David Bromwich is
Sterling Professor
Sterling Professor, the highest academic rank at Yale University, is awarded to a tenured faculty member considered the best in his or her field. It is akin to the rank of university professor at other universities.
The appointment, made by the ...
of English at
Yale University.
Career
After graduating from Yale with a B.A. in 1973 and a Ph.D. four years later, Bromwich became an instructor at
Princeton University, where he was promoted to Mellon Professor of English before returning to Yale in 1988. In 1995 he was appointed Housum Professor of English at Yale. In 2006 he became a
Sterling Professor
Sterling Professor, the highest academic rank at Yale University, is awarded to a tenured faculty member considered the best in his or her field. It is akin to the rank of university professor at other universities.
The appointment, made by the ...
.
Bromwich is a fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has published widely on Romantic criticism and poetry, and on eighteenth-century politics and moral philosophy. His book ''Politics by Other Means'' concerns the role of critical thinking and tradition in higher education, and defends the practice of liberal education against political encroachments from both Left and Right. His essays and reviews have appeared in ''
The New Republic'', ''
The New York Review of Books'', the ''
London Review of Books
The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews.
History
The ''London Review of ...
'', ''
The Times Literary Supplement'', and many other U.S. and British journals. He is a frequent contributor of political blog posts on the
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
. Since 2017, he has served as a trustee of the
National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park, NC.
Bromwich's collection of essays ''Skeptical Music'' was awarded the
PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay in 2002.
Political views
Bromwich argued against American intervention in the Syrian conflict.
He has been a frequent critic of the
Obama administration
Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...
's caution and failure to achieve more of the Democratic party's policy agenda. He criticized the
2011 State of the Union Address
The 2011 State of the Union Address was given by the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, on January 25, 2011, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 112th United States Congress. It w ...
for a lack of focus on gun control and immigration and for rhetorical concessions to conservative ideology. In 2014, he criticized the "disengagement" of the administration, saying that President
Barack Obama "watches the world as its most important spectator." In July 2020, Bromwich was one of the 153 signers of the "Harper's Letter" (also known as "
A Letter on Justice and Open Debate") that expressed concern that "the free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is dally becoming more constricted."
Bibliography
* ''Writing Politics: An Anthology'' (New York: NYRB Classics, 2020)
* ''American Breakdown: The Trump Years and How They Befell Us'' (London: Verso Books, 2019)
* ''How Words Make Things Happen'' (
Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2019)
* ''The Intellectual Life of Edmund Burke: From the Sublime and Beautiful to American Independence'' (
Cambridge,
MA:
Belknap Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...
, 2014).
* ''Moral Imagination: Essays'' (
Princeton,
NJ:
Princeton University Press, 2014).
* ''Literary Genius: 25 Classic Writers Who Define English & American Literature'' (
Philadelphia, PA:
Paul Dry Books, 2007). Essayist. (Illustrated by
Barry Moser
Barry Moser (born 1940) is an American artist and educator, known as a printmaker specializing in wood engravings, and an illustrator of numerous works of literature. He is also the owner and operator of the Pennyroyal Press, an engraving and smal ...
)
* ''American Sonnets: An Anthology'' (
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
,
NY:
Library of America, 2007). Editor.
* ''
On Liberty'' (
New Haven,
CT:
Yale University Press, 2003). By
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
. New edition with a biographical essay by David Bromwich, an interpretative essay by
George Kateb
George Kateb is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics, Emeritus, at Princeton University. A staunch individualist, he has written scholarly works on Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Stuart Mill, and Hannah Arendt and on the ethical dimensions of ...
, and commentaries by various authors.
* ''Skeptical Music: Essays on Modern Poetry'' (
Chicago,
IL:
University of Chicago Press, 2001).
* ''On Empire, Liberty, and Reform: Speeches and Letters of Edmund Burke'' (
New Haven,
CT:
Yale University Press, 2000). Editor.
* ''Hazlitt: The Mind of a Critic'' (
Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1983; 2nd ed. 1999).
* ''Disowned by Memory: Wordsworth's Poetry of the 1790s'' (
Chicago,
IL:
University of Chicago Press, 1998).
* ''Politics by Other Means: Higher Education and Group Thinking'' (
New Haven,
CT:
Yale University Press, 1992).
* ''A Choice of Inheritance: Self and Community from Edmund Burke to Robert Frost'' (
Cambridge,
MA:
Harvard University Press, 1989).
* ''Romantic Critical Essays (Cambridge English Prose Texts)'' (
Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1988). Editor.
References
External links
Yale Faculty Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bromwich, David
Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Living people
American literary critics
Yale University faculty
Princeton University faculty
American academics of English literature
Yale University alumni
Yale Sterling Professors
PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award winners
Year of birth missing (living people)