Dr. Carolyn Dean

Biography

Carolyn J. Dean is the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University, focusing on modern European history, particularly the twentieth century. Her work explores the intersection of ideas and culture in the context of genocide. Her latest book, 'Moral Witness: Trials Testimony Genocide' (Cornell, forthcoming 2019), examines the history of witnessing genocide while tracking the changing representations of violence over a hundred years, highlighting the cultural meaning attached to genocide during periods of war and imperial conquest. Dean is also the author of five additional books, including 'Aversion Erasure: Fate of the Victim of the Holocaust' (Cornell, 2010) and 'Fragility of Empathy in Holocaust' (Cornell, 2004). She has written extensively on topics such as gender, sexuality, and intellectual history within French theory. Before her tenure at Yale starting in 2013, she held the position of John Hay Professor of International Studies at Brown University. She has received several fellowships including those from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Guggenheim Foundation, and she was awarded Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Research Interests

Experience