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Eugene Goodheart

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Eugene Goodheart
Born(1931-06-26)June 26, 1931
Brooklyn, New York, United States
DiedApril 9, 2020(2020-04-09) (aged 88)
Watertown, Massachusetts, United States
EducationColumbia University (BA, PhD)
University of Virginia (MA)
Occupation(s)Literary critic, professor
EmployerBrandeis University
Known forLiterary criticism
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship (1970)

Eugene Goodheart (June 26, 1931 – April 9, 2020) was an American literary scholar. He was Edytha Macy Gross Professor of Humanities at Brandeis University from 1983 to 2001.[1]

Biography

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Goodheart was born on June 26, 1931, in Brooklyn.[2] He received his B.A. from Columbia College, M.A. from the University of Virginia, and Ph.D. from Columbia University in English and Comparative Literature in 1953.[1][3] At Columbia, Goodheart studied under Lionel Trilling.[1]

Goodheart served on the faculty of Bard College, University Chicago, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Boston University, where he was the chairman of the English department.[1]

He joined the Brandeis faculty in 1983 as Edytha Macy Gross Professor of Humanities and served as the chair of its English department.[1] He also directed the Brandeis Center for the Humanities.[2] He authored a number of books on literary theory and criticism as well as political and social commentary.[4][5] Among his students at Brandeis University was Chinese American writer Ha Jin.[6]

Goodheart received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1970 in literary criticism.[7] He was also a National Humanities Center fellow in 1987–1988.[8] He received an honorary doctorate from the City University of New York in 2014, for his “brilliant and provocative contributions to humanist criticism and scholarship.”[9]

Personal life and family

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Goodheart died on April 9, 2020, at his home in Watertown, Massachusetts.[2] He was a close friend of Saul Bellow, who also taught at Bard College.[10] According to biographer Zachary Leader, Bellow asked Goodheart on his deathbed, "Was I a man or was I a jerk?" To which Goodheart replied, "You were a good man."[11][12]

He was married to Wellesley College anthropologist Joan Bamberger until his death.[2][13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Eugene Goodheart". www.brandeis.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  2. ^ a b c d "EUGENE GOODHEART Obituary (2020) New York Times". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  3. ^ "Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  4. ^ Cain, William E. (2013-12-01). "Eugene Goodheart, Holding the Center: In Defense of Political Trimming". Society. 50 (6): 641–645. doi:10.1007/s12115-013-9727-0. ISSN 1936-4725. S2CID 145174106.
  5. ^ Hogge, Robert M. (2001). "Does Literary Studies Have a Future? by Eugene Goodheart (review)". Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature. 55 (2): 131–132. ISSN 1948-2833.
  6. ^ "最会用英语写作的中国人哈金：没有国家的人-搜狐文化频道". cul.sohu.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  7. ^ "Eugene Goodheart". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  8. ^ "Eugene Goodheart, 1987–1988". National Humanities Center. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  9. ^ "Homepage". www.gc.cuny.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  10. ^ Leader, Zachary (2015). The Life of Saul Bellow: To Fame and Fortune, 1915-1964. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-38893-3.
  11. ^ Malley, JP O’. "How Saul Bellow broke the WASPs' hold on literature". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  12. ^ "The Life of Saul Bellow: Love and Strife, 1965–2005 review". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  13. ^ "Opinion | 'Are the Armenians There Wiped Out?'". The New York Times. 1985-06-01. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
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