumes published in the United States, France, and Brazil. Dean Durand is a member of several professional organizations. He has served and continues to serve on the editorial boards of numerous journals, is Associate Editor of the journal Contemporary French Civilization, and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Arizona Council for the Humanities and the American College of the Mediterranean. He is regularly invited to lecture at institutions in Brazil and France. The French Government awarded Durand the Palmes Académiques. The University of Arizona awarded Durand the Five Star Faculty Award, the Richard Ruiz Diversity LeadershiFaculty Award, and the African American Community Council’s Distinguished Faculty Award. The French publication France-Amérique named him among its list of fifty French talents living in the United States. Dean Durand earned a Ph.D. in French Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after completing two Master of Arts in French Literature and in Latin American Studies at the University of Kansas, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business, French, and Spanish from Emporia State University.