Bill Brown

Bill Brown is the Karla Scherer Distinguished Service Professor in American Culture at the University of Chicago's Department of English, where he has taught since 1989. He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University (1989). His research examines how objects and material culture shape human subjectivity, with a focus on literary, visual, and historical intersections.

Research Interests: Brown's work centers on object relations theory, material culture, and interdisciplinary analysis. Primary domains include:

• Marxist cultural critique
• Urban spatial narratives
• Cinema and visual iconography
• Modernist/recreational forms (e.g., science fiction, baseball)
• Thing theory and assemblage practices

His current project, Re-Assemblage, explores artistic practices in dialogue with social science theories.

Publication Trends: Recent articles (2015-2025) demonstrate consistent engagement with materiality across literature, design, and urban landscapes. Works analyze object agency, technological interfaces, and cultural obsolescence through frameworks like thing theory and posthumanism.

Awards:

• Karla Scherer Distinguished Service Professorship in American Culture