Ralph Cohen

(1967)
William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus
Eighteenth-Century Criticism, Literary Theory and History
Director, Commonwealth Center for Literary and Cultural Change, 1988-1994.

Degrees

Ph.D. Columbia, 1952
M.A. Columbia, 1946
B.A. CCNY, 1937

Books

  • History and . . ., ed. with Michael Roth. U Press of Virginia, 1995.
  • Studies in Historical Change, ed. and introd. U Press of Virginia, 1992.
  • The Future of Literary Theory, ed. and introd. Methuen, 1989. Chinese trans., 1993.
  • Studies in Eighteenth-Century British Art and Aesthetics, ed. and introd. U of California Press, 1986.
  • New Directions in Literary History, ed. and introd. Routledge & Kegan Paul and Johns Hopkins, 1974.
  • The Unfolding of the Seasons. Routledge & Kegan Paul and Johns Hopkins, 1970.

Editor

  • New Literary History, 1969-present
    Vol. 30 #1 - "Poetry & Poetics"
    Vol. 30 #2 - "Cultural Inquiries"
    Vol. 30 #3 - "Ecocriticism"
    Vol. 30 #4 - "Case Studies"
  • Advisory Editor, Augustan Reprint Society, 1964-present.
  • Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, 1988-present.
  • Bulletin of Research in the Humanities, 1978-90.
  • Editorial Advisory Board, Miller Center Journal, 1994-present.
  • Associate Editor, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 1973-80.

Articles

  • "The {Re}Turn to the Ode," Cambridge Companion to Eighteenth-Century Poetry (forthcoming 2000).
  • "On the Writings of Wolfgang Iser," New Literary History (Winter, 2000).
  • "And History," in History and . . . (1995).
  • "Genre Theory, Literary History, and Historical Change," in Theoretical Issues in Literary History, ed. David Perkins (1991).
  • "Notes on the Teaching of Eighteenth-Century Poetry of Natural Description," in Teaching Eighteenth-Century Poetry, ed. Christopher Fox (1990).
  • "Do Postmodern Genres Exist?" in Postmodern Genres, ed. M. Perloff (1989).

Honors

  • Guest Professor, International Center for Constructing Chinese Literary Theory, 2000
  • Conference of Editors of Learned Journals Best Special Issue Award, 1982, 1987, 1999; Honorable mention, 1990, 1991, 1996
  • Honorary Degree, Peking University and Shandong University, 1994
  • Christian Gauss Award Selection Committee, 1992-present
  • Director, Conference on "Cultures and Everyday Life," Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh, July, 1991
  • Fellow, University of California Humanities Research Institute, 1988
  • Fellow (Corresponding), British Academy, 1986
  • Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Indiana University, 1984
  • Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1984
  • President, Society for Critical Exchange, 1983-1986
  • Northrop Frye Professor of Literary History, University of Texas, Spring 1983
  • President, Conference of Editors of Learned Journals, 1980-1982
  • President, Academy of Literary Studies, 1980
  • William Andrews Clark Library Research Professor, 1980-1981: "Art and Aesthetics in the Eighteenth Century"
  • Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Toronto, April 1979