James Dorson

James Dorson is an Assistant Professor of North American Literature at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Freie Universität Berlin. He leads the Dahlem International Network Junior Research Group on 'American Literature and Managerialism, 1875–1925' and coordinates the DFG Research Network 'Model Aesthetics: Between Literary and Economic Knowledge.' His research focuses on the intersection of literary forms and social structures, particularly in American literary naturalism and economic criticism.

Education: PhD (2011) in North American Studies from Freie Universität Berlin; M.A. (2007) and B.A. (2003) in English from Copenhagen University.

Research interests include organizational aesthetics, economic literary criticism, environmental humanities, and narrative theory. He has published extensively on topics like the cultural work of literary naturalism, managerialism in American literature, and resilience in climate fiction.

Recent grants include DFG funding for the Model Aesthetics Network (€83,000), a Feodor Lynen Fellowship (2018–2021), and multiple Ernst Reuter Society grants. He supervises PhD students in areas like postmodernism, cognitive poetics, and Black masculinity.

Teaching includes courses on the office novel, economic criticism, and the environmental humanities. He organizes conferences like 'Model Imaginaries: Literature, Economics, Abstraction' (2024) and co-edits volumes on managerialism and data fiction.