About
Deborah Jenson is a Professor of Romance Studies at Duke University with affiliations at the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and the Duke Initiative for Science & Society. She holds a secondary appointment in Global Health and has led initiatives such as the Franklin Humanities Institute (FHI) and co-directed the Haiti Lab and Health Humanities Lab. Her academic career includes roles as director of the Center for the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and leadership in Bass Connections' Brain & Society theme.
Education: PhD from Harvard University (1994), MA from University of Paris (1985), BA from Bowdoin College (1983).
Research focuses on 19th-century French/Caribbean literature, cognitive literary studies, global south philosophy, and health humanities. Key themes include representation/mimesis, Haitian studies, and neurohumanities. Recent work addresses Sylvia Wynter's philosophy, ethnopsychiatry, and interdisciplinary approaches to health and cognition.
Teaching includes courses like 'Flaubert's Brain: Neurohumanities' and collaborations on Africana Philosophy with Felwine Sarr. Administrative leadership includes directing FHI and managing grants like Mellon's 'Humanities Futures' and NEH's 'Versatile Humanists' programs.
