Dr. Wilson Decembre

Wilson Décembre, Ph.D., is a Haitian-born scholar and cultural critic specializing in French and Francophone studies. He holds a Ph.D. from the City University of New York (Graduate Center) and a Master’s in Philosophy from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. He teaches at Pace University, Hunter College, and York College in New York. Originally from Jacmel, Décembre previously taught philosophy and literature at the Centre Alcibiade Pommayrac and served as president of the Alliance Française de Jacmel. He has long explored the intersection of Haitian culture with philosophy, pagan symbolism, music, and Vodou. Décembre is known for launching Jacmel’s first jazz radio show, Préférences, which aired from 1995 to 2003. He has published widely on Haitian music, including De la Nouvelle Orléans à Port-au-Prince: Histoires du Jazz (2018), and co-authored Affaire PétroCaribe (2018). His other significant works include Vitalité et Spiritualité (2009) and Cosmopoétique (2021), a study of René Depestre’s pagan symbolism in literature.