It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Professor of Literature Alain J.-J. Cohen on Jan. 29, 2026. He was 82.
A distinguished scholar, Cohen uniquely merged film studies and literary theory with psychoanalysis, semiotics and philosophy. He grounded this work in lived practice as a professional psychoanalyst, gaining a deep understanding of the human psyche that profoundly shaped his scholarship and teaching.
Over nearly 60 years as a faculty member in UC San Diego’s Department of Literature, Cohen studied cinema through a psychoanalytic lens, interpreting the unconscious desires, fears and motivations of filmmakers, characters and audiences alike. From the fragmented narratives of Jean-Luc Godard to the masterful suspense of Alfred Hitchcock and the morally complex worlds of Martin Scorsese, he skillfully untangled the nuanced semiotics and hidden subtext of some of the most iconic films of our time.
Cohen authored more than 100 research articles and presented hundreds of invited lectures around the world. In his co-authored book, Les autres arts dans l’art du cinéma, he examined how directors, theorists and critics draw on other artistic practices to reshape cinematic form and meaning. His scholarship also reached broader audiences through several appearances on UCSD-TV documentary productions, including a survey of the impact of director Stanley Kubrick, explorations of the intersections of painting and cinema and a profile of California artist-architect Russell Forester.
To further enrich his work in cinema and theory, Cohen completed clinical psychoanalytic training at the San Diego Psychoanalytic Center. For more than two decades, he provided therapy services, coached local psychoanalysts as a volunteer faculty member and coordinated film screenings and discussion sessions. He became an indispensable resource for promoting mental and psychological health both at the university and throughout the local community.
Beyond his scholarship, Cohen helped shape film studies at UC San Diego. He played a key role in sparking the creation of a film studies minor — an important precursor to the university’s recent introduction of a major in cinematic arts and film studies. He taught undergraduate and graduate courses in film studies, semiotics and French literature, earning a reputation for patient mentorship and deeply attentive feedback. Many students returned for multiple courses, drawn to the way he nurtured confidence and made them feel seen and heard.
His impact extended well beyond the classroom. Cohen served his department as head of the Comparative Literature section and participated in graduate admissions committees. He was also a member of the UCSD-TV Board and the UC San Diego Faculty Club Board of Directors. Over the past two decades, he curated more than 50 art exhibitions at the Faculty Club Gallery, often including visits to artists’ studios and hosting exhibition opening events that brought the campus and community together.
Cohen was born in French Tunisia, a region of North Africa that remained under French control until gaining independence in 1956. He moved to Canada in 1957, and then later to the United States to attend graduate school. He met his future wife, Denise, when they were both students at UCLA. They married in 1967.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 1962. He later traveled to California to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees in literature and theory at UCLA, which he completed in 1968. He arrived at UC San Diego’s Department of Literature in 1967, where he remained a faculty member for 59 years.
Alain’s family remembers him as kind, thoughtful, and clearly devoted to his intellectual and clinical work. He is survived by his wife Denise; brother Harry; sister-in-law Linda; nieces and nephews Angela, Chana, Dvorah, Esther, Mendel, Mushka, Nechamie, Shalom Ber, Shmuel, Yehuda, Yirmi and Yoseph; great nephew Emmett; and cousins Odile, Regine and Roger.
As we mourn the loss of our colleague and friend, we say goodbye the way he always did — with fortitude.
