David R. Sherman

David R. Sherman is an Associate Professor of English at Brandeis University, specializing in modernist literature and culture. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from New York University and is affiliated with the Interdepartmental Program in Health: Science, Society, and Policy.

His research examines literary responses to 20th-century mortuary practices, secularization in literature, and the intersection of narrative forms with social structures. Key interests include elegy as political expression, comedy as social critique, and literature's role in criminal justice reform.

Dr. Sherman leads public humanities initiatives like The Elegy Project, distributing poems in public spaces, and directs the Brandeis Educational Justice Initiative focused on literary interventions in justice systems.