Professor & Chair English
American literature; countercultures; human rights; literary and language theory; violence and trauma; literature and philosophy.

dawes@macalester.edu

James Dawes teaches US and comparative literature. He is the author of Evil Men (Harvard University Press, 2013), That the World May Know: Bearing Witness to Atrocity (Harvard University Press, 2007), and The Language of War (Harvard University Press, 2002). He has appeared as the feature guest on radio and newspaper interviews ranging National Public Radio and the BBC to The Los Angeles Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He is the founder of the Program in Human Rights and Humanitarianism at Macalester College. He was a Junior Fellow at the Society of Fellows, Harvard University, from 1998-2001, a member of the Editorial Board of American Literature(2007-2009), and an ACLS Faculty Fellow (2004-2005). He received his Ph.D. in English Literature from Harvard University and his M. Phil. from Cambridge University. 

In the News

• Why a man eats another man’s heart
  CNN Opinion (May 15, 2013)
• Any good from evil?
  WNYC Radio - The Brian Lehrer Show (May 13, 2013)
• James Dawes describes the complexity of war criminals in 'Evil Men’
  MinnPost (May 1, 2013)
• Book pick: 'Evil Men' by James Dawes
  Minnesota Public Radio (April 30, 2013)
• "Conversations with evil men"
  This article about the book Evil Men appeared in the Boston Globe (April 28, 2013)
• Book Review: Evil Men
  South China Morning Post (April 21, 2013)

Presentations

• Write Well series video: Every Sentence is a Sandwich
• Mac Reads Convocation, 2011

Digital Student Projects

• Unediting Dickinson
• alt lit: The Modern Gothic

Areas of Study

• American literature
• Countercultures
• Human rights
• Literary and language theory
• Violence and trauma
• Literature and philosophy

2012-2013 Courses

• Love and Madness in 19th Century American Literature (272-01), Fall
• Topics: Narrative Journalism (394-03), Fall
• Introduction to Creative Writing (150-01), Spring
• Writing Human Rights (394-03), Spring

Selected Works in Macalester's Digital Commons