Directory
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. He 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. His areas of interest
are creative writing; critical pedagogy; and post-Enlightenment French, German, Italian,
& Russian literature and philosophy. Nominated for DAAD, Pushcart, and Scaligione
book prizes, he 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 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. 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.