John W. and Anna H. Hanes Distinguished Professor
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