Mark Sherman

Mark Sherman serves as a Professor in the School of Literary Arts and Studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he teaches courses focused on epic poetry and historical literary traditions across medieval and Renaissance Europe.

His academic credentials include:

• BA from the University of Rhode Island
• MA from the University of Rhode Island
• PhD from the University of Rhode Island

Professor Sherman's research centers on intertextual dynamics among narrative poets, particularly examining cross-cultural exchanges between England and Italy from the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance. He investigates how writers engaged with Roman antiquity to explore historicity, ideology, and cultural transformation, with critical attention to evolving relationships among gender, representation, authority, and violence. His recent work extends into political theology and post-Copernican cosmology in early modern literature, analyzing how revolutionary shifts in cosmic understanding reshaped ethical, political, and artistic frameworks of the period.