Susan Derwin

Susan Derwin is Professor of German and Comparative Literature and Director of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Holding a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University (1988), she bridges academic scholarship with transformative public engagement through veteran and prison education initiatives.

Her academic affiliations include:

• Professor of German and Comparative Literature, University of California, Santa Barbara
• Director, Interdisciplinary Humanities Center
• Founding Director, University of California Veterans Summer Writing Workshop
• Founding Director, Foundations in the Humanities

Professor Derwin's research spans Holocaust Studies, Trauma Studies, and War Literature with specialized focus on Narrative Theory and Psychoanalysis. Her scholarship examines moral injury frameworks and narrative healing mechanisms, culminating in influential works like Rage Is the Subtext: Readings in Holocaust Literature and Film. This theoretical foundation directly informs her community-based programs that apply humanities methodologies to veteran reintegration and prison education.

Her teaching portfolio features courses on Holocaust representations, humanities during state-sanctioned torture, and contemporary European literature, consistently integrating psychoanalytic perspectives. The veteran-focused creative writing workshop she developed exemplifies her praxis-driven approach to connecting literary theory with lived trauma experiences.

Professor Derwin's leadership manifests through two signature initiatives: the UC Veterans Summer Writing Workshop provides therapeutic narrative expression for combat veterans, while Foundations in the Humanities delivers accredited humanities education to incarcerated individuals across California. These programs operationalize her research on narrative healing while expanding the public impact of humanities scholarship beyond traditional academic boundaries.