Meet our Foundation Board
Charles Baraw
Faculty Representative, Ex-Officio Foundation Board Member
Charles Baraw writes and teaches about American literature from the captivity narrative of Mary Rowlandson to the contemporary poetry of Susan Howe. He is interested in genre and narrative theory, in the histories of authorship and reading, and in the theory and practice of close reading. Recent courses include American Literature through History, American Realism, The Modern and Contemporary Novel, Modern and Contemporary Poetry, and Graphic Narrative: Word, Image, Page. He also teaches the core courses: ENG 307 and ENG 308 and a popular LEP Tier II W course “Comics and the American Experience,” which examines social issues in American history.
In addition to graduate courses on 19th-century and Contemporary American literature, he has developed a new course, bringing together works from the seventeenth-century to the present: “Experimental American Literature: Afterlives of the Archive.” His publications range from the pedagogy of comics and Animal Studies to work on the poetics of tourism and nineteenth-century literary form. Professor Baraw leads the English Department’s experiential learning initiative: “Internships, Fellowships, and Airships,” which engages students in experiences outside the classroom that help prepare them for rewarding careers. He is the organizer of the “Transformative Careers in the Public Humanities Roundtable” that connects students with New Haven leaders of arts, humanities, and advocacy organizations. He is the recipient of the 2019 SCSU Board of Regents Teaching Award and the 2018 J. Philip Smith Outstanding Teacher Award.
