Gerard Passannante

Gerard Passannante is a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Maryland’s College of Arts & Humanities, specializing in Renaissance literature and intellectual history. His research explores the intersections of materialist thought, early modern disaster narratives, and the transmission of knowledge through texts. He holds a B.A. from Yale (2000) and a Ph.D. from Princeton (2007).

His major works include The Lucretian Renaissance (2011), which examines atomist philosophy’s influence on Renaissance scholarship and aesthetics, and Catastrophizing (2019), analyzing early modern disaster thought’s relevance to contemporary crises. His research has been supported by prestigious fellowships from institutions like the Guggenheim Foundation, National Humanities Center, and Folger Shakespeare Library.

• Research Expertise: Comparative Literature, Early Modern Studies, Literature and Science, Textual and Digital Studies
• Recent Awards: Harry Levin Prize (2013), British Society for Literature and Science Book Prize (2019), ACLS Fellowship (2019)

Passannante teaches courses on Shakespeare, eco-poetics, and Renaissance thought. His current project explores transhistorical religious identification and scale in early modern theology.