Biography
Robert Cowan returned to Kingsborough in Fall 2022 after serving for seven years as a dean in the School of Arts & Sciences at Hunter College, overseeing academic program reviews, the curriculum process, learning outcomes assessment, new program development, and 46 graduate programs. He has taught for over 25 years in a variety of contexts and has engaged in volunteer work at a Siberian orphanage, at Rikers Island, and with various organizations through New York Cares. His areas of interest are post-Enlightenment continental European literature and philosophy, creative writing, and critical pedagogy. A Pushcart Prize nominee, he is the author of five books and co-editor of an anthology. His work has been supported by the American Comparative Literature Association, the American Association of Colleges & Universities, Columbia University, the Democracy Commitment, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, see robertcowan.space.

Courses
ENG 12: Freshman Composition I
ENG 24: Freshman Composition II
ENG 30: Introduction to Literature
ENG 35: Modern European Literature
ENG 40: Short Fiction
ENG 42: Poetry
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: Festschrift in Honor of Scholar and Translator 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. 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.