Daniel Raeburn

Daniel Raeburn serves as Assistant Professor of Practice in the Arts at the University of Chicago's Department of English, teaching creative nonfiction since 2006. His academic role bridges literary practice and cultural criticism within the university's humanities framework.

His educational background includes a BA from the University of Iowa (1991) and an MFA from Bennington College (2006), foundational to his career in literary nonfiction and comics scholarship.

Raeburn's research centers on the philosophical boundaries of truth in nonfiction, with deep expertise in graphic novels, memoir, and art criticism. He examines how personal narrative intersects with cultural documentation, particularly in underground comics and Latin American historietas. His work challenges conventional genre distinctions while exploring identity formation through diverse cultural lenses.

His publications reveal a sustained engagement with comics as serious artistic and cultural artifacts, analyzing figures like Chris Ware and Daniel Clowes alongside Mexican graphic traditions. The recurring theme across his work is the interrogation of 'truth' in nonfiction forms, manifested through memoir, cultural critique, and historical analysis of visual storytelling.

Notable honors include:

• Howard Foundation Fellowship at Brown University
• National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship

Raeburn mentors BA and MA students on exceptionally diverse projects spanning memoir, investigative reporting, and art criticism. Student topics have included life on Native American reservations, drag culture, brain cancer experiences, homelessness narratives, and political profiles. His advising philosophy emphasizes format flexibility and thematic boldness, reflecting his view that nonfiction 'allows us to write about anything' within truth constraints. He has secured significant research support through prestigious fellowships that enabled book projects like Vessels and Chicago-focused essays.