Denis Provencher Named Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Affairs, Partnerships
NC State’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences has named Denis M. Provencher associate dean for interdisciplinary affairs and partnerships, effective July 1. Provencher will also hold rank as a professor in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, pending Board of Trustees approval.
Currently, Provencher serves as professor of French and Francophone studies at the University of Arizona and holds affiliate appointments in anthropology, gender and women’s studies, the Institute for LGBT Studies, linguistics, and second language acquisition and teaching. Provencher also serves as editor-in-chief of the interdisciplinary journals Contemporary French Civilization (CFC) and CFC Intersections, and is the co-editor of the book series, Modern & Contemporary France, all published by Liverpool University Press.
“With his strong administrative, teaching and research skills, all emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches and a collaborative leadership style, Denis has the expertise to help propel our college forward,” says Deanna Dannels, dean of the college. “His broad experience forging partnerships and advocating for flexible educational pathways will be vital to crafting academic solutions and opportunities that champion our common mission and value all voices.”
Provencher joined the University of Arizona in 2016 as a professor and head of the Department of French and Italian. Additionally, he served as acting director of the Institute for LGBT Studies in 2018 and as a faculty fellow for the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs in 2021-22. He is a former fellow of the Academic Leadership Institute (ALI) at the University of Arizona (2018-19). He also co-chaired the college’s diversity and inclusion committee. In 2022, he received the University of Arizona’s Richard Ruiz Diversity Leadership Faculty Award.
Earlier, Provencher worked at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) where he was an assistant professor of French and intercultural communication from 2005-2008, before rising to associate professor from 2008-2016, when he also held affiliate appointments in gender and women’s studies and in the interdisciplinary doctoral program in language, literary and culture. He also served as graduate program director for the M.A. in intercultural communication (2010-2016).
His academic career also includes holding visiting appointments and research affiliations with national and international universities. They include serving as a senior research fellow and Marie Curie International Incoming Fellow at Nottingham Trent University (UK) and as a research affiliate in sexuality and gender studies at the University of Birmingham (UK).
Provencher’s research cuts across traditional disciplinary boundaries and explores the transnational flow of languages, peoples, texts and ideas related to gender, sexuality, class, race and religion across North America, Europe and North Africa. His publications include two single-authored books, two co-edited volumes, and more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on these topics. His second monograph, Queer Maghrebi French: Language, Temporalities, Transfiliations (Liverpool UP, 2017) also won the 2017 Ruth Benedict Book Prize, Honorable Mention, from the Association of Queer Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association.
In addition, he is currently conducting fieldwork for a new book, Queer Diaspora in Quebec. His work is funded in part by the Francophone Mobility Chair Program at the University of Ottawa, one of more than 20 fellowships and grants he has received during his career.
Provencher holds a Ph.D. in French civilization and cultural studies and a master’s degree in French from The Pennsylvania State University, and a bachelor’s degree in French from the University of Vermont.
