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John McGowan

Photograph of John McGowan

John W. and Anna H. Hanes Distinguished Professor

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About

My work has been in literary and political theory, with a focus on how the intellectual traditions in the US and the UK have shaped current cultural and political attitudes, values, and debates.  I blog irregularly about what I am reading and about contemporary culture and politics at McGowanBlog (https://jzmcgowan.com) and I do a podcast with UNC English PhD alums Elizabeth Stockton and Andy Crank.  Called “The Sound and the Furious,” you can find episodes of the podcast at https://www.soundandthefuriouspod.com/

Degrees

1974, BA, English, Georgetown University

1978, PhD, English, University of Buffalo

Publications

  • Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism (W. W. Norton, 3rd edition, 2018).
  • Postmodernism and its Critics (Cornell UP, 1991).
  • Hannah Arendt: An Introduction (University of Minnesota Press, 1998).
  • Democracy’s Children: Intellectuals and the Rise of Cultural Politics (Cornell UP, 2002).
  • American Liberalism: An Interpretation for Our Time (University of North Carolina Press, 2007).
  • Pragmatist Politics: Making the Case for Liberal Democracy (University of Minnesota Press, 2012).

Awards

  • Graduate Mentoring Award, Comparative Literature and English Association of Graduate Students, 2004 and 2015
  • Sitterson Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 2005
  • Award for Excellence in Teaching Post-Baccalaureate Students, 2002
  • Chapman Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1999

 

  • Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, National Humanities Center, 2017-18
  • Erasmus Mundus Scholar, University of Trento, 2011
  • Co-Director (with James Thompson of UNC) of Mellon Foundation Summer Seminar for Doctoral Students on “History and the Aesthetic Object.” Amount: $230,000. 2004
  • Co-Director (with Allen Dunn, University of Tennessee), NEH Summer Seminar for College Teachers on “Literature and Values.” Total Amount of Grant: $106,000. 1997 and 2001.
  • NEH Fellowship for College Teachers, 1987-88.
  • NEH Fellowship, 1988-89
  • National Humanities Center Fellowship, 2017-18

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