Russell A. Berman (born May 14, 1950) is an American

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

specializing in

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

and

Comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

. He serves as the Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He is also a senior fellow at the

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace and formerly The Hoover Institute and Library on War, Revolution, and Peace) is an American public policy think tank which promotes personal and economic ...

. He is the director of Stanford's Thinking Matters program. He previously served as associate dean and director of Stanford's Overseas Studies Program.

Early life and career

Born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, Berman received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1972 and completed a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

at Washington University in St. Louis in 1979. Since 1979, Berman has been on the faculty at

. In 2004, he became the editor of ''

Telos Telos (; ) is a term used by philosopher Aristotle to refer to the final cause of a natural organ or entity, or of human art. ''Telos'' is the root of the modern term teleology, the study of purposiveness or of objects with a view to their aims, ...

'', a quarterly journal of

critical theory Critical theory is a social, historical, and political school of thought and philosophical perspective which centers on analyzing and challenging systemic power relations in society, arguing that knowledge, truth, and social structures are ...

which has included extensive discussions of the

Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School is a school of thought in sociology and critical theory. It is associated with the University of Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, Institute for Social Research founded in 1923 at the University of Frankfurt am Main ...

as well as

Carl Schmitt Carl Schmitt (11 July 1888 – 7 April 1985) was a German jurist, author, and political theorist. Schmitt wrote extensively about the effective wielding of political power. An authoritarian conservative theorist, he was noted as a critic of ...

. In 2011, he served as president of the

Modern Language Association The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "str ...

(MLA). Together with his colleague David Tse-Chien Pan, he served on the U.S. State Department's Commission on Unalienable Rights convened by Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...

and led by Harvard professor Mary Ann Glendon.

Selected bibliography

*''Between Fontane and Tucholsky: Literary Criticism and the Public Sphere in Imperial Germany'' (New York: Lang, 1983) *''The Rise of the Modern German Novel: Crisis and Charisma'' (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986) - Outstanding Book in German Studies Award of the German Studies Association, 1988. *''Modern Culture and Critical Theory: Art, Politics, and the Legacy of the Frankfurt School'' (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989) *''Cultural Studies of Modern Germany: History, Representation, and Nationhood'' (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993)
"Culture in the Conservative Revolution: The American Debate."
''

'' 101, Fall 1994. *''Enlightenment or Empire: Colonial Discourse in German Culture'' (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998) - Outstanding Book in German Studies Award of the

German Studies Association The German Studies Association (GSA) is an international organization of scholars in history, literature, economics, cultural studies, and political science who study Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The organization began in 1976 as the Wester ...

, 2000. *''Anti-Americanism in Europe: A Cultural Problem'' (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 2004) *''Fiction Sets You Free: On Literature In History'' (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2007)
"Representing the Trial: Judith Butler Reads Hannah Arendt Reading Adolf Eichmann"
in '' Fathom Journal'', Spring (2015)

References

External links

1950 births 20th-century American academics 21st-century American academics American literary critics Comparative literature academics Critical theorists Harvard College alumni Literature educators Living people American academics of German literature Stanford University Department of Comparative Literature faculty Stanford University Department of German faculty Washington University in St. Louis alumni Presidents of the Modern Language Association {{US-academic-stub