Jonathan D. S. Schroeder

Jonathan D. S. Schroeder is a Lecturer at the Rhode Island School of Design and a literary historian whose work intersects race, colonialism, and the nonhuman. He holds a PhD from the University of Chicago and has been a fellow at institutions including the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

• Education: AB (Dartmouth College), MA (Brown University), PhD (University of Chicago)

His research explores how European Enlightenment frameworks shaped colonial hierarchies in the Americas, focusing on the interplay between knowledge production, slavery, and institutional structures. He is currently writing a transnational biography of Harriet and John Jacobs, spanning three centuries and four continents.

Recent publications include the 2024 edited edition of John Swanson Jacobs’s lost autobiography, which examines colonial narratives of resistance, and a 2022 study of materialist themes in Melville’s work. These publications reflect his broader engagement with historical epistemology and affect theory.

• Scientific Awards: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (2025); Fellowships from NEH, AAS, JCB Library, Huntington Library, and Library Company of Philadelphia

At RISD, Schroeder teaches courses on race, migration, and the history of science. He also co-directs Congress of the Birds, a wildlife rehabilitation initiative, aligning his academic work with ecological advocacy.