Michael Bérubé (born 1961) is an Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Literature at
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
, where he teaches American literature, disability studies, and cultural studies. He is the author of several books on
cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...
,
disability rights
The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people.
It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around ...
, liberal and conservative
politics
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
, and debates in
higher education
Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education.
The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
. From 2010 to 2017, he was the director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at Penn State; from 1997 to 2001 he was the founding director of the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities. He was the 2012 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 ...
, and served as vice president from 2010 to 2011. He served two terms on the National Council of the
American Association of University Professors
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States that was founded in 1915 in New York City and is currently headquartered in Washington, D.C. AAUP membership inc ...
from 2005 to 2011, and three terms on the AAUP's Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure from 2009 to 2018. He was a member of the International Advisory Board of the
Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes for two terms, 2011–2017. Bérubé was named a University Scholar for research at the University of Illinois in 1995 and was awarded the Faculty Scholar medal for research from Penn State in 2012.
Life, education and career
The son of Maurice Berube (now Eminent Scholar Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership at Old Dominion University), Bérubé was born in 1961 in New York City, and attended
Regis High School. He received a B.A. in English from
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in 1982 and a Ph.D. in English from the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
, where he studied from 1983 to 1989. Bérubé held a professorship in the English department at the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
from 1989 to 2001, where he was affiliated with the
Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory and the Afro-American Studies and Research Program. In 2001, Bérubé moved to Penn State for the then-newly created Paterno Family Professorship in Literature, from which he resigned in the wake of the
Penn State child sex abuse scandal
The Penn State child sex abuse scandal concerned allegations and subsequent convictions of child sexual abuse committed by Jerry Sandusky, an assistant coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team, over a period of at least fifteen year ...
.
From 1996 to 2016, Bérubé edited "Cultural Front", the New York University Press series which published his 2009 book ''The Left at War'' and his 1998 book ''The Employment of English,'' as well as fifteen other titles, many in disability studies. He now co-edits "Crip: New Directions in Disability Studies" for NYU Press along with Robert McRuer and Ellen Samuels. He maintained a personal blog from 2004 to 2010 and wrote for ''Crooked Timber'' from 2007 to 2012.
Publications and achievements
Bérubé drew attention in the early 1990s for his essays in the ''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...
'' and ''Village Voice Literary Supplement'' (VLS), which dealt with (among other things)
political correctness
"Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...
,
postmodernism
Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...
, and cultural studies. In 1994 he published an essay in ''
Harper's Magazine
''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
'', "Life As We Know It: A Father, A Son, and Genetic Destiny", about his son Jamie, who has
Down syndrome, and in 1995 a review essay in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' on contemporary black intellectuals; these essays, particularly the latter, drew a wide array of energetic and often contentious responses. Some of the ''VLS'' essays were revised and republished in Bérubé’s second book, ''Public Access'' (1994). Since then, Bérubé has continued to write for newspapers and magazines, including ''
Dissent
Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...
'', ''
the Nation
''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'', the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' (and ''
New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazin ...
''), the ''
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'', the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', and the ''
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''. Since 1997 he has also been a contributor to the ''
Chronicle of Higher Education
''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is an American newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals, including staff members and administrators. A subscriptio ...
''.
Bérubé's third book, ''Life As We Know It: A Father, A Family, and an Exceptional Child'', was published in 1996. Following a positive review by Beverly Lowry, ''Life As We Know It'' was named a ''New York Times'' Notable Book of the Year; it was also named as one of the best books of the year by Maureen Corrigan of
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
. It is an expanded account of Jamie's first four years, as well as a discussion of disability rights, abortion and prenatal testing, early intervention programs, early childhood language acquisition, school policy, and theories of justice.
In 2005-06, Bérubé emerged as a critic of
David Horowitz
David Joel Horowitz (January 10, 1939 – April 29, 2025) was an American conservative writer and activist. He was a founder and president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC); editor of the Center's website '' FrontPage Magazine''; and ...
's "Academic Bill of Rights"; an account of that campaign, together with a description of Bérubé's pedagogy in undergraduate classes, makes up most of Bérubé’s fifth book, ''What's Liberal About the Liberal Arts? Classroom Politics and "Bias" in Higher Education'' (2006). Bérubé also published a number of essays critical of figures on the antiwar left and their response to the terrorist attack of
9/11
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
and the invasion of
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
, though he said he opposed the
Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
; the argument was elaborated in his seventh book, ''The Left At War'', published in 2009.
In 2016 Bérubé published two books in disability studies: ''The Secret Life of Stories'', a study of narrative strategies involving varieties of intellectual disability, and ''Life as Jamie Knows It'', a sequel to ''Life as We Know It'' written with substantial input from the now-adult Jamie Bérubé. In 2021, the Norton Library (W. W. Norton) published his edition of Mary Shelley's ''Frankenstein.'' In 2022, he published ''It's Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and Academic Freedom'' with Jennifer Ruth, and in 2024, he published ''The Ex-Human: Science Fiction and the Fate of Our Species.''
Bérubé lives in State College, Pennsylvania, with his wife Janet Lyon. Their first child, Nicholas, is an architect.
Selected works
;Author
*
* ''Public Access: Literary Theory and American Cultural Politics'' (1994)
* ''Life As We Know It: A Father, A Family, and an Exceptional Child'' (1996)
* ''The Employment of English: Theory, Jobs, and the Future of Literary Studies'' (1998)
* ''What's Liberal About the Liberal Arts? Classroom Politics and "Bias" in Higher Education'' (2006)
* ''Rhetorical Occasions: Essays on Humans and the Humanities'' (2006)
* ''The Left at War'' (2009)
*''The Humanities, Higher Education, and Academic Freedom: Three Necessary Arguments'' (with Jennifer Ruth, , 2015)
*''The Secret Life of Stories: From Don Quixote to Harry Potter, How Understanding Intellectual Disability Transforms the Way We Read'' (, 2016)
* ''Life as Jamie Knows It: An Exceptional Child Grows Up'' (, 2016)
* ''It's Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and Academic Freedom'' (with Jennifer Ruth, , 2022)
* ''The Ex-Human: Science Fiction and the Fate of Our Species'' (, 2024)
;Editor
* ''Higher Education Under Fire: Politics, Economics, and the Crisis of the Humanities'' (1995) (with
Cary Nelson
Cary Nelson (born 1946), is an American professor emeritus of English and Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was president of the American Association of University Professors bet ...
)
* ''The Aesthetics of Cultural Studies'' (2004)
* ''Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus,'' by Mary Shelley (1818 text). Norton Library Edition (2021)
;Book reviews
*
* review of
* review of
References
External links
Michael Bérubé's faculty page at Penn State UniversityMichael Bérubé's websiteMichael Bérubé's blog archive at Crooked Timber
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berube, Michael
1961 births
Comparative literature academics
American academics of English literature
American bloggers
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Disability studies academics
University of Virginia alumni
Pennsylvania State University faculty
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty
Living people
Regis High School (New York City) alumni
21st-century American non-fiction writers
Presidents of the Modern Language Association