Directory

Biography

Robert Cowan is director of the Literary Studies concentration in the Liberal Arts program. He returned to Kingsborough in 2022 after serving for seven years as a dean in the School of Arts & Sciences at Hunter College, has taught for over 25 years in a variety of contexts, and has engaged in volunteer work in India, Russia, Togo, at Rikers Island, and with various organizations in New York City. His areas of interest are creative writing; critical pedagogy; and post-Enlightenment French, German, Italian, & Russian literature and philosophy. Nominated for DAAD, Pushcart, Scaligione, and Wellek prizes, Professor Cowan is the author of five books of scholarship and poetry and co-editor of an anthology. His work has been supported by the American Association of Colleges & Universities, the American Comparative Literature Association, Columbia University, the Democracy Commitment, the Institut für Alles Mögliche (Berlin), the Mellon Foundation, Rotary International, and various entities of CUNY. For more information, see robertcowan.space.

Courses

ENG 30: Introduction to Literature
ENG 32: World Literature
ENG 35: Modern European Literature
ENG 40: Short Fiction
ENG 42: Poetry
ENG 48: American Environmental Literature
ENG 65: Literature & Film

Education

2006 Ph.D. Comparative Literature, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
2004  M.A. Comparative Literature, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
1994  B.A. Comparative Literature, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Books

Underlying Rhythm – On Translation, Communication, and Literary Languages: Essays in Honor of Burton Pike. Co-Editor. Oxford, UK: Peter Lang Oxford, 2023.

Solace in Oblivion: Approaches to Transcendence in Modern Europe. New Comparative Criticism. Oxford, UK: Peter Lang Oxford, 2020.

Elsewhen: Pieces. Illustrated by Ada Cowan. San Francisco, CA: Paloma Press, 2019.

Teaching Double Negatives: Disadvantage and Dissent in Community College. Studies in Criticality. New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2018.

Close Apart: Poems. San Francisco, CA: Paloma Press, 2018.

The Indo-German Identification: Reconciling South Asian Origins and European Destinies, 1765-1885. Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2010.