Professor Dr. Bradin Cormack

Biography

Bradin Cormack joined the faculty in 2013 and holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University. His research focuses on early modern Renaissance literature, particularly poetry and drama, as they relate to law, bookish disciplines, and intellectual culture. His book, "Power Justice" (Chicago, 2007), examines how writers like Skelton, Wyatt, Spenser, and Shakespeare addressed principles of jurisdiction during a time when the central law courts were consolidating common law's institutional identity. Alongside Richard Strier and Martha Nussbaum, he edited "Shakespeare and the Law: A Conversation Between Disciplines and Professions" (Chicago, 2013). Cormack co-authored "Book Use, Book Theory, 1500–1700" with Carla Mazzio, which reflects his interests in the material history of books. He is also currently working on a new book, "Shakespeare’s Substance: Sonnets," analyzing the grammatical and logical culture of the late sixteenth century through the lens of Shakespeare’s sonnets. His related work includes contributions to the reissue of Thom Gunn’s "Selected Poems of Fulke Greville" (University of Chicago Press, 2009) and he is co-editor of the upcoming "Oxford Handbook of English Law and Literature, 1500–1700." In addition to a range of courses on Renaissance literature, he teaches topics such as Utopianism, poetry, poetics, and media studies.

Research Interests

Courses