Hollis Robbins (born 1963) is an American academic and essayist; Robbins currently serves as Dean of Humanities at University of Utah. Her scholarship focuses on African-American literature.
Education and early career
Robbins was born and raised in New Hampshire. She entered
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
at the age of 16 and received her
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in 1983. From 1986 to 1988 Robbins worked at
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
Magazine in the marketing and promotions department. She received a
master's degree in Public Policy
The Master of Public Policy (MPP), is one of several public policy degrees. An MPP is a master's-level professional degree that provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus ...
from
Harvard's
Kennedy School of Government
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
in 1990, and subsequently enrolled as a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at
Stanford University in 1991.
After working in politics and public policy in California and Colorado, Robbins returned to school to pursue an M.A. in English literature from the
University of Colorado Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...
in 1998, and a Ph.D. from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
in 2003, where her dissertation focused on the literary representations of bureaucracy in 19th century British and American literature.
Academic career
After receiving her PhD, from 2004 to 2006, Robbins was an assistant professor of English at
Millsaps College
Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi. It was founded in 1890 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
History
The college was founded in 1889–90 by a Confederate veteran, Major Reuben Webste ...
in Jackson, Mississippi. In 2004 she also became Co-Director with
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. of the Black Periodical Literature Project at Harvard’s
Hutchins Center for African and African American Research The Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, also known as the Hutchins Center, is affiliated with Harvard University. The Center supports scholarly research on the history and culture of people of African descent around the world ...
. From 2006 to 2017 Robbins was a faculty member and then Chair of the Department of Humanities at the
Peabody Institute
The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...
of Johns Hopkins University where she taught a class in film music with
Thomas Dolby
Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher.
Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...
. Robbins was the Director of the Center for
Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins, from 2014 to 2017. From 2014 to 2018, she served on the Faculty Editorial Board of the
Johns Hopkins University Press and from 2011-2017 served on the board of the $400M Johns Hopkins Federal Credit Union. She won the 2014 Johns Hopkins University Alumni Excellence in Teaching Award, a 2015 Johns Hopkins University Discovery Award, and a 2017-2018 fellowship from the
National Humanities Center The National Humanities Center (NHC) is an independent institute for advanced study in the humanities. The NHC operates as a privately incorporated nonprofit and is not part of any university or federal agency. The center was planned under the auspi ...
.
Robbins became Dean of Humanities at the University of Utah on July 1, 2022. Previously, from 2018-2022, she was Dean of the School of Arts & Humanities at
Sonoma State University
Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Rohnert Park in Sonoma County, California, US. It is one of the smallest members of the California State University (CSU) system. Sonoma State offers 92 Bachelor's ...
in Rohnert Park, California. Her research focuses on African American history and literature. In 2004, she began collaborating with
Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker, who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African A ...
and co-edited ' (2004). She also co-edited ' (2007) with Gates. She has also written on higher education as well as African American poetry and film music. She is also a published poet.
Selected publications
As author
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As editor
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See also
References
External links
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About the Deanof the School of Arts and Humanities at Sonoma State University.
Black Periodical Literature Projectat The Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.
Dracula and Social Discoordination excerpt from chapter 23 of ''Killing Time'' by Robbins.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Hollis
1963 births
Living people
Johns Hopkins University faculty
Johns Hopkins University alumni
University of Colorado Boulder alumni
Black studies scholars
Princeton University alumni
American literary critics
Women literary critics
Harvard Kennedy School alumni
Harvard University people
Sonoma State University faculty
21st-century American women writers
American women editors
American women academics
American women critics